© 2007-2010 Brian L Hunter

More On Preaching Politics

 “For while I was with you I resolved to know nothing except Jesus the Messiah, and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2 ISV)

Preaching politics from the pulpit reveals faithlessness and fear which, sowing unto the flesh (Galatians 6:8), shall continue to reap division and not the unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17. How is God glorified when the ignorance, prejudice, and fear concerning any social ill or political displeasure is preached instead of His love, omnipotence, and sovereignty? Satan comes as an angel of light to preach such things (2 Corinthians 11:14). God’s grace has not ceased to be sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). When in chains and awaiting execution, Paul did not preach the need for political activism, civil disobedience, or different government to Timothy. Spiritual bigotry is no closer to exhibiting God’s righteousness now than it was during that recent era when, in America, we raped, whipped, and sold slaves on Sunday morning before heading to the local church for service. It would be easier to mix oil and water successfully than to mix faith and fear. The combining of lies with truth, however, has been Satan's modus operandi since the fall of mankind. Leaders of the first century visible church, following the lead of the apostles and also suffering vicious persecution under Nero throughout the Roman Empire, did not preach anti-establishment, political messages. No. They preached Christ crucified and the gospel spread exponentially, miraculously, and without the type of division that political preaching absolutely guarantees. Preaching politics from the pulpit is not completely unlike abusive fathers molesting their daughters since home and church should be the safest gathering places on earth. Let us, therefore, preach Jesus (and Him crucified, 1 Corinthians 2:2) rather than the wisdom of men, the gospel of peace rather than self-righteous condemnation of others, and the love of God rather than hypocrisy, bigotry, and hate. www.ministryofwritinghelps.com

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

There is a difference of opinion inherent in politics. All Tweets aside, America’s founding fathers had the foresight to mandate that voters be able to cast their vote in private to protect the secrecy of the ballot. Preaching politics from the pulpit is not unlike eating meat which has been sacrificed unto idols (1 Corinthians 10:29). William Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar 3/2, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Please allow me now to write this; friends whose hearts and attitudes threaten to separate us from the way, the truth, and the life need to be expeditiously separated from our lives by the two-edged sword of God’s holy Word, who was and is and is to come. What does it profit a man to gain a flesh-driven political utopia and yet forfeit his soul in the process (Matthew 16:26)?

© 2013 Brian L Hunter

Should Politics Be Preached?

“Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

When we use the pulpit to share our political views we engage in activity demonstrated nowhere in the Pastoral Epistles. Does the love of God constrain us (2 Corinthians 5:14)? Or, is division and schism in the body of Christ our aim? Diluting the message of the gospel with partisan political views is something the spirit of Antichrist anoints otherwise good servants of a sovereign and omnipotent God to feel justified in doing. Yet, political vitriol is not born of love and can never be delivered without sarcasm. Partial obedience still adds up to disobedience. Hatred, no matter how subtle and cleverly disguised, is neither motivated nor condoned by God (1 John 4:8). www.anointedwritenow.com

Any reader of the Book of Genesis knows that sin did not originate with a political party. Nor did sin originate in this country only after slavery and Jim Crow laws were rescinded by the effectual working of God’s grace through the instrumentality of the Constitution of these United States of America. Keeping in mind that all have sinned (Romans 3:23), should those redeemed by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), acting fearful rather than faithful, illustrate any perceived threat of evil as being somehow too great, too dangerous, and too insurmountable for the omniscient wisdom of a sovereign and omnipotent God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to guide us safely and victoriously through?  Do we mistakenly think ourselves Christ-like when we rally a mob and use speech to incite violent attitudes toward any particular group or party because their worldview may oppose our own? Our own ignorance, prejudice, and fear aside, is such divisive discourse really our testimony of who Jesus Christ is?

Jim Jones preached a political, anti-establishment gospel quite effectively for the enemy’s cause. The apostle Paul warned against preaching what he called another gospel in Galatians 1:7-9 and 2 Corinthians 11:4. I would urge us to avoid that flavor of Kool-Aid in favor of the whole counsel of God’s Word, including the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Romans. Politics preached from behind any sacred desk is divisive. Rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) does not lead prayerful disciples who are filled with the Holy Spirit to engage in behavior completely contrary to the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17:11-23. God’s protection of His beloved is likewise inextricably bound together with this prayer. I would rather be divided by truth than united in doctrinal error. As an individual, I can be accused of many things by many people. However, the arguments I propose for the purposes of ecclesiastical review, spiritual contemplation, and debate are, indisputably, scripturally well anchored. Therefore, fearing God and His righteous judgment of hypocrisy and idle words (Matthew 12:36-37) infinitely more than any political candidate, special interest group, or government, I admonish all of us who profess Christ as Lord to become more diligent to make sure neither our confession nor our particular brand or form of religiosity (2 Timothy 3:5) has been trusted in vain (Matthew 7:22). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) There is one name, Jesus Christ, not one political party, not one world view, not one government, not one school of thought, but one name whereby we, preachers, smokers, drinkers, pro-abortionists, anti-abortionists, homosexuals, Republicans, and Democrats alike, must be saved. 

My personal feelings are irrelevant when I step behind any pulpit and become responsible for preaching God’s Word. I will not lean to my own imperfect understanding when it comes to God’s sovereignty, His mercy, and His grace. The question most prevalent in my mind is why He loves me, a poor sinner, as much as He obviously does. If I happen to become angry with you, your political party, or your attitude, I pray that I can be angry and yet not sin in, by, and through my anger (Ephesians 4:26). My own heart and the beam in my own eye (Luke 6:42) should concern me much more than the actions of any president, god, or government. Is God in control or is He not? In whom do I really place my trust (Psalm 27:1, Psalm 56:11, Psalm 118:6, and Hebrews 13:6)? God has not called anyone to preach fear. How does preaching divisiveness edify us (Ephesians 4:29)?

Genuine disciples of Jesus Christ do not particularly care what the media reports today. Unlike Oprah Winfrey, our faith is not in mankind. Our hope is built on something infinitely more reliable than politics. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

© 2013 Brian L Hunter

A Critical Analysis of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741) by Jonathan Edwards

Protestantism in the American Colonies had been steeped in Reformed Christian doctrine fueled by the systematic theology of Calvin. This era of heightened religious sensibility and evangelism, exposing such biblical realities as the equality of all men and Enlightenment principles of egalitarianism such as inalienable rights endowed by their Creator, helped formulate the democratic thinking that led to the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin supported George Whitefield, perhaps the most famous of the evangelical preachers during this period in Colonial America, by printing his sermons in his Gazette. This sets the stage for Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards’ sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is perhaps the best literary example of the style of preaching taking place during the Great Awakening. With vivid imagery and illustrative language, Edwards very emotionally addresses his congregation directly and makes an appeal for them to repent of the sin that will surely bring the deserved wrath of an angry God to bare upon them. “What are we, that we should think to stand before Him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?”

With such questions as this, Edwards causes his audience to contrast and consider themselves in comparison to the terribleness and omnipotent, absolute judgement of God. That God’s power is absolute and His wrath justified against sin is very evident throughout Edwards’ sermon. He also aptly interjects Scripture passages to further illustrate the unfortunate position of sinful man. “John 3:18.” He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.” Making clear the distinction between saints and sinners, Edwards brings Puritan beliefs into conversation with the rationalist and deist creators of the Enlightenment.

Ethics become a central issue in the social context of evangelical revivalism as well as provincial politics. Ethics and the issue of morality are the ballroom within which the old and new schools of thought in Colonial America find themselves dancing towards a revolution of ideas. Edwards seems to be somewhat of a preacher with a Reformed theological ideology who expressed Calvinist soteriology in more modern language than his predecessors. Edwards wanted his audience to know with certainty that Hell is a real place to be shunned and that God was, is, and ever would be an omnipotent God whose wrath and judgment are to be feared above all else. With vivid imagery in scenes such as, “There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.” The appeal Edwards makes in his conclusion is most compelling even today; for those currently out of Christ to come forth and surrender their lives and accept this momentary window of opportunity to avoid the tyranny of God’s wrath, damnation, and hellfire that is promised in Scripture. www.ministryofwritinghelps.com

Ungodly Obama Hatred Recognized

"You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34 ESV)

 
Not all "Obama Hatred," now an easily recognizable psycho-social category of discriminate unrest in America, is as politically inspired as slavery. No. Believe it or not, as ludicrous as the notion may seem in the year 2013, a long and recent history of white-supremacist dogma rooted in Lilliputian interpretations of the Bible reinforced by Hollywood wherein Moses, Jesus, and even God the Father have blond hair and blue eyes, rears its racist head in the vast majority of disparaging remarks about the 44th President of the United States.We have obviously ceased comparing apples to apples and opted instead to unleash historically documented evil in America the beautiful, the core of which can neither be ignored nor hidden from view.
 
© 2013 Brian L Hunter