Church and Politics

If you have followed by blog for the past 6 months you would know that we recently are in the hunt for a new church. The last 3 weeks we attended a non-denominational church about 20 minutes away. It has been very refreshing visiting a church where the pastor preached a message straight from the bible and he made it very applicable for my life without watering down the gospel and there was no hint of judgment for the lost, no slandering of a certain political party, and nothing said about public schools.

I have struggled this election about which Presidential candidate would be the best for our country without regards of religion. Over the past few years I've felt that it has been my religious duty to vote the Republican Party regardless of a person's character and true religious commitment. One of my best friends is clearly an Obama supporter and we are attending church together and he is a man of integrity. Billy Graham is a registered Democrat. So I've looked long and hard to judge the candidates fairly.

There is an article on page 13A of the USA Today and it is one that I actually read the whole article. The author hints that a new evangelical is emerging taking a step away from the thought that the Republicans are God's Party. He is stepping away from the far right wing whose agenda was based on what they are against rather than the good they hoped to do and somehow turned into haters in the name of Christ.

The article states that the new evangelicals are eager for candidates who are devoted to faith and they were surprised that none of the major speeches have included any statements of faith beyond the obligatory "God Bless America" or "so help me God." The new evangelical seeks to be more biblically based than generically affiliating with one party. To affiliate with just one party this new evangelical might side on the party that suggests that it will defend the unborn and protect the traditional family while ignoring the care of the poor, cause of the stranger and pleas for social justice.

I personally think God would be angry that he is being used to endorse a certain party by many pastors and Christians without first getting HIS approval to do so.

If you get a chance check out this article. http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/10/the-new-evangel.html