{"id":1456,"date":"2016-10-17T19:51:03","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T00:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/?p=1456"},"modified":"2016-11-24T09:50:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-24T14:50:19","slug":"christian-faith-and-the-u-s-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/?p=1456","title":{"rendered":"Christian faith and the U.S. Presidential Election"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1457\" src=\"http:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/bible.jpg\" alt=\"Christian argument for trump\" width=\"960\" height=\"721\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/bible.jpg 960w, https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/bible-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/bible-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We\u2019re at the height (and fortunately the end!) of a very divisive and contentious political campaign.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>People who know me, likely know how I will vote. More about that later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Mr. Trump has sought the support of notable leaders of evangelical Christian institutions and organizations.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 I&#8217;ve listened to Jerry Fallwell Jr. \u00a0I&#8217;ve read Wayne Gruden<\/span>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 I have watched Ralph Reed and Kenneth Copeland.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I am a Christian. I respect anyone&#8217;s decision as an individual to support and campaign for any candidate, including Mr. Trump. My only ask is this:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Campaign for Trump because you believe in his ability to execute sound economic policy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 Because you believe people need a tax brake\u00a0and der<\/span>egulation of Wall Street.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Campaign for Trump because you believe in his positions on social policy, on abortion and gay marriage, on building a wall, on education.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Campaign for Trump because you believe his views on environmental policy, on energy and fossil fuel, that climate change is a fraud. <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Campaign for Trump because you believe in his ability to execute foreign policy, on dealing with ISIS and terrorism, on dealing with trade partners.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Campaign for Trump because you believe his character, professionalism, and leadership is best suited to unite and lead this country.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But for the sake of the Christian church and the faithful, I\u2019d ask that you not suggest that it was Jesus, the Bible, or any tenants of Christian faith that led you or others to support Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Personally, I cannot reconcile the scriptures and my Christian faith with candidate Trump or the Trump campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I believe in a body of Christ that includes right and left, conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, white and black, majority and minority.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I believe in a body of Christ that loves mercy, seeks justice, but most of all walks humbly with God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is a body of Christ that loves its neighbor as itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I believe in a body of Christ that is oriented not toward the healthy, wealthy and well off, but to the ill, the poor, and the disadvantaged<\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0\u2013 the harlots, the lepers, and yes, even tax collectors. <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I believe in a body of Christ that is humble, poor in spirit, and merciful. <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I believe in a body of Christ that has no need for candidates or political parties, just the acceptance of grace and the dedication of service.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I believe in a body of Christ that flourishes when it transcends politics and is corrupted when it stoops to it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Jesus didn\u2019t campaign for candidates. Indeed, Jesus\u2019 sharpest commentary was not for the Roman government or its bureaucrats. His most caustic rebukes weren\u2019t even for his civilian executor Pontius Pilate. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus\u2019 most stinging commentary was for the leaders of the church at the time, most of whom were focused more on rules, laws and regulations and &#8230; yes, politics! &#8230; than they were of the material and spiritual needs of those they were meant to serve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I\u2019m a Christian.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Like all Christians, I\u2019m deeply flawed but redeemed through Christ\u2019s sacrifice and God\u2019s grace. So for those of you who are Christians and are voting for Trump, I\u2019m not here to tell or lecture you that this is or is not in line with our faith. A political choice is just that \u2013 a political choice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I can&#8217;t reconcile the scriptures and Christian faith with candidate Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I will vote for Hillary Clinton. I dont&#8217; know Hillary Clinton, but I&#8217;m fortunate to know many people who do. To a person they have &#8211; while recognizing her flaws &#8211; say that she is a decent, earnest, hard-working, and faithful public servant. They describe her Christian faith as longstanding and unwavering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But with that, I\u2019m not going to suggest that my vote is God\u2019s will. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">I\u2019m not even going to suggest that God &#8220;needs&#8221; my vote for one candidate or the other.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 My God is bigger than that.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">My God&#8217;s Providence and Dominion will certainly prevail regardless of whether I\u00a0show up or not on voting day. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But show up I will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">My best friend framed this properly. \u00a0He said it was a matter of identifying dependent and independent variables. Is my candidate a function of my faith values? Or do I chose my candidate based on my personal desires and then contort my religious convictions to support that choice?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In the words of President Lincoln, &#8220;my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God&#8217;s side, for God is always right.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re at the height (and fortunately the end!) of a very divisive and contentious political campaign.\u00a0 People who know me, likely know how I will vote. More about that later.\u00a0 Mr. Trump has sought the support of notable leaders of evangelical Christian institutions and organizations.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve listened to Jerry Fallwell Jr. \u00a0I&#8217;ve read Wayne Gruden.\u00a0&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1456"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1468,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions\/1468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}