Doing Good in Politics

I came across this excerpt while reading Wayne Grudem's Politics According to the Bible (page 48):

"Clearly, if we are here on earth to glorify God, we will glorify him (in part at least) by obeying the command, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Matt. 22:39). But that means that I should seek the good of my neighbors in all parts of society. 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' means that I should seek good laws that will protect preborn children. It means that I should seek good laws that protect marriages and families. It means I should seek good laws that protect children from the corrupting moral influences that want to use the classroom to teach that all kinds of sexual experimentation outside of marriage are just fine and that there is nothing wrong with pornography.

"One reason why Jesus left us here on earth is that we should glorify him by doing good to other people in all areas of life. 'So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith' (Gal. 6:10). Certainly that means that we should do good to others, as we have the opportunity, by being a good influence on laws and government and by having a good influence on the political process. Paul says this about Christians:

"'For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them' (Eph. 2:10).

"Jesus left us here on earth in part because he wants to allow our lives to give glory to him in the midst of a fallen and sinful world: 'Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven' (Matt. 5:16).

"So, should churches teach their people how to do 'good works' in hospitals and in schools, and in businesses and in neighborhoods, but not in government? Why should that area of life be excluded from the influence of the 'good works' of believers that will 'give glory to your Father who is in heaven'?

"I conclude that Jesus' command that 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself' means that I should seek the good of my neighbors in every aspect of society, including seeking to bring about good government and good laws."

I share Professor Grudem's perspective. Here is a link to a post that complements his views on this matter:

A Disciple's Thoughts: Political Decisions:

Ordinary Christians

Sometimes it's good to notice the extraordinary impact of ordinary Christians around me.

These are the Christians who serve God faithfully without knowing how much of a difference they are making in the world around them.

They love and respect their husbands and wives. They honor their parents. They nurture, discipline, and instruct their children.

They show up to work on time and ready for the day. They approach their jobs with good attitudes. They care about their co-workers, employees, and customers. They take the time to listen to the concerns of others, sometimes offering helpful advice and sometimes offering a prayer. They are sincere in their gratitude when they are helped; and they are willing to help others whenever possible.

They spend time reading their Bibles and praying. They want to be close to their Lord. They want to know him better. They believe what they read in their Bibles; and they trust that God is listening to their pleas on behalf of the people for whom they pray.

They enjoy worshipping with their local churches. They participate in and teach Bible classes. They clean the church buildings. They mow the grass and shovel the snow on the church's property. They serve food when the church shares meals. They drive the vans to pick up people who want to worship with them.

They volunteer to help teachers at their local schools. They coach and support their children's sports teams. They are involved in their children's scouting programs. They e-mail and meet with their political leaders in support of just legislation or in opposition to unjust legislation. They raise money to fight diseases. They recycle paper, plastic, and aluminum products to help the environment. They get their pets from the local animal shelter.

They share the good news of Christ whenever an opportunity arises. They adopt children, volunteer for pro-life ministries, and sponsor children around the world through Christian relief organizations. They send money to organizations that fight global poverty and others that translate the Scriptures into native languages around the world.

They are ordinary Christians, but they are intentionally committed to doing good so that others are blessed and God is glorified.

"...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

People Who Inspire Me: William Wilberforce

William Wilberforce was a member of the British Parliament in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Early in his political career, he experienced "the great change" in his life due to a friend who shared the message of Jesus Christ with him as they vacationed together over the summer. He placed his faith in Christ and made a genuine commitment to follow him as Lord.

At first, he seriously considered leaving his position as a member of Parliament. Prior to following Jesus, Wilberforce had not done anything of true significance as a politician. He had been concerned merely with his own position in society, his own fame, wealth, and power. However, a former slave ship captain changed his way of thinking on the subject. John Newton, the author of the song Amazing Grace, urged him to live out his Christian convictions while serving the nation as a politician. Newton encouraged Wilberforce with these words: "It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of His church and for the good of the nation." As an evangelical Christian committed to doing good for his nation in political circles, William Wilberforce became best known for leading the effort to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade and eventually slavery in the British empire.

Why does William Wilberforce inspire me?

1. He had a strong commitment to sound doctrine. This led to faithfully living out the implications of those doctrines. He pursued mercy and justice because he saw the God of mercy and justice through the pages of the Bible. His understanding of sin, grace, and Christ led him to oppose sin, extend grace, and honor Christ in every aspect of his life.

2. He was evangelistic. In his personal relationships, he sought every opportunity to share his faith. In the Parliament, he worked with many unbelievers. Some opposed him in every way. Others were his friends and allies. In both cases, he tried to persuade them of their need for Jesus. He even wrote A Practical View of Christianity, a popular book in which he shared his faith with the population at large.

3. He had a strong commitment to doing good. In addition to fighting the slave trade, he was heavily involved in the British Foreign Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, and the Society for the Manufacturing Poor. He worked to alleviate harsh child labor conditions and to improve prison conditions. He was a founder of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He did not limit himself to seeking good in one area. He sought every opportunity available to him to improve his world and to honor his Savior.

4. He persevered. Wilberforce endured years of poor health and problems with his children. He faced entrenched political forces that opposed everything he supported. He was slandered in public and humiliated in many ways. But he never gave up. He continued to seek the best for his family, his friends, and his society.

William Wilberforce was a man worthy of honor, because he was a man who consistently honored the name of God.

Christianity's Influence on the Civil Rights Movement

I've been reading Timothy Keller's
The Reason for God. In Chapter 4, Mr. Keller makes several interesting points about Christianity's self-correcting apparatus, it's ability to correct itself by pointing Christians to biblically orthodox doctrine. In a section on how biblical ethics have challenged and changed societies, the author writes about the impact of Christian abolitionists during the 18th and 19th centuries, the South African Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in the 1990s, the resistance to Communism in Poland during the 1980s, Oscar Romero's outspoken opposition to the government of El Salvador's corruption in the 1970s and 1980s, and the German Confessing Church's opposition to Hitler's reign of terror and injustice in the 1930s and 1940s.

I found this excerpt about the American Civil Rights Movement to be the most fascinating:

"Another classic case of this is the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the mid-twentieth century. In an important history of the movement, David L. Chappell demonstrates that it was not a political but primarily a religious and spiritual movement. White Northern liberals who were the allies of the African-American civil rights leaders were not proponents of civil disobedience or of a direct attack on segregation. Because of their secular belief in the goodness of human nature, they thought that education and enlightenment would bring about inevitable social and racial progress. Chappell argues that black leaders were much more rooted in the Biblical understanding of the sinfulness of the human heart and in the denunciations of injustice that they read in the Hebrew prophets. Chappell also shows how it was the vibrant faith of rank-and-file African-Americans that empowered them to insist on justice despite the violent opposition to their demands. Thus Chappell says there is no way to understand what happened until you see the Civil Rights movement as a religious revival.

"When Martin Luther King, Jr., confronted racism in the white church in the South, he did not call on Southern churches to become more secular. Read his sermons and 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' and see how he argued. He invoked God's moral law and the Scripture. He called white Christians to be more true to their own beliefs and to realize what the Bible really teaches. He did not say 'Truth is relative and everyone is free to determine what is right or wrong for them.' If everything is relative, there would have been no incentive for white people in the South to give up their power. Rather, Dr. King invoked the prophet Amos, who said, 'Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream' (Amos 5:24). The greatest champion of justice in our era knew the antidote to racism was not less Christianity, but a deeper and truer Christianity" (pages 66-67).

A Few Biblical Principles for Voting

"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper" (Jeremiah 29:7, NIV)

These are some biblical principles that I keep in mind as I prepare to vote:

1. The government exists in order to protect innocent people from those who would harm them (Romans 13:1-7). In a democratic republic, ordinary citizens are more responsible for their government than are the subjects of a dictatorship. We are responsible for seeking good leaders and just policies.

2. God's people have an obligation to seek the good of their communities, even if they are a minority within it (Jeremiah 29:7). We may not win every battle--in fact, we may lose most--but love for our neighbors will prompt us to continue our efforts to benefit them.

3. Many political decisions are matters of applying wisdom to differing circumstances. For example, sometimes wisdom demands that taxes be raised (Genesis 41:28-36). At other times, it requires that the burden be lowered (1 Kings 12:1-17). We need humility and wisdom from God to know the best course of action. Also, we need to be gracious toward those who do not see things as we do. They may not have as much information as we do, or they may have more. We need to be open to learning from those we see as our political opponents. Sometimes they are right.

4. On most political issues, God's people can remain silent. However, when an issue involves an unjust threat to innocent human lives, we cannot keep quiet (Esther 7:3-4). We will speak up for them. We will use our influence on their behalf. They need people who will defend their right to life; and we cannot remain aloof.

Gianna Jessen's Challenge

Gianna Jessen survived an abortion as a baby. Because of the attempted abortion, she lives with cerebral palsy today. In this video, she tells her story and issues a challenge to protect the weak among us. (Gianna is speaking in English, but the subtitles are in a language unfamiliar to me.)

"If you falter in times of trouble,
how small is your strength!
Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,'
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs 24:10-12, NIV).

How Much Attention Should Christians Pay to Politics?

How much attention should Christians give to politics? from Randy Alcorn on Vimeo.

A Challenging Pro-Life Message

This is an excerpt from today's broadcast of Nancy Leigh DeMoss' radio program Revive Our Hearts (www.reviveourhearts.com). It may be the most challenging pro-life message I've ever read...

"Proverbs 24:11 gives us this mandate, this challenge. “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” We cannot just stay in our little ivory towers, our little sanctified fortresses and watch the world participating in this culture of death and not care, and not get involved.

"The Scripture says we are to be actively involved in rescuing those who are being taken away to death, holding back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. Now, there are people who are stumbling to the slaughter in a lot of different ways—some in physical ways, physical death, millions and millions in spiritual death, in emotional death, believing lies that are causing them to go to the slaughter. So there are a lot of different ways we can live out that verse. But it calls us to care about those who are dying.

"There are many ways to be engaged in the battle for life. At the very least, certainly, we need to be concerned about laws that devalue life. We need to know where our elected officials stand on the issue of life. It’s really not just the issue; it’s the issues related to life. We need to vote, and we need to vote knowledgably and responsibly.

"I’m aghast when I hear how many people, Christians, well-meaning people (I know they love the Lord) vote for certain candidates, have voted for certain candidates who devalue life. And they say, “They have these other good points.” That’s not voting responsibly. That’s not rescuing those who are being taken away to death, holding back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

"A number of the staff in our ministry are involved in our local pregnancy care center here in Niles. That’s a way to be engaged in the battle for life. There are those in this room who are providing foster care, who are adopting unwanted children. Those are ways to be engaged in the battle for life. But those are the ways you think of most often. I want to take just a few moments in this session to probe a little more personally and a little more deeply into what it means to be pro-life.

"Most of our listeners I think if a poll were taken would identify themselves as pro-life—not all, but certainly most. I would say that undoubtedly that most in this room today would consider ourselves to be pro-life. But then the question comes, “Do we really treat all human life as precious? If we’re so pro-life, what are we doing to honor our Creator’s view of life? Do we value and protect life around us? So let me just in a stream of consciousness here give you a few things to think about along this line.

"First a question: Are you or perhaps your children being entertained by movies, shows, or video games that sensationalize or trivialize murder or that promote a cheapened view of life? Think about the shows that you go to see, the movies that you rent in your home, the TV programs you watch, the video programs your kids are playing. Are they showing a cheapened view of life? If so maybe you’re not as pro-life, truly pro-life, as what you claim.

"You see, the value we place on life, the value we really place on life, is not so much seen in what we call ourselves, what label we put on ourselves as it’s seen in how we view and treat other people including children. When I hear somebody say, “I can’t stand children,” I’m thinking this is not a pro-life person. They may call themselves pro-life, but if you’re pro-life, you will love children. Now children can be nuisances. Children can get in the way. Children can create issues. I’m not doubting that. But God loves the little children! And you can’t be pro-life and not love children.

"God loves the poor. None of us would say, “I don’t like poor people.” But how many of us go out of our way to avoid having to engage with someone whose needs are such that it’s going to call upon a response and we just don’t want to go there? Whether we’re really pro-life is seen in how we view the poor, how we treat them. How we view and treat those with disabilities, the elderly, those who can no longer care for themselves. How we view and treat our parents, in-laws, difficult people, those of other faiths, those who are immoral, people with whom we disagree politically, theologically, ideologically.

"These people, and everybody else I could name, are precious to God and they need to be precious to us. The way we talk to and about others says something about whether we are really pro-life, how we view life. When words come out of our mouth that are harsh when we’re talking about others, that are slanderous, when we destroy the reputations of others, when we say things about others behind their backs that we wouldn’t say to their faces, can we call ourselves pro-life? Can we say we view those people as precious to us, to be valued and protected?

"Let me just tell you one place where this really gets violated and it’s become a great heartache to me is on the Internet, in the blogosphere. What gives us the license? I’m talking about Christians here who disagree with someone theologically or ideologically and they slam them in the blogosphere, and they’re consigning them to the pit of hell for taking a different theological position.

"I saw some this week (and maybe it’s why it’s so heavy on my heart) that came into another ministry talking about another Christian leader. Now, you may not agree with everything this person stands for. You may not like their personality. You may not like their style. But what gives us license to ridicule them, to be harsh and mean-spirited? To be cruel and demeaning?
When we talk that way, when we write that way, we are demeaning the image of God. An attack on another human being, even if they are the most evil human being ever created, an attack on that person is an attack on God Himself. Now some of those people need to be dealt with. I’m not saying that there isn’t an appropriate way through legal means, through means that God has instituted to deal with evil people. But for us just to mouth off, spout off about people we disagree with . . .

"You see this is not just an issue out there. This is an opportunity for us as God’s people to model what it really means to view life as being precious. When the world sees us able to disagree even with pagans in a way that is civil and courteous and kind and gracious . . . Now I realize some of these are huge. How do you deal kindly and courteously with some of the heinous things people believe and do? It’s not easy. But when they see us speaking the truth in love it says that we’re of a different kingdom. "

Is It Racist to Disagree with President Obama?

Last winter, someone told me that people did not vote for Barack Obama simply because they are racists. He said, "They try to say that it's because of other issues, but you know it's just because he is black." I replied, "Um...I didn't vote for President Obama because I'm pro-life."

It may be hard to believe, but it is possible to disagree with President Obama without considering his race.

"...whoever spreads slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18).

"I Want to be President"

While watching the news about Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration with me this morning,

Christopher announced, "I want to be President!" Maybe someday...

What Do Pro-Life Christians Do Now?

As everyone knows, Senator Barack Obama has been elected to the presidency of the United States of America. He is committed to enacting the Freedom of Choice Act, a piece of legislation that would nullify 35 years of modest pro-life political victories. Parental involvement laws would be nullified. Restrictions on government funding of abortions would be nullified. Informed consent laws would be nullified. Partial-birth abortions would be legal again. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and hospitals would not be protected by laws designed to keep them from being forced to participate in abortions against their conscience. In addition, President-elect Obama is committed to appointing pro-abortion judges to all levels of the federal courts.

As bad as that may be, it gets even worse. Americans elected a very strong pro-abortion Congress.

In addition, voters in South Dakota rejected an initiative petition which would have banned abortions except in cases of rape, incest, and serious threats to the mother's health. In Colorado, voters rejected a proposal to define conception as the point at which life begins. In California, voters rejected a law requiring parental notification before a minor could undergo an abortion procedure.

The pro-life position was soundly defeated across the nation. Americans spoke clearly. They do not want the government to protect their pre-born children.

So what do pro-life Christians do now?

First, we refuse to give up. If we abandon this fight, more lives will be lost and more hearts will grow calloused. If we continue the effort to save lives, a few will be saved, even if we lose major battles.

Next, we pray for a change of heart. What would happen if President Obama recognized his negligence and took responsibility to protect pre-born children? The course of history could change.

Then, we must attempt to preserve every victory possible. Our political priority must be to stop the Freedom of Choice Act from becoming law.

Finally, we need to do the harder work. We cannot be content to complain and condemn. We cannot be content to be involved in the politics of the issue. We must be involved personally in the lives of the people who need help. This may take different forms, such as...

*Being willing to open our homes to homeless pregnant girls
*Adopting a child
*Volunteering at a pro-life pregnancy resource center or adoption agency
*Listening to and counseling our children and their friends as they make decisions about their lives
*Helping a pro-life urban ministry

However we choose to make a difference, we must become servants, not merely critics.

Will we regain lost ground? Will we preserve our gains? I cannot say. But even if we are destined to lose, let's lose with honor, courage, and integrity. The pro-life cause is noble and just. Win or lose, we cannot quit. Compassion forces us to keep trying. Lives are at stake.

Leadership Lessons from the Elections

"The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps his cool" (Sign outside a United Methodist Church in Jenks, Oklahoma).

As a husband, father, and Bible teacher, I have some leadership responsibilities. As such, I look for ways to improve as a leader. As I have paid attention to the elections this year, I have noticed an interesting contrast in a couple of the candidates that could help me as I seek to lead my family and others in a better manner.

President-elect Barack Obama never lost his cool during the campaign. He never became flustered. He never appeared irritable. He may have been surprised, but he never panicked. As a result, when crises came, he instilled confidence in his supporters. He infected them with his sense of confidence. They felt prepared to handle anything, because he seemed to be so strong.

On the other hand, Governor Sarah Palin appeared defensive and insecure, especially when questioned by the media. When Katie Couric asked her a simple question about the magazines she reads, Governor Palin seemed strangely evasive and defensive. Even her staunchest supporters were at a loss to explain her behavior. As a result, they became defensive and insecure. As they sensed her weakness, they became weak and unstable.

This observation has tremendous implications for anyone in any position of leadership, but I want to apply it to the family. In order to have a strong family, I need to be stable and self-controlled. If I give in to irritability, anxiety, and a defensive mindset, I become an unhealthy influence on those who depend on me. We, as a family, will be positioned for failure. If I approach challenges with a sense of confidence and self-control, I become a healthy influence,
and my family is positioned to succeed.

The same could be said for an employer, manager, elder, deacon, minister, coach, teacher, or a leader in another field.

Good leaders remain calm and self-controlled as they confront problems and issues. When they do, they inspire the confidence others need to tackle those problems and issues together with them.

A Proper Perspective on Voting

"What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away" (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

Next week, I plan on voting for pro-life candidates across the board. As usual, some of my candidates will likely win and some will likely lose. How should I respond?

John Piper offers this advice based on 1 Corinthians 7:29-31: "So it is with voting. We should do it. But only as if we were not doing it. Its outcomes do not give us the greatest joy when they go our way, and they do not demoralize us when they don't. Political life is for making much of Christ whether the world falls apart of holds together...This world matters. But it is not ultimate. It is the stage for living in such a way to show that this world is not our God, but that Christ is our God. It is the stage for using the world to show that Christ is more precious than the world.

"So it is with voting. We do not withdraw. We are involved--but as if not involved. Politics does not have ultimate weight for us. It is one more stage for acting out the truth that Christ, and not politics, is supreme."

The entire article is available at www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2008/3347_Let_Christians_Vote_As_Though_They_Were_Not_Voting/.

Candidate Surveys

With 2 weeks until election day, I would like to recommend two online voter guides:

1. Focus on the Family Action has produced surveys of federal and state candidates for each state at http://focusvoter.com.

2. Oklahomans for Life has produced a survey concerning pro-life issues for federal and state candidates in Oklahoma at www.okforlife.org/resources/OCT2008NL.pdf.

I hope these voter guides help in making decisions concerning the upcoming elections.

Infanticide and Politics

"Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, 'But we know nothing about this,'
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs 24:11-12).

I cannot pretend to be neutral. I am pro-life. Please check out http://www.bornalivetruth.org/ to find out about Senator Obama's record on infanticide. It is disturbing.

(Thanks to fellow blogger Christy Ellis for alerting me to the web site.)

(After reading this post again, I realized that I needed to explain my pro-life convictions and why I am not neutral on this issue. My explanation can be understood best by reading two of my previous posts:

http://adisciplesthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/01/happy-birthday-christopher.html
http://adisciplesthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/06/sage.html

In those posts, you will see why this issue affects me so personally and why I am so committed to opposing the unnecessary killing of children.)

Jesus, the Community Organizer?

Radio talk shows have been receiving calls from listeners saying, "Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor." Of course, those listeners have been attempting to equate Senator Barack Obama (a former community organizer) with Jesus Christ, and Governor Sarah Palin with Pontius Pilate (the governor who allowed the execution of Jesus).

Although a clever line with slanderous innuendo, it doesn't quite work. The problem? Jesus was not a community organizer. A community organizer lives in a community and organizes social programs or activism. When Jesus lived in a community, he worked as a carpenter. When he began his ministry, he wandered from place to place preaching. He did not organize a social program or initiate social activism.

However, this does not imply that anything is necessarily wrong with community organizing or with governing a state. Both can be done honorably. Both are needed. We need community organizers to deal with community problems. Where would we be without the community organizers who have initiated neighborhood watch programs to combat burglary, drug dealing, and gang violence? We need men and women who will organize to close down strip clubs and pornographic retail stores within neighborhoods with children. Where would we be without governors who take the lead in attracting decent businesses to a state, increasing teachers' salaries, and balancing budgets? We need leaders who will look out for the best interests of citizens. We do not need to demean honorable occupations or honorable volunteer activities in an effort to get our favorite candidates elected.

A Wife of Noble Character

"A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies" (Proverbs 31:10).

Everyone loves my wife Janet. With her friendly personality, compassion, and sense of humor, she makes friends easily.

She also has great integrity. She displayed it yesterday on a pop culture Internet discussion group. She has made several long-distance friends among the members, sending gifts at the births of children or grandchildren, making personal phone calls, and sending notes of encouragement during difficult times in members' lives. Yesterday, the discussion turned to politics. Nearly everyone in the group has voiced support for Senator Obama's presidential bid. However, Janet admitted to the members, "I LOVE Sarah Palin's pro-life/family stance!" It took a great deal of courage for her to admit to a pro-life stance among friends who oppose her views, but she displayed a winsome and noble character in doing so.

I'm grateful for a wife who will go against the flow when it's easier either to remain silent or to express mild support for something against her proper convictions. I'm thankful for Janet's example for our son, who will grow up seeing a mother willing to resist peer pressure for the right reasons. He will need to develop such backbone as he matures and faces peer pressure, too.

Influencing the Powerful on Behalf of the Weak in the Name of Christ

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed" (Psalm 82:3).

A co-worker has been passing around a video tape of the Saddleback Civil Forum, the series of interviews by Saddleback Church's Rick Warren with presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. This week, Janet and I had the opportunity to view it.

Both candidates did fairly well in answering difficult questions. I liked the nature of the questions posed by Rick Warren. "Does evil exist? If so, do you believe it should be ignored, contained, or defeated? When should a baby's life receive legal protection? How do you define marriage? Whom would you not have nominated to sit on the Supreme Court?" Such questions are important. The answers reveal a person's values and approach to life.

However, I was most impressed near the end of each interview when Rick Warren mentioned that 148 million orphans in the world are needing parents today. Then he asked each candidate, "Will you commit to making it easier to adopt those children? Will your administration make it a priority to remove barriers to helping these children?" I loved that question! Finally, someone has brought the plight of the world's orphans to the attention of our national leaders. Of course, both candidates were predisposed to answering favorably. Senator Obama has made it a point to advocate for help against the AIDS crisis in Africa, where millions of children are AIDS orphans. Also, Senator McCain and his wife Cindy have adopted a daughter from Bangladesh. So both candidates committed to look into what they could do as president to help the orphans of the world to find families to protect and nurture them.

Rick Warren honored Christ by letting the leaders of our country know that Christians want to help the weak and needy orphans of the world. He has done a great thing, something that I have not heard about in the news coverage of the event, but something important to the lives of many people around the world. He has used his fame well in advocating on behalf of the weak and fatherless.

Political Decisions

"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper" (Jeremiah 29:7).

I have followed politics to one degree or another for most of my life. As a student at Oklahoma Christian University, I minored in social studies, volunteered for a couple of political campaigns, and served as the chairman of one of the political clubs on campus. Over the years, I have searched the Bible for principles to guide me in making political decisions which I would like to share here:

1. The government exists in order to protect innocent people from those who would harm them (Romans 13:1-7). In a democratic republic, ordinary citizens are more responsible for their government than are the subjects of a dictatorship. We are responsible for seeking good leaders and just policies.

2. God's people have an obligation to seek the good of their communities, even if they are a minority within it (Jeremiah 29:7). We may not win every battle--in fact, we may lose most--but love for our neighbors will prompt us to continue our efforts to benefit them.

3. Many political decisions are matters of applying wisdom to differing circumstances. For example, sometimes wisdom demands that taxes be raised (Genesis 41:28-36). At other times, it requires that the burden be lowered (1 Kings 12:1-17). We need humility and wisdom from God to know the best course of action. Also, we need to be gracious toward those who do not see things as we do. They may not have as much information as we do, or they may have more. We need to be open to learning from those we see as our political opponents. Sometimes they are right.

4. On most political issues, God's people can remain quiet. However, when an issue involves an unjust threat to innocent human lives, we cannot keep quiet (Esther 7:3-4). We should risk making enemies (even powerful enemies) in order to save the lives of innocent people. This is the difficult part of loving our neighbors as ourselves, because it would be much easier to live in peace and quiet while others are suffering rather than to take risks on their behalf. We are not likely to be popular, but it is worth the risks in order to help others and to please our Savior.

Dad, Why Are You Not Voting for Barack Obama?

"Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,'
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs 24:11-12)

Among the virtues Janet and I are attempting to instill within Christopher are concern for vulnerable people and the courage needed to protect them. He knows a little boy about a year younger than himself who has developmental disabilities. The little guy is physically weak and mentally slow, but he loves Christopher. The problem is: he can't keep up with our son. He cannot wrestle, and he cannot even defend himself verbally when playing with the other boys. So Christopher knows that it's his job to protect the weaker little boy.

Last week, Christopher asked, "Dad, why are you not voting for Barack Obama?" I would have loved to have told him that I was voting for Mr. Obama. I would have loved to have been able to point to Senator Obama as another positive black male role model for my son to emulate, but I could not. I explained to Christopher that some people kill little babies before they are born, while they are still in their mothers' tummies. Barack Obama will not try to protect those babies. Instead, he defends the people who kill them.

Immediately, Christopher understood. He knew that something is wrong with a man who will not try to protect innocent and vulnerable people. He comprehended why his mother and father could not vote for Senator Obama, despite the man's personal charisma. Our son has already started to internalize our values.

Of course, Christopher's next question was: "What about John McCain?" I could not answer his question yet. His choice of a vice presidential running mate will give us a hint about how seriously he takes his responsibility to protect innocent people from those who would harm them. Perhaps we will know in a week or two, but for now, I'm pleased with our son's developing sense of moral responsibility.