Let Us Not Do Evil, So That Good May Come

There's an old saying that "the ends justifies the means." Basically, if you get a good result, it does not matter how you arrived at your destination. Therefore, you can freely justify any behavior so long as your intentions were for a good result. This line of thinking has caused thousands of good Christians to sacrifice their integrity and surrender their testimonies, all for the sake of pursuing a goal, whether that goal was a legislative or electoral victory, or whether that goal was effecting change in their local churches or communities.

History is full of churches that died as a result of splits caused by members pursuing a Godly goal through unGodly means. Maybe the preacher did deserve to be fired. Maybe the church needed to launch a youth ministry or transition its worship style. Maybe the red carpet was the best choice... however in many cases, those changes were pursued using the unGodly means of gossiping, backbiting, slander, and vote stuffing. The results of this behavior have been devastating each time this strategy has been employed.

This morning on News/Talk 102.3 KXYL in Brownwood, TX, I once again drew fire from listeners for not defending Donald Trump's candidacy for President. Particularly, I said he was as deplorable as Hillary Clinton, and when asked about his Christianity, I expressed my doubts.

(1) He has never made a public profession of faith. Trump has never publicly stated that he has had a conversion experience.

(2) He has publicly stated that he hasn't had to ask forgiveness for anything, because he hasn't done anything wrong. (I'm referring to the statements he made back during the primary, not during a recent Presidential debate.)

What we do know about Donald Trump is there is a line of women accusing him of sexual harassment. There is audio tape of him describing his tendency to grope women (statements that mirrored a 1997 sexual harassment suit against him). There are questions about his business practices, and just a few years ago, he was pro-abortion, and pro-government healthcare. There are serious questions about his character.

Now, this is the part of the discussion where people ask me, "What about Hillary Clinton?" She's deplorable, and could possibly be the most despicable person to be elected President. However, Clinton does not claim to represent my values. Clinton does not claim to speak for my Lord, and Clinton is not trying to court my vote. Clinton represents the other side of the political aisle. It is not my job as a conservative, evangelical Republican to hold the Democratic Party accountable for its values and nominees. It is my responsibility to make sure my own house is clean. Before I should seek to remove the speck from the Democrats eyes, I must first make sure my own are clear.

While I understand that a Hillary presidency would be disastrous, I have no obligation to endorse anyone who opposes her. At the same time, I have to keep in mind that when I sign my name to a candidate, I am also putting my credibility and testimony on the line. While a Trump victory would give Republicans the White House, I would also have to explain why it's okay for Trump to commit adultery, but not Bill Clinton. I would have to explain why Trump is inherently innocent of all accusations brought against him, but why Hillary is automatically guilty.

Furthermore, I have to look at the girls in my youth group and tell them why we should support Trump, in spite of his "locker room" talk, while at the same time teaching them about living in holiness. For those reasons alone, I cannot bring myself to endorse Donald Trump. That's before we even delve into the issue of his changing positions on conservative issues.

Donald Trump may win the 2016 election. He may lose. Regardless, the Republican Party, and the evangelicals that supported Trump's nomination and campaign, are about to learn a hard lesson. Compromising the means to achieve a desired end leads to devastation each and every time. Perhaps we should have actually consulted our Bibles during the primaries, and remembered Romans 3:8, which says (paraphrased) let us not do evil so that good may come.

No Voice

For as long as I can remember, Christians and church-goers have stumped hard for the Republican Party. This was due to the pro-family, pro-life, pro-values platform we were being told the party stood for.

I remember that feeling of "almost victory" after the 2000 election, and the dissappointment after Jumpin' Jim Jeffords left the party, and sided with the Democrats, effectively yanking the power in the senate toward the Donkey logo.

I remember the 2004 elections, the promises of marriage ammendments, pro-life legislation, and rejoiced to see the Republican Party win at the polls. Just after the election, Democratic Strategists James Carville said, "Let's see if they mean it!" They didn't.

Since the 2004 election, we had one piece of pro-life legislation passed, which was quickly set aside by a district judge within minutes of being signed into law. No challenge to the judge's ruling was issued. Since then, I don't think I can remember one bit of pro-life, pro-family legislation passed through Congress. With gas prices on the rise, and unfulfilled promises still on the table in Congress, Republicans offered a pathetic campaign in 2006... basically, their campaign was "The Democrats would be worse." That failed, and the Donkey Party took over Congress in 2006.

You think they'd have learned their lesson. They didn't. In the 2008 election, the party nominated John McCain, who put forth a token effort in his Presidential campaign, tried to see if he could get elected with a pro-choice administration (remember the efforts to name Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman to the VP spot?), and only threw a bone to Christians in the final months with Sarah Palin being picked for VP (and then blamed her for the loss).

So, with the ineffectualness of the Republican Party, the so-called family values party, the Democrats have now taken control of 2 of the 3 branches of the federal government with little to stop them from implementing whatever anti-Christian policies they wish to pass.

I think the overall lesson to be learned is that Conservative Christians have no voice in American government. Now, I know what Republican Congressmen will say to this. "We couldn't have passed all that pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family legislation in the 2004-2006 term, we wanted to take a more long-term approach to implementing our values." Well, take note, because you are about to see two years of the Democratic Party implementing the very policies they campaigned on. And don't be surprised to see them use the "nuclear" option to get their judges on the bench.

So, while we have a party that panders to us in campaign season, we don't have a party that actively represents our views in Congress.

So, what can be done? Well, first of all, we have to quit fighting spiritual battles in Congress. We have no troops there. Secondly, we have to take the spiritual battle to the streets... by winning lost people to the Lord and by bringing the unchurched into our congregations. Thirdly, we need to hold our Congressional representatives accountable. When a new candidate approaches you on a pro-Christian platform, say, "Okay, I'll vote for you." If he wins, hold him accountable. It is not enough just to vote pro-Christian should the issue ever creep up. He needs to be introducing pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage legislation. If he fails to do so, we should work for his defeat in the following election cycle (even to the point of seeing him go down in the primaries.) If the legislation fails to pass, that's not necessarily his fault. But an unwillingness to introduce, politic for, and fight for pro-Christian legislation is grounds for termination, in my book. Hey, they are our representatives, are they not?

Posturing for the 2010 elections has already begun. Expect a lot of rot-gut legislation between now and then. When that nice Republican candidate points to the pro-choice, anti-Christian legislation that gets passed and says to vote for him, and he'll overturn it, tell him you'll vote for him, but he's got two years to get it done. It's time for us to move out of the Republicans' corner and make them move into ours. They can not win without us, and now they know it.