A Defense of Talking Religion and Politics

A Defense of Talking Religion and Politics

https://youtu.be/Z2MiEL2Pi1k

Proverbs 31:9 “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

The mighty verse above is oft overlooked because it precedes the equally mighty portion we all typically study about how to be a Proverbs 31 woman. 

In the King James it rhymes, which I find particularly pleasing, and an easy target for memorizing with your children over the dinner table. Maybe Shane and Shane or Andrew Schumacher or Amanda Proctor could put it to music. 

Unborn children are a prime example of the mute today. They are voiceless and need us to speak up for them. The bible has a lot to say about orphans, widows, and those who are truly poor for any reason, and how we must help those who cannot help themselves. 

I hear many Christians say that they disagree with a Christian that tries to get involved in politics and I vehemently oppose this mindset. Give your reputation to God, and if you have a calling to increase your influence in this way, scripture supports you! If we can influence policies that affect the poor and destitute and voiceless, we ought.

How I wish that the first words said to me at St. Lukes, Boise after the ultrasound of my youngest daughter, had not been a question of murder. It is current policy in America’s hell-care system to make the first question of every special needs mom be, “Would you like to continue the pregnancy?” What an insult. The first words said by a so-called doctor or other medical provider after an ultrasound of a LIVE human, should always be, “Congratulations!” When you see the million dollar hospital bill, it is no wonder that the government wants special needs children exterminated as soon as possible and that every special needs parent who doesn’t lay down and believe the lies of self worshiping doctors, is in for the fight of their lives. These are politics that are inseparable from the faith of anyone in Christ. Politics. Current policy. You see, politics are literally life and death at times. 

I am praying on how Christ wants us to speak up for those voiceless elect in Glory’s situation, but one thing I know is that it is not right to look the other way about the atrocities around us simply because some ill informed pastor said that Jesus wasn’t involved in politics. Nothing could be further from the truth as we are called in scripture to hold back those being led to the slaughter. Proverbs 24:11 

endabortionnow.com is a ministry that has been able to successfully train Christians to winsomely persuade those who are considering abortion to not kill their babies! On their website and YouTube channel you can hear testimony after testimony straight from the mouths of young women who laud the support and love they have received from this ministry. Not only do these women give their testimony but also the laughter of the many children that have been saved by this clinic gives a powerful testimony! This ministry, which originated at Apologia church out of Mesa, Arizona has spread to many locations across the globe. This ministry has highly political implications and as the mother of someone the world tried to kill from before she was even born, I am a huge fan. Check out their website if you want to be trained by the best. 

https://endabortionnow.com/

A woman I highly respect in my hometown of Boise, Idaho; is Brandi Swindell, the founder of Stanton Healthcare, a clinic for women who are going through unexpected pregnancies.  Her building in Boise “just so happens” to be next door to Planned Parenthood.  Her clinic has also saved hundreds of babies, and many young women appreciate the help they have received when walking through the doors of Stanton. From my understanding, Ms. Swindell  does a fair amount of networking in the political community to increase her influence in anyway she possibly can in order to save the lives of precious children and offer an emotionally supportive alternative to women who may be going through the hardest time of their lives. If this is political (which simply means having to do with policies), SO BE IT.  To my knowledge, Brandi has never birthed a child herself, but in a way she is a spiritual mother to so many precious babies who would have never been born if she had not obeyed God’s call on her life. 

Remember, Titus 2 says for the older women to teach the younger women to love their families, it doesn’t say the older women have to be married and have kids in order to fulfill this charge. If you are blessed with singleness, that doesn’t mean you are off the hook to obey this feminine commission. Those of us who have been blessed with the gift of husband and children, really must be keepers at home, and will realistically, not have the freedom to devote to the things of the Lord like the single women will as Paul says in 1 Corinthans. 

“The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband. ” —1 Corinthians 7:34

If God has called you into the arena of politics, follow that call with all your might and do all you can to bring justice to those who cannot bring it for themselves. Do not listen to the naysayers who do not respect what you do because it is “political”. If it weren’t for the courage and love of everyday moms and dads showing up to health districts and school board meetings, the slave rag mandates would have taken hold in many more neighborhoods than they did. I saw this with my own eyes. 

I am immensely thankful for those who do whatever is in their power to speak up for the voiceless, but most people are simply unaware. They take their kids to piano lessons and karate and have no idea of the insidious nature of Idaho rino politics, and may even throw out some armchair criticisms of those of us who have political “hobbies.” 

Let the critics keep posting their world changing facebook statuses of puppies and kittens and learn to unfollow the negative Nancies. You do not need to see their trite, downer posts, but they surely can see your positive impactful ones, and who knows whose life you may change.  Do not give haters and judgers permission to speak into your life. Here is a clue- the most hateful, judgmental people of all, throw around the phrases, “Don’t judge” and “Stop hating,” more than anyone else. Learn to use the block button liberally.

It is of utmost importance to be accountable to the head of your household and to the elders of your local church. If a brother or sister comes to you to let you know that you have sinned against THEM, humble yourself. This doesn’t mean that you cower to every stranger on the internet who has followed you on instagram for a year or so and finds your views unacceptable. We are humans with finite bodies and finite adrenal systems and are not designed to answer to 1,604 humans, some of which will turn out to have delusions about the nature of your friendship. We may use social media as a tool to share good news, but we realistically cannot answer to every emoting feminist who shows up in our private messages. If you are going to try to use your voice to speak up for the voiceless, rest assured that emotional women will show up in your inbox regularly,  and they will not care if your father or your own child just died. Their difference of opinion and demanding you change your stance will be more important to them than any common sense. Most of them will be feminists whether they know it or not. Women who go around as busy bodies, trying to pastor other women, have always been influenced by feminism- ask me how I know. 

If you are the sort of woman who is ruled by emotional outbursts, and choose your most emotional moments to appear in the private messages of women you think you know, when in reality you have never met, and you have only been lurking at their instagram squares for a couple years, stop it. You are no person’s pastor and not the head of their household, and unless they have sinned against you personally (and posting an opinion you disagree with is not sinning against you by the way), you are letting yourself be led by the spirit of the serpent by lashing out at every little view that you find offensive. If you know that this stranger on the internet just buried a close relative or the like, and you still expect them to deal with your wounded ego because they failed to use enough disclaimers to pamper your sensitivities on a general post that was not even directed at you, you are doubly allowing yourself to be a divisive instrument of the devil. It would be more fruitful to let that creative energy go toward crafting a blog post or tweet that reflects your own views rather than doing the cowardly work of showing up in the direct messages of people you do not even know. Women, stop trying to pastor other women. Especially women who do not even live in your zip code. How dare you feel entitled to force strangers to expend their emotional energy on your personal problems- and trust me, if you are offended by someone who lives a thousand miles away, it is a personal problem. Disagreeing and being offended are not the same thing. 

The great thing is that when you speak the truth boldly, with an aim to glorify Christ, you will find that the people who love you, love you just as passionately as the hating souls hate you. I cannot tell you the astonishing ways that God’s people have come to bat for me. Especially this past three months as we lost our daughter. It has been truly remarkable. Take courage! When you are honest with who you are, you find your real friends, and they are truer friends than you ever had riding the fence. 

Leviticus 19:15 “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”

If you have a passion for politics, I am not saying I want you to run for office. In fact, many of you reading this blog have little ones and a household to run which will affect the kingdom infinitely more than holding any office ever could. I have been pregnant or had little ones in tow for the last several years, and the last thing I would find it responsible to do is put them in danger by bringing them along to an event where things can get heated. I accidentally did that during special session two Augusts ago and had my poor baby nearly trampled by incompetent police force doing thug work for Greg Chaney. From then on I realized that the political climate is too heated for me to be physically involved unless I have a babysitter and am not pregnant. It is just irresponsible as a mother. What I am saying is, if you are a godly Christian who knows her bible, you are a rare jewel. Consider broadening your influence. 

Sharing the gospel is political. You cannot proclaim the good news without including the bad news- which is that sinners need to be saved FROM something- namely their sins. This means all manor of things you may need to say to truly share Christ’s love, will be politically incorrect. Abortion is murder. Boys are not girls. Special needs babies do not need to be “INDUCED” into early labor simply because the mother wants to feel like she didn’t have an abortion and yet doesn’t want to inconvenience herself with going full term. Forcing your neighbor to be penetrated against his will to feed his family is extortion. Arresting moms at parks is cruel and unusual punishment when we have had a couple years of skyrocketing suicide in direct relation to isolation. All of these political issues are gospel issues because they are sin issues. If we have compassion, we tell the world the truth that they might repent and turn to Jesus. 

Proverbs 16:12 “Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.”

There are many more references throughout scripture (too many to include here) to this principle of Christians rising to leadership and being encouraged to do so if God puts them in a position to be of influence for righteousness. 

I will not pretend to think that women in civic leadership positions is ideal. Deborah in the book of judges felt the same as me. It is a judgment on our nation that so many women are in leadership. It is NOT however a judgment on all the women who are in leadership. Sometimes in a fallen nation, a woman steps up to leadership because for whatever reason, God gave her the notoriety to win the election and get the good-old-boy out. I’m thankful for women in Idaho who have held the line- some of them of the same faith as me and some of them women of a different faith- but all women of faith. I sure as heck will vote for any good woman if she can beat Brad Little. Of course it is better to have a man in leadership, but I will pick a righteous woman over an evil man any day ( this is not an endorsement of any gubernatorial candidates- I still do not know who I am voting for). 

Proverbs 20:8 “When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes.”

Deuteronomy 1:16 “And I charged your judges at that time: hear the disputes between your brothers and judge fairly, whether the case is between brother Israelites or between one of them and an alien.”

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 “Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.

The following are ways that you may increase your influence. Please do not try to do these all today. Maybe don’t even try any of them. Maybe just start with whatever is right in front of you. These are just some ideas that could very well be a starting place for some of you. 

1.Volunteer —  It could be as simple as volunteering at the local crisis pregnancy clinic or a home for children who have lost their parents. You could volunteer at a fundraising event for a political candidate you believe in. As I mentioned earlier, in my wonderful town of Boise, Idaho, we have a women’s health clinic directly next door to planned parenthood.  They have used their voice to save many who had no voice as the babies before they were born, could not speak up to defend themselves.  They have offered love and support to women facing tough choices.  If this is the application you are choosing for today, make the call to start the volunteer application process now! They may need to do some background checking and have you fill out some paperwork in order to get the ball rolling, so don’t wait!

2.  You could write a book.  Start a file on your tablet, smartphone or computer for book ideas that could benefit the voiceless.  If you have already done this, start putting some ideas in those files and praying about what the Lord would have you write. If you have already written a book, start sending those query letters or get a coach to help you self-publish.

3.  Donate money–  If you are in a time of life when you truly don’t have extra time (sometimes when we have young children it is truly difficult to do anything outside of working to provide for them the nourishment that they need) maybe you can donate money to a worthy organization that speaks up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

4. Increase your voice for the poor by doing something today to fix your finances.  If you are in a time of life when you do not have extra money, do not feel guilty that you cannot give!  At the same time, if you live in America, chances are that you are still in the top 1% income bracket in the world! If you live in a country that is doing well compared to the rest of the world, do not waste it.  Do something to increase your income so that you can give to those who truly do not have the opportunities that you have.  Please hear my heart that if you have some extenuating circumstance such as health challenges or medical debt that have wrecked your finances, I am in no way judging you that you are bad with your finances.   Sometimes we just get bad breaks and we may never know why until we meet Jesus and can ask him why he does what he does.  But for the majority of North Americans who can walk and talk and breath normally, you have the ability to increase your income to feed more that just you and your family.  You can truly make extra in order to help people and of course, the first place you should attempt to give is in your local church- especially if you have elders worthy of double honor. 

When I was a child, my family was one that benefited from the financial help of Christians. I am sure that encouraged my faith. I am actually really proud and thankful for Christians, because I have seen them give more than most due to my destitute upbringing and know that they get a bad rap for not giving when really they are the biggest givers of all.

I suggest taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.  The course is less than $100 (last I checked) and the average couple or individual who takes the 9 week course, moves forward in their finances nearly $8000 during that 9 weeks!  

5. Use your social media skills to help the voiceless.  Perhaps you are amazing at social media and can help in marketing for an organizations you believe in.  Many of the gen y generation were born breathing hashtags and know how to get the word out.  A mother can do some marketing from her smartphone while she is breastfeeding!  Consider using your social media one day per week or month exclusively to be a voice for the voiceless.  Pick an organization that is dear to your heart and focus on helping to market for them.  

Pray with me.

Mighty Father, Thank you for your care and protection.  Thank you for your grace.  Thank you for the opportunities you have granted me.  I have no idea why I was born in such a great country with opportunities while others were born in grass huts with dirt floors and oppressed by murderous governments.  I pray that I do not waste what you have given me.  I pray for your children who have no voice.  I pray that we as a church and that I as an individual will do all that I can to help them.  Help me to increase my influence so that I may help them more.  Help me improve my finances not only to take care of myself and my family, but also to help those who cannot help themselves.  Let me be diligent and focused in doing your work. May I not grow weary in doing your work.  Thank you for preparing in advance the work that you want me to do.  I know that as mighty God you do not need me to do your work. You are the creator who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and you can do all things with or without my help but thank you for using me to do your work because I need it so very much. The blessings that come from doing your work, fill our hearts with so much inexpressible joy, that it truly is a gift that you allow us to be a part of it.  Praise your mighty name.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen. 

Biblical Affirmation— Say aloud- “I use my voice for those with no voice.”