Episode 189 Show Notes
How Should Christians Handle Disagreements Over Politics?
From the Show
Is possible to be conservative and also agree with liberal concerns for the environment?
There is a very interesting and famous conversation that Francis Schaeffer had with a more moderate, not a conservative, theologian, Karl Barth, in the 1950s. Schaeffer asked Barth if he believed God created the world, and Barth answered that he did so in the first century AD. Then Schaeffer pointed outside and asked whether that included this world, the forest and the hillside, to which Barth answered, “this world does not matter…”.
To make everything about the incarnation of Christ, the life of Christ, the death of Christ, and redemption by Christ while getting rid of the doctrine of creation is heretical. I mean, you have to realize the God who redeems is the same God who created. The reason I'm focusing so much on Schaeffer is because I miss him so much, but I think he would be great in this conversation. He didn't come at things from a superficial point of view. He wasn't immersed in the political theater that we have going on now where politics has become entertainment, a kind of bloodsport that we like to watch just to make ourselves feel that we’re right and everybody else is demon possessed.
We have to stop thinking in terms of political labels that have been created for us by the world; the loudest, meanest, and often the most ignorant people on the left and the right. We have to start thinking like Christians again, going deeper into our theological resources for richer understanding of creation, fall, redemption, and the consummation when the whole creation will rejoice with the children of God in its liberation from the curse. So, I say, let's unplug CNN and Fox and our favorite Twitter feeds and read some good theology, as well as some sane discussions of the facts related to climate change and other issues. Whatever policies that we pursue, let them be our policies. Things that we've actually formed through prayer and study, and stop letting the world think for us. — Michael Horton
Questions in this Episode
1. When does going to the gym and wanting to look good become an idol?
2. If we truly are walking in the Spirit will we no longer sin?
3. Is it possible to be conservative and also agree with more liberal concerns for the environment?
4. In John 14:2-3 it seems like Jesus talks about heaven in other spheres of dimension but in Romans 8:22 Paul seems to talk about heaven as the restoration of this present creation. How do these fit?
5. I understand that we are no longer under the Mosaic Law but are the ten commandments part of the Mosaic law and are Christians still obligated to follow them today?
Resources
10 Things We Learn from the Ten Commandments
7 Things the Bible Teaches about Your Body
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