16/08/2024
Party Politics โ Not For Godโs People To Be In
By The Remnant Herald
โMen are being stirred with an intense activity from beneath, and the sons and daughters of God are not to give their influence to this political strife โฆ There is fraud on both sides โฆ But in regard to political agitators, the word of the Lord to us is, โGo ye not after them.โโ General Conference Bulletin, February 17, 1897
This is wise counsel for all of Godโs people to obey โ as Sister White stated in another place, we โhave no battles to fight in the political world.โ Fundamentals on Christian Education, p. 479 (Letter 95, 1899)
Seventh-day Adventists, of all people, should be aloof from the partisanship, vindictiveness, falsehoods, deceit, expediency, and personal advantage that attend the realm of politics. Consider this quotation:
โSome will be honest when it costs nothing; but when policy will pay best, honesty is forgotten. Honesty and policy will not work together in the same mind. In time, either policy will be expelled, and truth and honesty reign supreme, or, if policy is cherished, honesty will be forgotten. They are never in agreement; they have nothing in common. One is the prophet of Baal, the other is the true prophet of God.โ Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, p. 96
It is true that our Master allowed civil government to have its proper place in society and exercise its rightful duty, which we should respect (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1โ7; 1 Peter 2:13โ17). Yet He circumscribed the extent to which that power could be used:
โFor rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, to execute wrath up-on him that doeth evil.โ Romans 13:3, 4
Such power can be safely employed only by people who have the mind and character to know the limits of their roles in government. The best leaders are those who see themselves as servants, not as mastersโto act from noble principle, governing in the fear of God.
โThe Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.โ 2 Samuel 23:2, 3
It is this lack of Godโs justness, this lack of the fear of the Lord (which is the beginning of wisdom โ Proverbs 9:10; the beginning of knowledge โ Proverbs 1:7) that earthly government sinks into the capricious, fractious, vituperative discord of party politics. From A.T. Jonesโ volume, The Two Republics, compare the two modes of government that humanity can choose โ but one would require the entire surrender of self to God, who alone can subdue the evil propensities and sinful tendencies of the carnal nature.
Godโs government: โJesus Christ came into the world to set men free, and to plant in their souls the genuine principle of liberty โ liberty actuated by love โ liberty too honorable to allow itself to be used as an occasion to the flesh, or for a cloak of maliciousness โ liberty led by a conscience enlightened by the Spirit of God โ liberty in which man may be free from all men, yet made so gentle by love that he would willingly become the servant of all, in order to bring them to the enjoyment of this same liberty. This is freedom indeed. This is the freedom which Christ gave to man; for, whom the Son makes free is free indeed. In giving to men this freedom, such an infinite gift could have no other result than that which Christ intended; namely, to bind them in everlasting, unquestioning, unswerving allegiance to Him as the royal benefactor of the race. He thus reveals Himself to men as the highest good, and brings them to Himself as the manifestation of that highest good, and to obedience to His will as the perfection of conduct.โ The Two Republics, Or Rome and The United States of America, p. 139. Review and Herald Publishing Association. Battle Creek, Michigan, 1891
Important Observation: The servant of the Lord, in writing of the fallen angels who were expelled from the presence of God in heaven, described the nature and effect of the rulership of Christ with these words:
โNever more would these unhappy beings be swayed by the mild rule of Jesus Christ. Never more would their spirits be stirred by the deep, earnest love, peace, and joy, which His presence had ever inspired in them, to be returned to Him in cheerful obedience and reverential honor.โ Signs of the Times, January 16, 1879
Manโs government [demonstrated in this piece from ancient Rome during the time of the Caesars]: โ...all the real powers of the government were held by the aristocracy of wealth. Then as these used their power to increase their own wealth and that of their favorites, and only used their wealth to perpetuate their power, another sure result was the growth of jealousy on the part of the populace, and a demand constantly growing louder and more urgent, that there should be a more equable division of the good things of life which were monopolized by the favored fewโฆ
โAnd as these two classes were constantly growing farther apart โ the rich growing richer and the poor, poorer โ there ceased to be any middle class to maintain order in government and society by holding the balance of power. There remained only two classes, the rich and the poor, and of these the rich despised the poor and the poor envied the rich. And there were always plenty of men to stir up the discontent of the masses, and present schemes for the reorganization of society and government. Some of these were well-meaning men, men who really had in view the good of their fellow-men, but the far greater number were mere demagogues โ ambitious schemers who used the discontent of the populace only to lift themselves into the places of wealth and power which they envied others, and which, when they had secured, they used as selfishly and as oppressively as did any of those against whom they clamored. But whether they were well-meaning men or demagogues, in order to hold the populace against the persuasions and bribes of the wealthy, they were compelled to make promises and concessions, which were only in the nature of larger bribes, and which in the end were as destructive of free government as the worst acts of the Senate itself.โ The Two Republics, pp. 22, 23.
There is a vivid resemblance between the dissension and corruption that consumed the Roman Empire and what is now increasing across the world.
A headline in a recent issue of The Weekend Australian newspaper describes the dilemma of our day: โThe Era of the Noble Lie.โ In the context of the decision forced upon U.S. President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential election contest due to his performance at a nationally televised debate with Donald Trump on June 27, 2024 โ revealing not only the effects of aging upon his mind and body, but that lies had been peddled for years by his office, his party, and the establishment media to divert attention from his true state of health, the author wrote:
โA Democratic insider put it more bluntly to me over the weekend when I asked him what had taken so long [for Joe Bidenโs condition to be fully revealed]. โProximity to power, privilege, prestige. Thatโs the currency. And people fiercely protect their access. They put self-preservation over principle.โโ The Weekend Australian, July 27โ28, 2024. Sydney, Australia. (Bari Weiss)
The Jesuit maxim, โthe end justifies the means,โ is a guarantee for the carnal nature to display its worst in the name of power, money, and control. Such exhibitions do not emanate from the mild rule of our Lord Jesus Christ but from the hellish arts of the enemy. It is the spirit of antichrist that is taking full possession of the world, or, as Sister White described it:
โApostasy exists, and will enclose the world till the last. Its hideous character and darkening influence will be seen in the maddening draughts dealt out from Babylon.โ Bible Echo, February 1, 1897
The world of politics seems to amplify this madness, in which people act irrationally more often than not to โdo whatever it takes to get what we want.โ May the Lord help each one of us to detach ourselves from the emotional turbulence, partisan divisions, and the selfish exhibitions of pride, arrogance, contempt, and deceit that dominate todayโs party political narrative.
โThe Lord would have His people bury political questions. On these themes, silence is eloquence. Christ calls upon His followers to come into unity on the pure gospel principles which are plainly revealed in the word of God. We cannot with safety vote for political parties โฆ [we] will not wear political badges, but the badge of Christ โฆ They [Godโs people] have put on Christ, and they wear the badge of truth and obedience. They are governed by the elevated and holy principles which Christ expressed in His life. But the world is governed by principles of dishonesty and injustice...You are not called upon by God to engage in politics โฆ It is a mistake for you to link your interests with any political party, to cast your vote with them or for them. Those who stand as educators, as ministers, as laborers together with God in any line, have no battles to fight in the political world. Their citizenship is in heaven...There is to be no party strife in the family of God...โ Fundamentals of Christian Education, pp. 475, 476, 478, 479 (Letter 95, 1899)
