I sometimes receive appeals from well-known, politically liberal Christians who want me and other conservatives to refrain from our criticism of President Obama, with one even calling this criticism “unchristian.” I responded by calling this request hypocritical. Admittedly, some criticism by conservatives has crossed a line or been too extreme, and I believe distorted. Even so, this appeal by liberal Christians for conservative Christians to be more restrained would seem more genuine if they had been more restrained in their criticisms of the more conservative President Bush, and advocated this restraint by their fellow liberals at that time. However, we do have an obligation to the Spirit of truth to be true, and that must be our resolve.
Obviously, many liberals think that their extreme criticism of Bush was warranted because his policies warranted it, and therefore, they may have been very sincere. However, why do they think that the same could not be true of conservatives—that they were very sincere, rather than being “unchristian?” As I said, no doubt that conservatives might take this kind of appeal by liberals with serious weight if they had called for restraint by their fellow liberals in criticizing conservatives. However, this does not justify what either side is doing. It is not about which side we take. Are we really basing our perspective on the facts, on the truth?
In the liberal media, the extremes they highlight with conservatives are found just as much and just as extreme with liberals. They either do not see this, or do not think it is wrong for liberals to be that way, because they agree with their agenda. Have you noticed that those who are demanding the most tolerance from others tend to be the most intolerant of those who disagree with them? Hypocrisy is still hypocrisy regardless of which side we are on politically.
The same is true of the conservative media in relation to liberals. We both have extremes that often wrongly color those we disagree with. If it is true that the rhetoric needs to be dialed down on both sides, there does seem to be an opportunity for conservatives to take the high ground and start the process. If this were to happen, it is not likely that many would even notice it, but we should not care whether men notice it or not, but that God does. We are here to do His will.
By this I am not advocating compromising our convictions, or even speaking out about the extremes and dangers we may see in the agenda of those who have opposing views, but to do it in such a way that we do not demonize people, but rather their agenda or positions. As we are told in
Ephesians 6:12:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Our greatest victory is not to just win the debate, or to win elections, because we have persuaded more people to take our political views, but it must be to win people. We must never forget this. Above all things, we are called to love each other. The true disciples of Jesus will be known by their love for one another, and the ones who truly obey Jesus will even love their enemies as He has instructed us.
This having been said, and said sincerely, the main One we need to love, and be in unity with is God. Our main concern should be if we have offended God. What is now happening in America are the biblical judgments of God, which come upon any nation that begins to “call evil good, and good evil—that honors the dishonorable, and dishonors the honorable” (read Isaiah 5). The first judgment of God upon such a nation that has turned in this way is to give them immature, incompetent, and/or evil leadership. Could there be any doubt this is what is happening in America now?
Evil is what God calls evil, and good is what He calls good. By the definitions of these in Scripture, we not only now have evil leadership, but leadership that has proven astonishingly immature and incompetent. Because these are judgments from God, winning elections and winning people to our view should not be as important as humbling ourselves before God, repenting to Him, and asking for His grace to come back upon our nation.
I have now been a believer for forty years, and the majority of my time is devoted to seeking to know Him so that I can serve Him. Two of His characteristics that are the most astonishing to me are found in the Book of Revelation. One is: Why would He stand outside of His own church and knock to come in? (see Revelation 3:21) The other is: Why did He give Jezebel “time to repent” even when she was seducing His servants? (see Revelation 2:21) By these, we must conclude that, in this age at least, He will not come into any place, even His own church, where He is not wanted. We must also conclude that He loves even the most evil people and has an incomprehensible patience toward them in the hope that they will repent.
The goal of all who serve Him should be to be in harmony with His ways and His acts. Mercy does triumph over judgment, but there is a time when His judgments are His mercy. Many kinds of judgment are in Scripture, and only one is condemnation, and only one is destruction. The rest are the discipline of the Lord upon those He loves. As we are told in Hebrews 12, the scariest thing of all should be to not experience His discipline, which would only mean that we are not His. The fact that America is now experiencing the judgment of God is actually evidence that He has not given up on us yet.
Even though we can witness the judgment of God coming upon America in many diverse ways, there is also encouraging evidence that God has not given up on America yet. If we will repent and return to Him, our best days can actually be ahead of us. However, we must understand the times; we must understand His purposes; and we must align ourselves with them—not against them, or we could also cease to exist as a nation. God and His purposes are far bigger than America, and He can raise up even the least of the nations to use if He so chooses. Let us resolve that this will not have to be the case.