Half Revealed

Brent at Colossians Three Sixteen has a great post about being a Christian in a nation with a two-party system. When I read quotes like a recent one from the Post ("The redder they are, the harder they fall") in light of recent Republican leaders gone sour, it's hard to know how to vote come November.

I appreciate several things about Brent's piece:

First, he admits that America is a two-party nation. I've studied this in school and I appreciate the accuracy of this statement. Blame it on VanBuren, but it's that way for many reasons (including human nature). Sorry.

Second, he isn't afraid to mention the "P" word: pragmatism. When neither party is what you want, why not go for the "lesser of two evils?" Having two parties does put those parties pretty much smack in the middle of big issues. It's unavoidable.

Third, he doesn't end with the "P" word. I'll let his words sum it up:

This idea of choosing the “lesser of two evils” is simply not Scriptural, and as some of you have pointed out, evil is still evil (not that the two parties are necessarily truly evil). Christians are not free to guage life by pragmatism, even when it’s the expected norm. There might very well be times when neither party is completely compatible with a Christian worldview. However, we must not sway to the other end of the spectrum and begin calling for a theonomist position of government. Certainly the early church, following the footsteps of not only Paul but of Jesus Himself did not seek overthrow or control of the government.

Throughout the history of the church, most Christians seem to have focused on living the most God-honoring lives possible, heeding Scripture’s warnings to honor those in authority over them when biblical (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2:13-25, etc.). Democracy seems to have muddied the waters quite a bit because Christians will, by nature (I hope), vote based on Scriptural guidelines when they are clear. The problem for many is that there is then no clear “Christian” political party, and that’s probably a good thing. While I do think that there are particular issues that Christians cannot compromise (abortion among them), I am not one of those who think that to be Christian in America means to be Republican.

In a democratic process, how are we to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21) when in a sense, we are Caesar? We can vote in such a way to strive after the goal of government actually being good stewards to begin with. We can vote to protect the innocent, to limit government, to promote religous freedom. There are many ways to “vote your Christian conscience.”

There is no easy solution, as he points out, but the answer is neither straight-up pragmaticism or joining the Constitution Party (Thank God. I'd rather be a Democrat.)