Life as a Christian Woman

I don’t know about you, but when I see the word “manifesto” I get curious. And then I saw this headline. What in the world was a group of evangelical Christians issuing a manifesto about?

It seems a group of “prominent U.S. evangelical Christians” believes that other evangelicals are becoming “useful idiots” for political parties.

The statement, which was released last week, included the backing of more than 70 scholars, business leaders, and pastors, accusing others of becoming too closely related to parties or candidates, and claiming they are wrong to use their religious beliefs for political purposes or gain.

According to the article, about 25% of American adults consider themselves evangelical Christians, and the Republican party has long been able to count on this group as a base of support.

According to “An Evangelical Manifesto“, when religious groups politicize their faith, “faith loses its independence, the church becomes ‘the regime at prayer,’ Christians become ‘useful idiots’ for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology in its purest form.”

According to the Rev. John Huffman, Jr., senior pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, and also board chairman of the evangelical magazine Christianity Today, the document was not timed to the presidential contest, but was hoping that it would encourage those that have been more vocal to tone down the rhetoric.

“The evangelical umbrella is very large and I won’t try to detract from anyone who loves Jesus and has a biblical rationale for their views on any issue,” Huffman said. “But we hope some who’ve been more strident in their statements will be a little more cautious in the future.”

Michael Cromartie, analyst and vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., expects the document to have little political impact.

“It’s mainly a warning to people not to confuse their personal faith with political convictions,” he said.

Let’s look at this on a more personal level, beyond the manifesto, and move it into our own personal lives. How does this relate to us?

I don’t want to go to church and be told how to vote. I don’t think most people do. I want to hear the word of God, pray, and allow God to speak to me as He sees fit. I need to know the issues, and I need to apply God’s word to those issues.

When my pastor preaches, I hope that he is speaking what God has put on his heart. But I am charged by God to study on my own, to find the truths that God puts in my heart. The only heart that I can be truly sure of is my own.

In short, we are to follow the teachings of our Lord, not the teachings of man. And until I can look into the heart of someone else, I don’t know their motivation.

When someone endorses a candidate, no matter who it is, we should take it for what it is, an opinion, and then pray about the matter and form our own opinion. It may be the same as the one who endorsed, or it may be different. But it should always be what God wants it to be.

Even in an election year.