:angel:

Should Christians Get Into Politics?

How do you feel on this issue!

Personally I say: Yes

Why Because the Bible says;

"When the righteous reigns the people rejoice’

How can we expect wicket or corrupt people to help others so God will have to use us!

Please vote on the poll and reply to express how you feel.

Originally posted by bahres
:angel:

Should Christians Get Into Politics?

How do you feel on this issue!

Personally I say: Yes

Why Because the Bible says;

"When the righteous reigns the people rejoice"

How can we expect wicket or corrupt people to help others so God will have to use us!

Please vote on the poll and reply to express how you feel.

I must say it is amazing to see how we as Christians find various scriptures to go along with the ways of the world to be able to blend within the system of the world. Though we are entitled to our own opinions and we should be concern about what goes on in our country, there is another scripture that speaks of spiritual gifts. 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28 states, " And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, governments, diversities of tongues." If I were to decide on how to deal with this issue I would look serious at this particular scripture rather than looking at this from a trivial perspective.

Second Timothy chapter 2 verses 3-4 states, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." So, I ask the question, are you a soldier for Christ or are you blessed with the spiritual gift to be apart of the Government to have the people rejoice in this day and age?
Roderick R. Mckenzie

Roddie:

I read your note and it seems like you are saying that Christians should not be involved in politics. If that is what you are saying, consider this thought for a moment and try to work through your knowledge of what Scripture teaches. I believe that you will agree that in John 17, Jesus specifically prayed to the Father to not take us our of the world. While we are not of the world, we are to be fully engaged in it as Kingdom Ambassadors sharing the message of the the Kingdom of God wherever in his providence posts us. I just saw in today's Tribune that you are a Kingdom Ambassador who has been posted to serve there and be a bright light on the police force and wherever that job takes you. Roddie, serving in politics is no different. God does call His people to political government posts. Consider Joseph, Daniel, Nehemiah, David and the many righteous kings of scripture.

You see Roddie, the field is the world (Matthew 13) ALL of the world. None of it is off limits. Actually, those parts of life that are corrupt (politics, hollwood etc.) are corrupt because we who are salt have abandoned it by wrong teaching. Think about the internet. Here we see Delroy Meadows penetrating this area and using it to glorify God through Bahamasissues.com and Bahamabrands. The wheat anad tares will always continue to exist together so lets not allow politics to be a field of tares only!

So my brother let's take the full mandate and go to all the world and light it and salt it, preaching Christ and Him crucified for our sins and invite men and women to change their citizenship and defect from satan's kingdom to Gods.

Last, keep up the diligent work of writing and sharing with others through this wonderful media.

<quote>Should Christians Get Into Politics?</quote>

Hmm, so you are saying there are no christians in the current government, what are they then, Jewish, Muslim????? You dont have to be a pastor or die hard church goer to be a christian, I am christian and I dont even go to church right now, and people can say what they want. Eventually I will find one that appeals to me.

Besides there are tons of corupt so called "christians", we all know of that.

Originally posted by roddie
I must say it is amazing to see how we as Christians find various scriptures to go along with the ways of the world to be able to blend within the system of the world. Though we are entitled to our own opinions and we should be concern about what goes on in our country, there is another scripture that speaks of spiritual gifts. 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28 states, " And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, governments, diversities of tongues." If I were to decide on how to deal with this issue I would look serious at this particular scripture rather than looking at this from a trivial perspective.

Second Timothy chapter 2 verses 3-4 states, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." So, I ask the question, are you a soldier for Christ or are you blessed with the spiritual gift to be apart of the Government to have the people rejoice in this day and age?
Roderick R. Mckenzie

why dont you just post the scripts so we can read the bible ourselfs, can you come up with something that actually makes sense here, by yourself, without quoting someone else.

Rory, you wrote:

"Hmm, so you are saying there are no christians in the current government, what are they then, Jewish, Muslim????? You dont have to be a pastor or die hard church goer to be a christian, I am christian and I dont even go to church right now, and people can say what they want. Eventually I will find one that appeals to me.

Besides there are tons of corupt so called "christians", we all know of that."

First of all, let me say that I never said that there are no Christians in the current government nor did I suggest it. I was simply making the case to show that the Bible teaches that Christians are sent into all of life, politics included. Further, there is no quota. Every Christian needs to obey God and serve Him wherever He sends him or her, politics included.

You are correct that one does not have to be a pastor or die hard church goer to be a Christian. Further, you are correct that there are many corrupt "so called" Christians. Jesus warned that not all who say "Lord, Lord" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

When I use the term Christian, I do so with invisible quotation marks because the definition of Christian is relative. For many, being a Christian means that they are not Buddist, Muslim, Jewish etc. I actually prefer the term "disciple of Jesus Christ" for this is what Jesus and those who followed him used. We tend to emphasize belief and overlook lifestyle. The term disciple speaks about one whose lifyestyle is disciplined after Jesus Christ. It begins as a profession of faith with our lips but must eventually be manifested in our lifestyle. Therefore, we must define "Christian" from the Bible and not popular culture.

Rory, you are also correct that you do not have to go to Church to be a Christian, and I can honestly understand some of the reasons why you might not be currently attending. However, following Christ was always intended to be both personal and corporate in community with others. For example, look at Hebrews 10:24-25.

About connecting with a church, I would encourage you to actively pray and ask God to direct you to one that would be the right fit for you to grow in your relationship with Him. This would no doubt entail visiting several. I encourage you to be open to where God might choose to plant you. The approaching new year would be a great time to embark upon the journey of connecting with a Church family. I commit to also pray that God will give you clear direction in your decision. If I can be of any assistance in this regard, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to speak with you.

All the best.

ANYONE that says christians should not be involved in the things pertaining to the government should head back to the word of God and examine it carefully.

Theres a long list of great men of God who held very high positions in the government of there time.

And on the topic of christians with the name but dont walk the same you will
have some of that in every danomination

I first of all am happy to be able to participate in this forum. Let me say first of all that as a christian I don't believe that christians should become involved in politics.
Let me explain: If you were to survey the Holy scripiture you would discover one thing and that is that all of the christians, bible characters, authors etc who held political positions were all appointed leaders. In other words these people were not rooting and speaking with others to vote for them but they were seen as people who were connected to God and thus God directly or through various leaders appointed them all to serve as judges, prime ministers, and the rest. Because the Bibile is the only rule and faith for the christian I believe that if it was the intention that christians should go into politics that God would have had one example in His word that shows christians running for political office. Think about all that I have said carefully before you respond.

Preacher:

You actually can't find any case in Scripture where they voted for any political leader.... not even the non-Christian ones so your belief is flawed on this basic level. But lets still take it a step further.

I think that you have to also consider the varying kinds of government and then you will see that your argument can't hold water.

For example, based on what you have said, if a Christian living in a communist dictatorship is appointed to a legislative office, according to your reasoning, there is nothing wrong with him serving. Your ground to stand on is Joseph, Daniel etc.

However, according to you, whereever they are voted for, Christians can't be in poilitics. Clearly this is inconsistent.

Christians in politics have to do the same that Christians in every other area of life do: Glorify God in all that they do!

So preacher, he has called us to be salt and light to all of the earth and world...no part is exempt, including politics!

There is nothing wrong with Christians getting involved with Politics. The problem there is when these Christians have to compromise their christian beliefs to conform to the world.

We see it happening now with some of our Christians who are in Politics conforming to things of the world, so they could be accepted. When that happens we have to question what is their purpose.

Christians should take caution as they embark on a political career.

In defense of Preacher, I thought Apostle Moss was a bit too harsh in response to his contribution - no matter the shortcomings of his argument. Saying things like, "your argument can not hold water" is taking the level of debate to a potentially offensive high. We should learn to allow each other to express his/her view without being attacked in another's attempt to correct. It is clear Apostle, that you are well versed biblically, in fact, I respect your position on the Bynum matter. However, there is less need to prove yourself, as there is need for you to lead by loving example.

Should Christians get into Politics? We had better! This would better ensure 'revival,' than paying expensive preachers to work up a Bahamian crowd into frenzy, rather than action.

Neo & Preacher:

Sorry! I never intended my post to come across as being harsh.

However, Neo, your post reminds me of a major shortcoming of discussion forums like BahamasIssues. You see, all we can read from each other are words. We are told that words amount to only about 13% of any piece of communication whereas body language and tone together acount for 77%. Therefore, we are not able to see mannerisms and hear the tone of communication on this forum.

Again, there was no intentional harshness or trying to "prove" myself behind what I wrote.

I am now reminded to give my fellow forum members the benefit of the doubt regarding their intent, and I will certainly try to better choose my words so that I do not come across in any manner other than I really intend to.

Perhaps another thing that you picked up in my post is my deep conviction about the issue of Christians being mandated to go into all areas of life, politics included. I don't know how to avoid this one. You see, I only discuss issues about which I have a real interest and about which I hold deep convictions, and therefore a certain amount of passion. Also, I have come to learn that convictions not based on a sure foundation (God's Word) are not worthy for me to have. I realize that I can in this way run the risk of coming across as being dogmatic, but that's fine...my intention is never to be that way but I do know that it is at times impossible to avoid giving the impression.

I hope this helps to clarify the spirit behind what I wrote and will write.

Thanks again Neo.

Apostle,

You're at it again, only this time, with more sarcasm. I will continue to challenge you, until you get it. Love, Apostle, over righteousness.

Neo

Dear Friends--

As you study Early Church history, you will realize that Christianity
(and other religions) and politics have always been intertwined.
Even our Lord Jesus Christ was the victim of politics.

The apostles and the apostolic fathers and the heroes of the faith throughout the ages were great influences on the politicians of the day. Then, remember it was the emperor Constantine who finally made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, on many occasions, the church has thrived best when it was the underdog, fighting for survival, and not those times when it was in control.

So, what about today's politics. On the television today there was a huge "town hall" discussion about the fact that Pres. George Bush involved his strong Christian faith in every move and decision he makes. Of course, that does not guarantee he will make the right decision every time. David, King David, was himself in constant consultation with God, but he managed to make a few major errors in judgement.

I definitely think that politicians at the national level who are committed Christians have their work cut out for them. However, no matter where God has put them, they had better put God first!
Remember, that God is sovereign over all nations and all kings. We read again and again in scripture how He used other nations to punish Israel when it was necessary.

Unfortunately, in the Bahamas, where everyone knows everyone else, the opportunity to "be kind" to those very close to one, can be very tempting when one has achieved a measure of power and authority. Christian politicians however have a duty and responsibility to live out their Christian faith 24/7. Each of them, if he or she is serious about their faith needs someone to whom they are personally accountable. Of course, they are accountable to God. . .but I mean where temptation occurs, and it will occur, they would be wise to confess their temptation to the one to whom they are accountable, whom they can trust, and pray together that the temptation will be set aside and God's answer will be sought.

Oh my goodness, this is very long for a "newbie". Please forgive me!

Christians need to take a more proactive role in the leadership of our country!

Hmmmmm!!

:angel: