Christians and Conservatives

I know it’s been a couple of weeks since the whole eat-at-Chick-Fil-A-to-show-you-support-them thing, which for a lot of people was really an eat-at-Chick-Fil-A-to-show-you’re-anti-gay thing. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the whole ‘gay’ situation in America, and a couple of things bother me:

1) Conservatives who blame their view on what the Bible says
2) Christians who react to current events out of their Conservative perspective.


Hear me out – ‘Christian’ does NOT equal ‘Conservative,’ and ‘Conservative'  does NOT equal ‘Christian.' They will often times go hand in hand, but they are not synonymous, and it's foolish to act like they are. Doing so will ultimately give Christianity a bad name and hinder the Gospel.

As a Conservative, you would probably vote against gay marriages (or any other gay agenda), but don't say it's because the Bible told you so. The Bible also speaks against drunkenness, substance abuse, sex outside of marriage, the sanctity of life, fiscal responsibility, caring for the poor, orphans, and widows, and a host of other things. But some of these topics have become social 'norm' so most Conservatives don't speak up about them nor do they seem to even care about them. Conservatism is a political view and will only rise up when there is a political issue at stake. The problem is that most people confuse a political issue with a moral issue. Conservatives need to think about the political issues with the perspective of "What are the costs/benefits of this issue for the USA?" and not "Is this issue right or wrong?"

Christianity, not Conservatism, deals with moral issues. Is gay marriage right? Is abortion wrong? Would it be right to legalize marijuana? and does it matter whether it is right or wrong? It may be true that the USA was founded on Christian principles, but we are far from being a Christian nation, so let's not pretend we are. Instead of polarized political issues, we should care about the people affected by those issues. We should be focused on telling people about Jesus, because in the end, it's all about Him.

You might react, "But wait, isn't homosexuality wrong? Don't we have a responsibility to prevent that kind of behavior?" to which I'd reply, "I don't really care if homosexuality is right or wrong. I cannot show a non-Christian a Biblical moral standard and expect them to live by it. Jesus Christ works in the individual to transform behavior, but it is incredibly foolish on my part to throw individuals up against the standard presented in the Bible and expect them to change their ways. My Christian responsibility is to disciple people to Christ, and NOT to change them."

I am reminded of the lyrics of a song by Derrick Webb:


I’m so tired of these mortal men
with their hands on their wallets and their hearts full of sin
scared of their enemies, scared of their friends
and always running for re-election
so come to DC if it be thy will
because we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hill

you can always trust the devil or a politician
to be the devil or a politician
but beyond that friends you’d best beware
’cause at the Pentagon bar they’re an inseparable pair
and as long as the lobbyists are paying their bills
we’ll never have a savior on Capitol Hill


In closing, remember that Jesus did not come to transform political arenas. He came to transform your heart.