[Podcast] How Would Jesus Vote?

HowWouldJesusVote

With our election cycle in the United States really heating up, it is time for a gut check… Do our politics really line up with our faith?  If Jesus says that we are to take care of the “least of these,” then why do we conservative christians tend to vote to reduce or eliminate entitlements, such as welfare, healthcare, and so on?  Don’t we vote to hold on to our money, contrary to Jesus’ teaching of generosity?  How do these things line up?

Life group discussion questions after the break:

If you are the discussion leader, have everyone open this page on their mobile devices.  Take turns reading and asking questions.  This is about discussion, not monologue.  Let these questions be a guide, but allow the discussion to go where it needs to.

Here is the short video I showed on Sunday morning:

The SYSTEM of God:  JUSTICE
The PRIVILEGE of God: GRACE

Do you agree with me that we tend to love the grace of God, but forget about the justice of God?

What do you think of this phrase:

“The good news is only as good as the bad news is bad.”

What does that mean for us?

The bad news is that we are born as guilty sinners into a race of treasonous criminals, deserving God’s justice.  Adam, upon being discovered as he hid in the garden, not only deflected his open rebellion onto his wife, Eve… He also indirectly blamed God himself for the whole scenario.

The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.
-Adam, Genesis 3:12

Adam started a cycle.  A cycle of crime against a holy God, while pointing the finger at God himself, blaming Him.

Isn’t this the refrain of the world today?  “Why would God send anyone to hell?”

But Scripture is clear that Hell isn’t for us… And it isn’t because of God. God doesn’t force his punishment on us… He is just.  He allows us to reap what we sow.

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
-Romans 12:5

The bad news is bad.  God’s justice will be swift and stern.

How does this truth fly in the face of the teaching of the modern church?

If we are to take on the character of God, then how should this truth form our view of right, wrong, rewards, and punishment in this world system?

So, the first Adam brought sin… But the second Adam (Jesus) brought grace.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 6:23

That’s the good news.  Jesus was very specific that abundant life was, in fact, available… But who’s privilege is it to provide that abundance? (see next verse)

 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
-Jesus, John 10:10

So, Jesus brings grace into the system of justice.

What is wrong with systemizing grace?  Discuss these points together:

  • Systemized grace is counterfeit
  • Systemized grace misleadingly appears free to the recipient
  • Systemized grace sends the opposite message of true grace.  True grace is undeserved.  Counterfeit grace is deserved by all.

Yet, as Christ-followers, we are supposed to show grace.  Discuss your take on how to do this, based on God’s Word:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 
Micah 6:8

So, how would Jesus vote?

Honestly, I don’t think he would.  We get really worked up about this corrupt, worldly system, but I don’t believe Jesus is interested in fighting these worldly battles.  At all.  Jesus’ only interest is in the Kingdom.  And he wants YOU in it.  I don’t think he would bother voting.  I think instead, he would simply act.  He would run to the unlovable.  He would heal the sick.  He would put his hands on the untouchable. And more than anything, he would talk about the Kingdom, and invite you and me right in.

How does this work out in our own lives?

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. 
-James 2:14-26

Let’s talk about what that really means for us.