So that we can lead activist governmental lifestyles? No beloved. So that we might lead quiet and peaceful lives. Notice the result of not getting tangled up in the ways of this wicked world -- so people can be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth! This verse does not say that it is pleasing to God that we all run for office. Idleman then resorts to a strawman argument. No one is suggesting that you cannot be president and Christian. We are saying stop tasking the entire church to pursue it over the Gospel.
"2. Apathy is not biblical. A believer should be involved in running for office, voting and/or monitoring those in office to assure that they perform their duties. The welfare of society often falls into the hands of the Christian community. I challenge those who believe we should remain passive and silent to read the writings of the Old Testament prophets. They lamented, shed tears and pleaded with the people and the leaders to turn from their sins and to turn back to God--they spoke the truth in love. Even Jesus wept for Jerusalem when He saw its destruction was near. Martin Luther King Jr., in "A Letter From Birmingham Jail" on April 16, 1963, wrote, "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." I hold the same opinion today." -- Shane Idleman
Here is the fundamental disconnect. Shane Idleman is directing this towards the country and not the church. The Old Testament prophets were not weeping over the Amorites or the Philistines. They were weeping over the sinful, backslidden people of God and if Shane Idleman is calling for the body of believers to stand up again and be the church -- count me in! That is not what he is saying however, is it? Jesus wept for Jerusalem because they were like sheep without a shepherd, as are the majority of people who line the pews today in this country. Do you know why? Because the one day of the week they should hear the Gospel from their shepherd they instead hear about conquering the world and those grubby sinners living in it. Or about how their evil political party is really the righteous pick.
Here is a news flash for the NAR adherents who ascribe to this teaching. Jesus was apathetic towards the government of His day. So claiming apathy is not biblical makes for a nice sound bite but in and of itself is unbiblical. The apathy Jesus had towards the Roman occupation even drove His disciples nuts. They always wanted to know if He was going to deliver them from their worldly oppression much in the way the NAR teaches that we have to fight the same worldly oppression. In both cases the true mission is lost and that is the preaching of the Gospel to drive out eternal oppression. How obsessed were they with their worldly situation?
And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. -- Luke 24: 19-21 (ESV)
This is after Jesus had died and they are still lamenting that He did not deliver them from Rome! They still did not see the bigger picture of deliverance from sin! When we insist on focusing on trying to cure this fallen world we do the exact same thing.
"3. We engage the culture or we lose. There is always a fight; the tides of evil will always wash against the shores of hope and peace. Silence is not an option. We can no longer hide behind the excuse, "I don't want to get involved." As citizens, we are given the privilege, for now, to place people in positions of leadership. Like it or not, we are involved. Millions are not registered to vote, and millions of registered voters stay at home. We'll stand in line to see a movie, but we won't stand in line to vote and elect leaders who will affect the direction of our country. This makes a statement about what we value--and isn't it sad? During this election cycle, register to vote and then vote your values. It really is that simple." -- Shane Idleman
What Idleman never considers is that the true righteous choice might be to not choose between one evil or the other. He includes the coy "vote your values" tag line of the NAR which is code speak for voting for the Republican Party. The value Idleman omits to mention is the abortion issue. Beloved, it was six republican judges that gave us Roe V. Wade and many more have affirmed it over the years. It is not a matter of not getting involved but rather truly voting our values. In 2014 the choice was between a hyper-liberal Christian and a member of a satanic cult. Do not think for a second that is not what Mormonism is beloved. Faced with this impossible choice the NAR and apostate church insisted that the satanic cult member was "God's choice" that more closely represented our values. I am sure Shane was in the front of the pack cheering Mitt Romney on in the name of Jesus Christ, who Romney believes is the brother of the devil. I am not saying do not vote just that we need to stop dragging God into our evil choices so we can feel better about therm.
