I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church, Allandale Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Those who taught me instilled in me a reverence for God and a high view of the Bible, the Christian Scriptures, because they are His Word. This is the church’s legacy to me.
Written by forty authors over a span of 1600 years it possesses a supernatural unity. It is all God’s Word from beginning, Genesis 1:1, to its end, Revelation 22:21. It’s a package deal, it is not to be parsed out piecemeal to support any particular view especially a political one.
Since Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election with the help of 81% of the evangelical constituency, several of the 2020 Democratic candidates have been trying to garner their fair share of the religious right by touting their religious views and quoting Scripture.
Recently, Pete Buttigieg did that very thing in his new campaign ad. Referencing Matthew 25:35 in which he said, “In our White House, you won’t have to shake your head and ask yourself; whatever happened to ‘I was hungry and you fed me. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Jesus did not say that to a political candidate or a government leader; He said it to His followers and as His follower I do as He taught in a number of ways because my ambition is to please Jesus not to further any political agenda.
Pete Buttigieg is a married homosexual, Democratic candidate for president, and an avowed Episcopalian. The Scriptures he so readily quotes in a political ad, he quickly disavows when it comes to his lifestyle choices.
When it comes to human sexuality and practices the Bible is crystal clear and simple to understand. There is no mystery as to where our Creator stands on the subject. Those who disagree with our Father on the subject of same-sex relationships plainly do so in direct rebellion against God’s plan and purpose for human flourishing.
Please don’t mistake this for a political attack on this candidate. I am not looking for politics or any politician to save me from anything. I think it is necessary to point out the hypocrisy of believing one part of the Scriptures while practicing a denial of them in other places.
Jesus dealt with hypocrisy in His day, “The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them,” Matthew 23:2-3.
That is a classic definition of hypocrisy, saying one thing and doing another; saying you believe the Bible when you only believe the parts you want to.
C. S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’”
God will let you have your own way, but there are consequences both now and later.
Leave a Reply