The reply that brother Macarthur
gave was so interesting, and so true, that I could not help but admire his
wisdom and kindness. He said that, aside from all the disagreements we may have
with politicians or their particular partisans, we must remember that as
Christians we don't, we cannot, hate anyone, regardless of how abhorrent the
political position they hold may be. I must confess that there have been times
when I have intensely disliked certain people because of the politics they
support. But brother Macarthur got it right. We cannot, as children of the God
who does good to the evil and the good, allow ourselves the perverse luxury of
hating anyone.
Brother Macarthur went on to say
that we cannot afford for anyone, even those who support such horrendous
practices as abortion and transgenderism, to believe that we hate them. And the
primary reason for that matter is simple: those folks are our mission field. If
we mistreat them or otherwise make them feel hated or unloved then, how are we
to be able to demonstrate that what we profess is true? How can we adorn the
gospel if our attitude toward those who are disagreeable is one of repulsion or
outright hate? Paul told Timothy to teach all to pray for kings and those in
authority (1 Timothy 2:3). And he said that at a time when the king, Caesar,
was hostile to the faith and would even, in Paul's case, end his life! How can
we do less?
I know, some of you right about now
may be thinking "what about the many within those groups such as
homosexuals and others who see our denouncing of their sin as hate
speech." I get it, there are a lot of folks out there who demand
acceptance and approval. They are not content with simply being left alone to
pursue their sin, they also demand that you approve and celebrate their
perversions. I am not proposing quiet acquiescence to such actions. I am,
however, proposing that we point out sin without being hateful or insulting.
It is true that we are grieved by
the continuing downward spiral of our society's mores. The coarsening of
society has been in full display in recent days as we have been treated to
snubbed handshakes and ripped up speeches. Very often we feel like Lot who,
living in the midst of untold immorality in Sodom, was continuously grieved and
injured by the behavior of those around him. But the answer is not to lash out
and "fight fire with fire." Rather, we are to imitate our Lord who
"when he was reviled he did not insult, when He was threatened He did not
threaten in return, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously"
(1 Peter 2:19ff). That is the attitude that should characterize us each and every
day in any and every situation.
But rather than being imitators of
our Lord, we often go on online social media to insult or belittle those who
disagree with our political positions. At other times, we blind ourselves to
the truth of particular candidates because they happen to hold a position about
an issue that we like and which is a "deal breaker" for us. We are
certainly to honor our leaders because they are our leaders. But we cannot be
so blinded by our political likes and dislikes that we fail to see the obvious
problems some individuals have. If we are willing to gloss over the obvious
sinful behavior of our leaders, will it be long before we overlook our own? Or,
are we already overlooking sin in our lives, thus becoming easier for us to overlook
sin in others?
We are not the judge of the earth.
Far from it. We too will have to stand before the judgement seat of Christ. But
if we are so willing to allow sin to be just another choice simply because we
agree with an individual's politics, where will it end? Overlooking sin in any
form hardens us to its deceitfulness. In order for us to remain sensitive to
our own sin, we have to remain sensitive to it wherever it is found. A man is
known for those things for which he takes a stand. He who stands for nothing,
will fall for anything.
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