How should Christians in this country respond to the new leadership?

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the [president] as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the [president].”  1 Peter 2:13-17

Be Subject.  For the Lord’s sake.

We see in the above verses what government should be doing, from a moral standpoint:

(1) punishing those who do evil

(2) praising those who do good.

What’s evil?  What’s good?  Those are questions “governments” always wrestle with and always answer - one way or another.  As a result of depravity and the sinful human condition - people end up calling evil - good and good - evil.  That’s not good.

We know that when Peter said “be subject” he didn’t mean “be silent”.

Be subject, but don’t be silent.

This passage and others, do not call the Church to stick its head in the sand, pray for God to do something (apart from our involvement as the means??), cross our fingers, murmur under our breath, complain in private, and do nothing.

Peter knew this:

So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”  And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.  Acts 4:18-21

And the believers prayed like this:

“And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness”…And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.  Acts 4:29, 31

So, honor those who govern and lead.  Honor the president.  Honor Barack Obama.  And continue to speak the word of God boldly.

“But you are…a holy nation…that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

I pray that the Church will awaken to live as a holy nation within a stumbling nation and wrestle with what it means to be subject, not silent.

What does it look like to be subject, not silent?  What does it sound like?  Thoughts?

aj

I hope you are paying attention.

I’ll try and help link you to some of the most helpful and compelling writings on the issue of abortion.  A day before the election, it’s not like I’m writing to swing large amounts of voters who will never read this blog.  But now is the time to make crystal clear statements and help equip anyone and everyone with sound thinking about abortion and our biblical mandate to do something about it.  If you’ve been to RockSolid - you know where we stand on this issue.  And I’ve been keeping this issue in front of anyone who has seen or read this blog, even on the old site.

Now I will say, to both young and old, this is NOT the time to hide from controversy or apologize for clear and strong and immovable conviction on this issue.  Don’t worry about offending or losing friends.  Don’t worry about being labeled 100 things (closed-minded, judgmental, narrow, radical, fundamentalist, fanatical, brain-washed, unnecessarily exalting one issue above others, ignorant of “more complex solutions to more problems than just abortion”, etc, etc, etc…)

STAND FOR TRUTH.  SPEAK TRUTH.  Unapologetically.  Unwavering.

• 3,700 human beings are “legally” slaughtered in this nation, upheld by law, every day.

Do not be mistaken or misled.  Don’t listen to Donald Miller or Brian McLaren (both stumping for Barak Obama and persuading evangelicals to vote for him).  Or anyone else who tries to derail you from the overwhelming reality of the truth about the holocaust of children known as abortion.

May God have mercy on us and may God lead His people to speak up and speak out for the most vulnerable and defenseless among us.

May God fan the flames of passion for LIFE and human dignity, image-bearing, in the coming generations of those who profess His Name.

May God call many William Wilberforce-like leaders to engage and fight and persevere to the end.  And may we heed the call to fight with spiritual weapons of prayer and fasting - while not resorting to those alone.  God has also ordained means of ACTION in pursuing JUSTICE:  reasoning and persuading and engaging a culture with our lives and our speech.

Declare these things from the rooftops.

On Facebook.  On blogs.  In emails.  Over lunch.  Face to face.

• Stand to Reason has a great blog and post here.

• Justin Taylor is a machine - pumping out helpful content.

• Search his site on the topic of abortion.

• Abort73 is an excellent website.

• This article is a must read.

A second helpful resource is a series of 60 second posts with audio by Albert Mohler.

Here’s the titles of the 12 commentaries:  (A summary and I linked a few which will take you to the others as well…)

1. Electing a President - What’s at Stake?

2. Electing a President - The Question of Character

3. Electing a President - To Defend the Nation

4. Electing a President - Governing Philosophy

5. Electing a President - National Party Platforms

6. Electing a President - The Party in Power

7. Electing a President - Iraq and Afghanistan

8. Electing a President - The Question of Experience

9. Electing a President - The Issue of Family

10. Electing a President - Human Life in the Balance

11. Electing a President - A Matter of Priorities

12. Electing a President - A Fundamental Responsibility

Some of you have turned 18 since the last election took place in the United States of America.  This is your first opportunity to participate in the democratic process as an American and vote.  I encourage you, strongly, to make sure you register and vote.

For all of us who are Christians and Americans - I hope we are clear on where our first priority and citizenship  lies.  (see Philippians 3:20 and Ephesians 2:19).

Not all issues on the table in this election carry the same weight in the Word of God.

There are zillions of opinions, polls, articles, blogs, TV personalities, “famous” people, media outlets, pumping out zillions of bits of information - so it seems.  With each election in the electronic age this has continued to increase.  How can you even begin to sift through it and know who to listen to?  What are your guiding principles?

I’ll point you in the direction of a few, select sources that have helped me think through these issues in ways that are in line with our “sound thinking” passion here at RockSolid.

A very helpful one was just made available today.  Here is John Piper’s heart on the elections:  (no where in this video does he tell you who to vote for):

Outline:

1. Womanhood
2. Race
3. Abortion
4. Prophetic perspective
5. Sovereignty of God
6. Gospel

Yesterday I mentioned providing a few resources for you as you endeavor to stay responsibly informed in this important political season. Here’s a start…

1) First off, you need to keep up with Albert Mohler Jr. He’s a modern-day mix of historic heroes: the culturally penetrating insight of Francis Scheaffer, the unshakable fortitude of Martin Luther, and the theological depth of John Calvin. And he’s read over 30,000 books. When he talks, I listen.

http://www.albertmohler.com/

2) The second link is to a blog I frequent daily called “Between Two Worlds…A Mix of Theology, Philosophy, Politics, and Culture” It proves week in and out to be a wonderful resource, and I would encourage you to put it at the top of your “favorites”. Be sure to scroll down and see some great articles regarding the Saddleback forum.

http://theologica.blogspot.com/

3) Thirdly, a link to the interview that took place Saturday night in California between Rick Warren and the two presidential candidates. I strongly urge you to watch it. The whole thing. The contrasts are stark.

And if you know me, this next comment might surprise you…but I thought Rick Warren did an excellent job. Theological differences aside, I am very thankful he provided this forum for the American people to have a true apples-with-apples experience in comparing Obama and McCain.

I will refrain from my own personal commentary (difficult as that may be) and let the content of the interviews speak for itself.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/16/warren.forum/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

4) And lastly, (for what it’s worth), I will tell you openly where I stand and the process I work through when considering a candidate.

This may seem overly-simplified for the politically sophisticated, but take it for what it is: I am, with good conscious, a one-issue voter.

National security is important; the economy is huge; medi-care boils my blood; taxing the “rich” to level the playing field causes my vision to blur; bigger government makes me want to scream; putting the rights of spotted owls and salmon above human interests kicks in my pull-out-hair reflex, and I can’t even talk about global warming…you get the idea.

But the sanctity of life? OFF THE CHARTS. We WILL stand before God and be held accountable for how we respond (or don’t) to the atrocities that our country currently endorses through legalized abortions. And I believe we will be held accountable for endorsing any person who openly supports this genocide and vows to uphold it and promote it.

And while at times choosing between two candidates can feel like picking the lesser of two evils, this issue cuts the knot for me. Every time.

It’s easy for this conversation to get lost in verbiage and angling.  Don’t let yourself lose sensitivity to the truth that abortion kills babies and scars mothers for life. Because the abortion issue must be seen to be understood, check out these website for further information:

(parental caution: graphic images)

http://www.abort73.com/

http://www.abortionno.org/

So, Rock Solid friends, let us be known as people who believe in the sovereignty of God and rejoice that every day has been ordained by His will and for His good pleasure.

Let us be found working and laboring for the King and His Kingdom during whatever precious days He decides to give us, no matter what the economic and political climate.

And let us pray for the wisdom and discernment to exercise well the freedoms of voting that God’s given us the privilege of experiencing during this time in history.

Because, in the end, you don’t have the luxury of separating the Church and the State when it comes time for you to vote. And you shouldn’t either.

Serving the only One who can offer true hope,

josh