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Pragmatic vs. Kingdom Outcomes

It seems that in many of these political discussions on the upcoming election, we tend, as a group, to think a lot about political policy outcomes but think little to none about Kingdom outcomes. Here is what I mean:

What if our witness to the world depended (in large part) on how we collectively vote as Christians? The world is definitely watching. How many "Christians" would be willing to give up their vote for their candidate if they knew it meant, by the grace of God, more people coming to Christ? ... but in exchange we knew we would have to live under a much more oppressive state. I obviously do not know God's secret will, but my point is that obedience, instead of pragmatism, is definitely more aligned with God's revealed will and His redemptive plan, especially when much of the world would see mass evangelical votes for Trump as an obvious and blatant hypocrisy. As followers of Christ, our choices should be based, not on their perceived outcome, but in our trust that wherever God leads is always right, even if the results may temporarily appear worse politically.

Since both candidates are just awful, at this point God appears to be bringing us as a unit to a place where we are stripped of all hope in an ideal outcome ... so we can only, in utter dependence, pray for Him to intervene and faithfully serve Him by doing what we know to be right.

Just consider where our culture wars have gotten us so far.  How many decisions were made by pragmatism rather than trusting in God along the way? Have you ever read Crime and Punishment? Doing something evil hoping that good may result? No, that shouldn't be an option for us. Obedience is our job. But how the results fall into place are His. A pragmatic choice may, for the moment, appear to further Christian principles the legal realm, but at what cost? Perhaps the cost is lost opportunity on souls.

I am not endorsing or voting for either big party candidate but wanted to put these thoughts out there in case they make sense to anyone listening. 

Mon, 08/01/2016 - 18:13 -- john_hendryx

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