Randy Alcorn on Politics

This is a portion of a post that Randy Alcorn recently did. Randy was one of the pastors at the church I grew up in back in Oregon. I identify with and appreciate what he writes here and wanted to share it with you:

I have never been into politics, though as a young pastor I saw political awareness and involvement as necessary. Then twenty years ago I had a terrible experience with a well-known politician in our church, who was widely considered by the Christian community to be a David standing against the Goliath of the secular media. (He used that terminology himself.) Unfortunately, he was not what he claimed to be.

As one of his pastors I knew the inside story. One day I heard him speaking on a Christian radio talk show, claiming the elders of his church were totally supporting his campaign for reelection. In fact, we had met with him and counseled him not to run, for some compelling personal reasons involving his family and Christian testimony.

On hearing the program I called my friend and fellow-pastor Stu Weber and said "unless you talk me out of it, I think God wants me to call in and ask him some questions." Stu agreed, so I called and confronted this man in front of a large listening audience. While I tried to be gentle, I asked him if it was true that the elders of his church had asked him to step down from office due to issues in his personal life. He said that was not true. I said "I'm one of your elders, and it is true."

To say the least, this was controversial, and I took a lot of heat for it, including from our Christian church attorney (who a year later abandoned his wife and children in an adulterous affair). But it was and is my belief that when someone is a public figure who takes his case to the citizenry, and lies about such things in the name of Christ, it is a church leader's duty to refute his statements. Correcting a person's public deception with publicly stated truth trumps the normally good principle of confidentiality.

I tell you this story because I admit this unforgettable experience colored my view of politics, and still tends to make me skeptical when I hear about Christian politicians. (Despite the fact that I know some very good ones.) I've often been disillusioned by insincere candidates, including professing Christians, who say whatever people want to hear, revising their message according to their audience.

Today, I am less enthusiastic about political parties than I've ever been. I'm a Republican largely because I adamantly oppose abortion. But my concern for the poor, racial justice and the environment--all of which have a strong biblical basis--make me sometimes identify more with the concerns of Democrats (though I don't always agree on their proposed solutions). But I could never be a Democrat as long as that party remains hostile toward the rights of unborn children. Yes, there are prolife Democrats, but they are a small minority.

And by the way, if I had a choice between voting for a prolife Democrat and a prochoice Republican, I'd vote for the Democrat in a heartbeat. (No, child-protecting and child-killing aren't the only issues, but I can never regard them as secondary; I might write in a third alternative, but I will never cast a vote for someone who won't stand up for the right of unborn children to live, yes, even if I agree with them on every other issue.)