The Bible and Politics part 1

I originally wanted to call this post The Two Bills because I think that people who follow me on social media will notice that I have a very tender part of my personality but that the other side can be quite ferocious. The topics the animate me one way or the other are the Bible and Politics. This has been a tension I have been wrestling with for a while. On the one hand, the Bible tells us to be gentle and caring toward all people. On the other hand, come election season, you become tired of being duped by two-bit con-artists. How do you balance the two?

This will be elaborated on more in a future post or discussion. For now, let me introduce you to the reality that there are two ethics inside of the Bible in relation to our human dealings. The New Testament provides the ethic that most Christians are familiar with and can be summed up by the Sermon on the Mount. This ethic deals strictly with one-on-one relationships. The second ethic is much simpler but easier to overlook. This ethic is that of the nation and is spelled out very specifically in the first five books of the Bible in what is called The Law of Moses.

The New Testament ethic is focused on compassion, mercy, and grace. These sentiments are what establish our transcendence among that which has been created in that it distinguishes us as beings created in the image of God. Ironically, in the world in which we live, these sentiments cannot be used to govern a nation.

The Old Testament ethic is focused on law, order, and justice. These sentiments are not necessarily effective in establishing relationships with people but provide the groundwork  for a fully functioning nation. This makes sense because the New Testament ethic was presented in a world where the Israel had essentially lost their nation and the focus was shifted toward love of mankind while the Old Testament ethic was focused on the establishment of a godly nation which was focused on conforming society to a strict set of rules to keep it from falling into the same destructive patterns of the rest of the world at that time.

In America we face an interesting predicament. Our government is made up by the people. We elect our officials which results in average people debating one another in public forums. I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with this, but as we all know, such conversations can get rather vicious. As a Christian it is a struggle to know what level of disagreement in politics would be acceptable in the eyes of Jesus Christ.

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