For Jon
(Originally published November 7, 2012) Jon said, "Damian, you may not be a Democrat or a Republican but you are among the MAJORITY - the non-believers and believers alike that support a leader who is okay with killing innocent unborn children, running $1,000,000,000,000 a year deficits, and cheering on gay marriages. Apostle or not maybe you should have just stayed home."
For this article I will only be addressing the comments made by Jon, as listed above: 1) How can you support a leader who is okay with killing innocent unborn children? 2) How can you support a leader who is running $1 trillion a year deficit? and 3) How can you support a leader who is cheering on gay marriage?
I also readily admit that everything listed below is proof-texting, and potentially dangerous.
Okay let me start by saying, I believe that God is the one who appoints leaders, the good ones and bad ones, for his own glory (Judges 2:12-17; Isaiah 45:1-3; Matthew 22:15-22; John 19:11; Romans 13:1-7). It really is about acknowledging that all authority on heaven and earth belong to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). So John regardless of how you may feel about this president you need to be thanking God because God's in control.
Concerning innocent unborn children, there have been a few times in the Old Testament where God actually told the nation to completely wipe out a people group, man women and children (Exodus 12:29; Numbers 31:16-18; Joshua 6:21-27; 1 Samuel 15:1-3; etc). Admittedly these are hard passages. We find it easier to justify when it occurred so long ago, yet have such a hard time when it happens down the street from us, and even worse when it's our nation doing it. Also there is a distinction made between people groups in these verses. Namely there are people who belong to God and people who don't. Most of the time people that are on the receiving end of the sword are the people who don't belong to God (see Exodus 1:15-17). One of the practices of the people who did not belong to God was that they would, from time to time, sacrifice a child. I think child sacrifice might include the expression “pass through the fire” (2 Chr. 28:3, 33:6; Jer. 7:31, 19:2–6) which is mostly associated with the worship of Molech. I don’t think it was wide spread, nevertheless, it did happen in the land.
God said his people aren't supposed to sacrifice their children (Leviticus 18:21). Exodus 22: 22-25, could allow us to infer life for life. Nevertheless sometimes they did (Jeremiah 32:32-35). They said most of the Scriptures I can think of concerning the sacrifice of children really are Old Testament Scriptures. Of course we're not the nation Israel. Just because it's legal doesn't mean you should do it. For many years God's people lived in the land where things were legal but they didn't do it. And it definitely shouldn't be cause for division, unless God's people are the ones doing it. I think what we may be doing is asking people who don't belong to God to behave as though they do before inviting them to.
Concerning national deficit, Proverbs 22:7 tells us the rich rule over the poor, the borrower is a servant (or slave) to the lender. And we know you can't serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Our nation's full of servants. Some might say our nation was a servant to China and/or Japan, since they hold most of our debt. Some might also say our modern debt crisis dates back to 1917. Here is another good one Proverbs 13:7, one man (or nation in our case) pretends to be rich, yet he actually has nothing. Or how about Proverbs 25:28 which says: Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man (or nation) who lacks self-control. Christians should lead the way in embracing the value of sacrifice; as defined as giving up something we love for something we love even more. Christians should lead the way in embracing the value of self-control; as defined as saying no for a little while so we can say yes for the rest of our lives. Christians should lead the way in embracing the value of planning; as defined as telling every dollar where to go, because money serves us as we serve God. The church should be the light leading the way to tell the nation how to accomplish life debt free, not blaming them for not having a clue, when most of us don’t either.
Concerning gay marriage, again I think we are asking non-Christians to live like Christians. Currently, in our nation we have marriage by a religious organization and marriage by the government. Do we tell heterosexuals they aren’t really married because the state performed the ceremony? No. And strangely enough we do not see many examples in the Bible regarding who has the authority to marry, and most of them point to the parents or God (Genesis 34:8-10; Joshua 15:16-17; Judges 14:10; Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9). We do find quite a few regarding divorce however, and most of them point to the spouses giving a certificate of divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1; Matthew 5:31, 19:7-12; Mark 10:4-12). Do we tell people they are not really divorced because their spouse gave them a written notice? Only if it comes from the state. Why can the church marry, but not divorce, when the state can do both?
A warning to my more sensitive readers this next paragraph acknowledges the existence of sex.
In days gone by, the marriage covenant was consummated in the marriage bed, with some belly-button-to-belly-button action, also known as “knowing” each other. If that is the case, then too many Americans are “married” already, and getting “married” at even younger ages. Yet we complain when we see a country that allows people to become legitimately married at young ages. And behavior inside the church is pretty close to the behavior outside the church in this respect.
I was meeting with some non-Christians and we were discussing this subject, and we agreed marriage is a religious ceremony, and should be left up to the rules governing that religion. They are asking a certain deity to oversee the success of their relationship. I bet you would find marriage equality is partially about money, taxes, insurance and healthcare rights. You can’t claim a “roommate” on your taxes. You can’t put your “roommate” on most company sponsored insurance plans. And if your “roommate” goes in the hospital, they may be violating HIPAA. Again I go back to what I said earlier, we shouldn’t ask non-Christians to act like Christians. Let’s get them in the family first.
How can I support a leader who is okay with killing innocent unborn children, running $1,000,000,000,000 a year deficits, and cheering on gay marriages?
Because I trust God who appointed him to serve during this time and in this place, and I am more interested in telling people about Jesus than carring what is legal or illegal in this nation. The fact that the innocent die should make us want to tell them about Jesus . The fact that this nation is in debt should make us want to show them about Jesus. The fact that gays want to get married should make us want to tell them about Jesus.