Text Box: The political story of the past couple of months has been the incivility of our discussion over the issues we face as a nation. Town hall meetings have been more about displays of anger than meaningful dialog. Labels like racist, communist, and terrorist have freely been used to describe the person with a different opinion. In an unprecedented display of disrespect, our president has been called a liar in the middle of his speech before Congress. How should a Christian respond to all of this? First, we should be thankful for a political system that allows for descent. For the most part, we disagree without bloodshed. Many fellow believers around the world face imprisonment or death for simply following God’s Word. Our freedoms are cause to be thankful. Second the Bible clearly tells us to pray for our leaders. I Tim 2:1-4 says, I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. We have no right to criticize leaders who are not on our prayer list. May I add that our prayers are more important than our opinions. All Americans have opinions, but only those of us in the faith community have the influence of Text Box: moving God’s hand by our prayers. Third, as believers, our first concern from our government should be our freedom to “live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” When government hinders the ability for us to practice our faith, live holy lives, and share our faith with others, then marching on Washington is in order. To illustrate, I am hoping that our government reforms healthcare in a way that more are insured, people maintain coverage when they get sick, and people do not lose their life savings over an illness. I admit that my opinions have more to do with my Canadian heritage than my Christian faith. I will not preach my opinions from the pulpit as you have a right to disagree. What I will preach from the pulpit is that we are called to love all people, including our enemies. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt 5:43,44) And finally, we should have a greater concern for the lostness of our fellow Americans than for our tax rate. Paul was passionate about preaching the gospel as he understood that God “wants all men to be saved.” Yes, God is a God of justice and He values fairness. But the fact that many of our neighbors do not know Jesus is of far greater consequence than the fact that some of our neighbors do not have health coverage. Let the church be the church. May our love and grace be evident, especially to those who Text Box: Faith and Politics Text Box: Gospel News Text Box: October 2009

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Text Box: Fort Lee Gospel Church 1625 Palisade Ave. Fort Lee, NJ 07024 (201)947-1465 Pastor: Rev. Rick Spenst Web site: www.fortleegospel.org E-mail: fortleegospel@juno.com