DISCERNING POLITICAL ISSUES WITH A BIBLICAL LENS
We trust today’s message encouraged and guided you in your journey of following Jesus. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or be used for a sermon group discussion.
Sermon Title: DISCERNING POLITICAL ISSUES WITH A BIBLICAL LENS
Scripture References: ROMANS 8:19-25
Well, we’re 15 days away from the General Election on November 5th and I feel a holy burden from God to address and engage this subject with Biblical discernment. As a follower of God, as a student and pastor of God’s Word, I can’t help but observe and discern this subject with a Biblical lens.
Notes:
Politics Defined
The word politics means the science of government and derives from the Greek word politicos, first modeled in Aristotle’s “Affairs of State.” The adjective “politicos” comes from polis and politis, two words used in Ancient Greek political thought to describe the concepts of state and citizen respectively. -https://thegreekonlineschool.com/news/politics-world-wide-greek-words/
Cambridge: Politics are the activities of the government, members of law-making organizations, or people who try to influence the way a country is governed.
Biblical Worldview Defined
A Biblical worldview holds to the conviction the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself, and His revealed will for mankind that has established absolute truth guiding our beliefs, values, views, and decisions. A Biblical worldview is the frame and foundation by which I view and decide on everything. Therefore, when it comes to life as we know it…according to the Bible God always existed, God created everything, and all things belong to Him (Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 24:1) In God’s perfect order He created human beings, male and female (Gen. 1:27), and instituted marriage to unite one man and one woman together (Genesis 2:21-25). God blessed them and gave them this mandate, be fruitful and multiply (procreate). Fill the earth and govern it, even reign over all the living creatures in the water and on the ground (Gen. 1:28). God even provided the means to complete their task by giving them seed-bearing plants and a chain of food for every creature (Gen. 1:29). Lastly, God looked over everything He had made and saw that it was very good (Gen.1:31). The order of institutions was perfect, God, supreme creator overall, created human beings, marriage, family, and gave authority to man to represent God on earth and govern over the earth. But then came the fall of man into sin where mankind did not submit to God’s authority, therefore, disorder and conflict entered our world (Genesis 3:1-13). Because of sin, the whole earth was subject to God’s punishment and the curse of sin led to struggling with the devil, struggling with relationships, difficulty in procreation, and struggle with the ground to produce crops (Gen. 3:14-19). The worst effects were distance from God and wrestling with the sinful nature (Gen. 3:23-4:1-16). This was the birth of sin and the havoc it has created has rippled throughout humanity, including the issues we are seeing today in our society. To bring order God would later establish the institution of government with the responsibility to uphold justice and order in society. In His kingdom on earth, God gave Moses the law, the Ten Commandments to define what is right and wrong, and spelled out in more detail in the first five books of the Bible, the ways to render justice if the laws were broken. These foundational laws from God have served as a guide for thousands of years in our world, including the founding fathers of our nation but as our society moves further and further away from fearing and worshiping God, these essential laws have faded into the background and our society is paying the price for it. God has slowly been pushed out of our lives and out of our government. Meanwhile, the Bible says this about God: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants” (Psalm 89:14). To bring order back into our nation, our world, and our own lives the answer is putting God back on the throne of our hearts and letting Him lead us again
The groans for righteousness and salvation Romans 8:19-25 NLT
V. 20 “Subject to frustration” (NIV) Creation was unable to fulfill its original purpose in the way it could have. The world fell into a bondage of decay.
V. 22 The birth pangs imagery is used elsewhere to describe conditions in the end times (Matt. 24:8; John 16:21). Groaning expresses a deep longing for the fulfillment of God’s promises.
V. 23 We believers groan even though we have the Holy Spirit because we long to be set free from sin and suffering. We have hope because the Holy Spirit is a deposit of the eternal glory to come, the first fruits (NIV), and the rest of the harvest will come.
**All creation is groaning and crying out for deliverance from sin. All creation is groaning for the curse to be lifted. All creation is groaning for justice and righteousness to rule. All creation is groaning for all things to be restored (salvation).
Consider the weather we have seen around the world…
The issues of our election are groanings for righteousness, justice, and order (even if people don’t realize it. Wars, corruption, abortion, lawlessness, inflation, the breakdown of family, gender and sexual identity, poverty, violence, crime, drugs, greed, hunger and homelessness, illegal immigration.
*Unpoliticize the election issues and look from a Biblical worldview again and what do we have? Issues and injustices spurned on by sin and wickedness.
*We have a sin problem but what’s our hope every four years? A political figure and platform. I’m not surprised that sin isn’t considered the issue because we live in a humanistic society that longs to do whatever we desire and we’ve written off sin as if it has no consequence.
I’m not surprised that political figures have become the hope of our nation instead of God because He has become an afterthought in the minds and decisions of our nation.
Our society is looking to remedy spiritual and systemic issues with policies but without the wisdom and righteousness of God. I feel for politicians and us. The issues we are facing are too big for human policies. Policies will pass but they still won’t fix what’s happening beneath the surface, spiritually.
*We need God back in our lives, our homes, our schools, our, government, and in our policies. Our nation needs the righteousness and justice of God to make things right and restore order!
Proverbs 29:2 When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.
This can be in any position of power, even a workplace.
Proverbs 14:34 NIV: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. NLT: Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Isaiah 32:17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord
There are numerous examples in the OT, especially, with God’s people where godliness and righteousness were the determining factors to experience peace and prosperity.
Bottomline: Righteousness matters! When a nation’s way of life and policies follow God’s standards, the nation will be blessed.
Two ways we can help our nation and the order is critical.
First, we share and lead our communities to Jesus. This has to be our primary focus above everything else, especially over our political engagement.
Our nation needs the gospel of Jesus Christ to transform hearts and the church of Jesus Christ to transform communities.
Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
We have a lot of work to do…
Only 38% of American adults engage with the Bible -American Bible Society.
Only 50% of American adults embrace the true nature of God. 35% believe Jesus is the only way for salvation. 27% recognize humans as sinful. 46% accept the Bible as true and reliable. A slim 25% believe in absolute truth rooted in the Bible. Barna
Most Americans (68%) still consider themselves to be Christians. Among these self-identified Christians, though, only 6% have a biblical worldview.
We must listen to the groans of our society and help it by sharing Jesus and showing the love of God. The struggles and pain caused by wickedness, will not be cured by politics.
Secondly, we advocate for God's righteousness and justice to be in our government's offices and policies
We believe a nation is blessed whose God is Lord. If we don’t advocate for the righteousness of God the devil will continue to bring disorder and chaos.
The devil knows to influence a society he just needs to infiltrate positions of power and influence that will promote his schemes and policies.
If Christians do not engage and advocate then those who ignore God and defy His Word will. It’s that simple. Where there is a void, evil fills it!
This is spiritual warfare and I’m going to expose something. The devil has long used political agendas to cultivate compromise in the church. The Christian church has allowed political policies and positions to sway our convictions and positions on the Bible. The devil isn't just accomplishing this through political policies and ideology, he is also working through false pastors and their denominations.
This is why the church of Jesus Christ must hold on to a Biblical worldview and help influence this nation with the righteousness and justice of God.
If the church of Jesus Christ will shine the truth and righteousness of the gospel in every place possible we will help our world experience the blessing of righteousness in this world and in the life to come.
If the world has become less godly the opportunity to make a difference is greater! Our influence will take time. This isn’t something that will change our culture overnight. Let’s start with making sure we have Jesus in our lives and we are living righteous lives so our society will see our good deeds, see the benefits and blessings of following God, and eventually glorify God themselves!
A prayer I’ve been praying to remind me to be the salt and light in this world Matthew 6:9-10 This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” Today’s message hasn’t been about helping a political party win it’s about building the Kingdom of God and reaching the lost.
Discussion:
What did God use in this sermon to speak to your heart or situation?
What part of the scripture stuck out to you and why?
Why is reaching our nation with the gospel the number one priority and the best way to bring righteousness back into our nation?
Why would we want a nation to be governed by the righteousness of God?
What prayers have you been praying over the upcoming election? Are they biblically rooted?
What else stuck out to you from today’s message?
The most important decision you will ever make!
If you’re ready to trust in Jesus for salvation and eternal life we encourage you to process this decision with a strong believer and when you’re ready say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I acknowledge and admit I have sinned. I see my need for Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe I am forgiven and cleansed of my sin by His death. I also believe I have eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead. I repent, I turn away from my old ways and I choose to live my life to worship you and follow Jesus, Amen!
We would love to know if you decided to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hope you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!