"I will preach on politics. I will include sins of the culture and the wickedness and corruption of politics in my preaching--and all the more so because politics has a trickle-down effect that touches each one of our lives. It is my responsibility and duty before God and before the people to do so. The whole counsel of God includes exposing people's sins and the sins of a nation. "Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching" (2 Tim. 4:2, AMPC). Part of every preacher's calling is to press the influence of kingdom culture on the existing culture, as John the Baptist did (Luke 3:10-14, 19-20). If you want to be biblical, faithful and true, preach and press the values of the kingdom of heaven upon the existing culture, which includes politics." -- Bert Farias
No Bert; it is not. It is not your duty before God to drag the carnal politics of this fallen world into the Gospel. There is no bible verse at all that says your job is to expose the sins of a nation. That is straight up NAR gobbledygook. Even your usage of the Amplified version of 2Timothy 4:2 does not support this. It says explicitly, "to show people in what ways their lives are wrong." You should have gone on one more verse:
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. -- 2Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV)
You are leading people away from the true Gospel and into carnal political myths. The myth that one political party is God's choice. The myth that if the sinners in this country would just behave better than God will stay the coming wrath. The myth of conferred righteousness that says if you vote the way I do, then you are doing God's will. Nowhere does the bible say the role of the preacher is to press the influence of kingdom culture, which is a made up NAR term, on the existing culture. Your citation of John the Baptist doing this is ridiculously absurd. Let's examine this:
And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages." -- Luke 3:10-14 (ESV)
How sad again that Farias cannot even see how these verses seem to exude the carnal practice of socialism! If you have two tunics -- give one to someone who has none! The reality here however is that Farias has made a claim not supported by the scriptures he cites. His claim is that John the Baptist tried to press this false notion of kingdom culture on top of the existing culture. That is not at all what he did. The NAR dominionist agenda calls for changing politics and therefore government into a Christian sharia law. Where Christian values and morals are forced upon the general population. John the Baptist did not try to change the system. He was giving individuals advice and counsel for what it means to follow the Christ that was to come. Take care of the needy. Do not cheat people for wicked gain, as was the norm for tax collectors and soldiers. He did not seek to change these things at the government level but at the individual person level. If you want to be biblical, faithful and true you must preach the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ. The role of the Gospel is not to change culture but rather to save people out from it. Farias now lists several forced choices he has created to extoll the nature of politics.
"Politics can be righteous or wicked. It can be good or evil. It can be moral and upright or immoral and corrupt." -- Bert Farias
No Bert, it cannot. Politics are inherently evil, unrighteous, and corrupt. You must understand that the NAR has boiled all Christian political concern down to two wedge social issues. As long as their candidate says they are with them on these two issues they will blindly follow and pretend the rest of the candidate does not matter. Let's turn to history to hopefully learn. In the late 1990's Bill Clinton was being impeached for lying under oath in a civil deposition regarding his unseemly affair with Monica Lewinsky. The church was morally outraged and lined up with the Republican Party that was driving the impeachment. The leaders of this great moral outrage were Dennis Hastert, Newt Gingrich and Bob Livingston. You could not turn on the TV without one of all three berating the world about how America needed to return to her moral Christian roots. Well, Clinton was impeached and now with the benefit of history and hindsight we understand who was leading this great moral Christian revolution. Livingston would have to resign from Congress due to multiple affairs on his wife. Gingrich would be discovered also be having an affair with a congressional aide half his age. Hastert was apparently molesting little boys for decades. No Bert. Politics will always be wicked because man, will always be wicked.
