Keep It Classy...

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them,
1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy:

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And,

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”


~John Wesley, October 6, 1774

A friend with good sense brought this quote to my attention today, and it just needs to be passed on.

With social media having more of an impact than ever, this has been the ugliest presidential campaign season that I have ever seen. Some friends of mine (like in the real world) have completely changed over the past few months. Some have turned into annoying political pundits. Some have sprouted horns, spewing hate about the other candidate and his supporters every chance they get. Many have un-friended and been un-friended on Facebook because of their views, or more accurately, because of the manner in which they present their views. Some have gone anti-government, some anti-America. Some have just gone insane. A very few, probably the wise ones, have been silent.

I’m really not surprised by the actions of some of my acquaintances that do not claim to be Christians. Why should I be? Should I expect a man without the Spirit of God in him to carry himself in the same way that a man with the Spirit of God in him would? Certainly not. So when a couple of my non-Christian acquaintances have acted like eloquent philistines, not only abusing free speech, but the very gift of speech that God gave them, I am not surprised.

However, I am disturbed by the behavior of some professing Christians as of late. If you saw just their political posts on Facebook in the past few weeks, you couldn’t distinguish them from the likes of Bill Maher. Some have insulted our President, made disparaging remarks about the opposing candidate and his supporters (both sides), and worst of all, engaged in the latest form of gossip: RE-POSTING… Posting unconfirmed stats, images, etc. usually just to tear someone down. This is both liberal and conservative Christians doing this, and it is utterly disgusting.

If you are now, or have been doing this, you need to know that this is sin against God on a number of points. First of all, no matter how you or I personally feel about any given president, the Bible clearly teaches that we are to give him the respect and honor he is due (Romans 13:6-7). That’s non-negotiable, and if you can find a biblical loophole on not loving or respecting another person, be sure to let me know. Second, the Bible clearly teaches that God is the One who puts leaders in their position of authority (Romans 13:1-5). You may have been taught all your life that your vote matters, but it doesn’t matter as much as God’s, and we would all do well to keep that in mind. Third, Christians may give unbelievers cause to blaspheme the name of the Lord when they deviate from what the Bible teaches on our relationship to the governing authorities. Christians should be model citizens. When unbelievers see us behave contrary to the plain and clear teaching of Scripture, they rightfully call us hypocrites, but to their detriment, they also attack God. Fourth, relationships are strained damaged, broken, and sometimes completely severed. The Bible teaches that God will not accept your worship as long as someone else has something against you (Matthew 5:21-26)… You need to make things right with them, or your days of being right with God are over. Let that sink in for a second.

Look, it takes one to know one. I’ve had to do some confessing of my own. But afterward, it made all this that much more ugly. Take some time… Do it now. Don’t wait. If you have some things you need to confess to God, tell Him, and don’t get caught up in that business again. We all need to get our hearts right more than anything else.

(Thanks to Kirsten for the post title)