Legacy Christian Ministries, Inc. is excited to announce a new ministry lane to offer pastors and the body of Christ at large. Effectively immediately, scheduling is taking place for counseling and life advisement services from a distinctly biblical framework. These services can be in-person if you are in the Jacksonville, FL. region -or- virtual if distance is a problem.
Pastors may be interested for TWO distinct reasons:
There are college level text books seeking to reconcile the relationship between Christianity and politics. To attempt to blog out a few germane or relevant thoughts even makes me chuckle. How can one adequately address the nature of this connection? Perhaps the best attempt is to simply identify the inherent challenges alongside the biblical template and let the reader determine how their faith individually and how our corporate faith as the Church determines this relationship.
To engage politics biblically one must understand and appreciate the nature of the arena to which you have been called. Politics and government is exactly like every other mission field on the planet. It holds no special status of uniqueness or absolution from the corruption and dysfunction of sin to which the entire world has been stained. It is no different than the marketplace, public education, the news media, the entertainment business, professional sports, or our family units. To grant it a special space is to begin with a wrong premise. The presupposition of political or public policy engagement is that selfishness (sin) is at work and redemption is the only answer. This isn’t negative, harsh, or disrespectful. It is theology 101.
For years I have taught that the civic government arena (political sphere) is populated by the same people who live in every sphere of life. I have divided them up into 5 demographics which are the primary and perhaps exclusive concern of the Christian.
After 6 years, I recently stepped out of a role in an activist organization as the “director of church engagement”. The general job description was to help the evangelical church at large cross the bridge of separation and engage civic government as a mission field in a biblically authentic way. This experience, along with an additional 20 years of intentionally soliciting pastors towards greater engagement AS a senior pastor, at least gives me some qualification to speak to how that engagement and/or ministry might look. I think I am old enough now (66 years old) to recognize that mission strategy in any sphere of life may have some legitimate differences of engagement, yet can still qualify as biblical. Gospel work is not always one size fits all. That said, the Church’s call to spread the Gospel into every arena of life is not rooted in raw pragmatism and personal preference either. There are ecclesiological concerns. As the old saying goes, “The road to Hell is filled with good intentions”.
As I conclude this series of posts I have found it fascinating to read several rebuttals to what I have written. I understand there are warm-hearted, born-again believers who will land in the “anti-tithe” square primarily due to the idea that “we are no longer under the Law”. This, of course, is both true and false. There is much “law” quoted in the New Testament which obviously reaffirms its relevance. At the same time, we understand that Christ fulfilled much of the law through the finality of His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. While it is true we no longer practice the Old Testament sacrificial requirements to be at peace with God (atonement), it is equally as true that the moral force of obedience to the 10 commandments is still expected under a New Covenant. The question arises as to what stays relevant under the New Covenant? Again, tithing gets caught in the crossfire of these discussions.
