SPIRITUALITY AND POLITICS NOT RELIGION

SPIRITUALITY AND POLITICS
NOT RELIGION

We are not all on the same page with our belief systems, politics, issues, religion and our ethics. I think there is little doubt there are major disagreements in what is important to us and what we understand as basic moral values. Why do you believe what you believe? That’s a loaded and interesting question that actually calls us to make our choices on nearly all matters of life on those tenets of faith we profess. Which then causes us to ask; Do I know what I believe? How important is it to any decision making process? The answer is it is extremely relevant and those choices we make now affect not only us but also our children and generations to follow.
Looking at the polls won’t help much due to the fact they change daily. Our morals and values cannot be determined by popular trends, the loudest voice, slickest delivery and even what’s best for the economy. You see as Christians, believers, people who believe the teachings of the Bible and embrace the truth of God’s character, our opinion is already settled. God’s already taken His poll and we should be on His side even if it is the smaller percentile. Someone said, we vote on issues not personalities that line up with our God given belief system. Our dear old grandparents were not wrong, nor foolish or uneducated farmers that were void of today’s technologies so unable to respond to the problems of their day. Why? To most of them it was already settled and the rest fell to prayer for leaders who had been elected.
I’m writing in the Religion section of the newspaper of Shawnee, Oklahoma, the belt-buckle we say of the Bible Belt. I don’t recall seeing the Hindu, Jewish, Moslem or Buddhist perspective offered. Why? They came from elsewhere and were I in the genesis of their countries, you would not find Christian doctrine expressed there. I am well aware this is dangerous ground I stand on but honestly, with all our freedoms, history and protections, aren’t we still sealed by a higher moral authority?
It is what God says, not Gallup, that dictates my choice. It is the Word of God (already settled forever in Heaven) that inspires me, not political parties. Sure, I’ll have to open my Bible and read, study and pray to arrive but true doctrine will not divide, it will unite us on those matters of morality. This is a spiritual world we live in, always has been. I am faced with the same dilemma that a crowd of doubters and religious folk encountered on a mountain called Carmel. The question put forth was plain, frank and penetrating, “If God be God follow Him?” I Kings 18:21. “How long will you waver between two opinions?” My opinion is not needed but my vote is. My opinion is already stated on the real issues… in the Word of God. So if it sounds fanatical, out-dated, unpopular, fundamental, right wing, etc., so be it. I believe in the teachings of that ancient old book…The Bible. He does not need me to approve His message; He needs me to believe it.
Pastor Larry Sparks