Have we lost our evangelical Christian minds?

  Politics has always been messy and divisive, but it seems to be worse in recent years. Sadly, evangelical Christians have become pretty mean and nasty when it comes to politics.

  This is not an anti-Trump post, but he is one of the symptoms of what is going on, so I will be talking about him some. Just a heads up. :)

   Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us who to vote for and how to vote. I do believe we should vote pro-life, and never vote for anyone who supports the murder of innocent babies...so that pretty much guarantees anyone believing the same will not vote Democrat. It is sad and horrifying that the right to kill your own baby is a major platform of that party, and that no candidate would ever get voted in if they did not support that horrible practice. The things that party supports and what they fight should have any Bible believing Christian running as fast as they can from that party.

  So the Republican Party has become the party of choice for most evangelical Christians. Sadly, that party isn't very different these days from the Democrats. I firmly believe that most Republican politicians are not pro-life, pro-family, and are not for or against most of the things Christians are for or against. They know as long as they say they are, they will get votes. However, if you pay attention, they very rarely do anything to show they actually do have the stance on issues they tell their voters that they do.

 What happens when the Republican Party becomes as corrupt as the Democrats and openly support what we oppose and fight what we are for?

  The Bible does not say we must vote Republican, but it does say a lot about how we are to treat people. Politics has become so important to us, that we don't care how we make people feel, as long as we get our point across and feel we have won the argument.

   I stared at the computer screen in amazement, disgust, and hurt. The 2016 election was still a little ways off, and I had just read a Facebook post by someone I know of, but don't personally know nor am Facebook friends with. The reason it was visible to me, was because a long time friend of mine had "liked" it. This was a college friend, and he is the first person I had confided in about my same-sex attractions. I had done it by letter, sure I was condemned to hell for having these feelings. He helped me a lot in those early days after I had realized what was going on with me. And this same friend had just "liked" a post very insulting to anyone who was not for Trump. How insulting? Among other things, it said anyone not voting for Donald Trump was as bad as ISIS. No, I am not making that up. We who did not vote for DT were said to be as bad as a terrorist group.....and my "friend" clicked "like", showing he agreed with this over the top tirade. Maybe I should have messaged him about it instead of letting it bother me so much and cause feelings of irritation and hurt toward him.

  Much has been said to and about we conservatives who did not vote for DT and do not support him. I have a Christian Facebook friend who fairly regularly knocks people who did not vote for DT.... and even mocked us for being too "lily white" to vote for Trump.

  Donald Trump is a very polarizing figure. The liberals he supported and donated to for years despise him and fight him on everything. A lot of Christians and conservatives felt they could not vote for him and have varying degrees of disgust and dislike for him. I was actually friends for a while on Facebook with a man who had his Facebook account for the sole purpose of trashing Trump and his supporters. After so long, he bothered even me, so I un-friended him, along with a woman who was pretty much the same.

   On the flip side of that, are the Christian Trump supporters who are constantly praising and defending Trump, and trashing those who oppose him. I have mockingly called DT the Republican Messiah, and for good reason. There are Christians who spend a lot more time posting about Trump than they do about Jesus. No politician deserves the blind loyalty and nonstop praise that this man gets, no matter how good of a job they do.

   The same happened with Obama and his supporters, but I only had a few people praising and defending him. Nowadays, my Facebook page is full of praise for DT. If you cannot understand my frustration, imagine if you had several friends constantly praising and defending Obama or Hillary, and going after you any time you dared speak up against them.

  This divisiveness started before Trump, and even before Obama. I am not sure when it started to get as bad as it is now, but it was very noticeable when George W Bush was president. He was a decent man and president, not without his faults. One thing that really impresses me to this day is how he handled criticism. He had a lot of nasty things said to him and about him, and unlike the last two presidents, he took it like a man and didn't fight back....he just did his job. While he was president, several "Kill Bush" groups popped up on Facebook, and for some insane reason were allowed to exist.

   Coincidentally......or maybe not coincidentally.....something else happened while Bush was in office: the rise of social media. There was no Facebook or Twitter when Clinton was in office, or HW Bush...or any other presidents before them. Facebook, Twitter, and may other social networking sites came into existence during the Bush presidency. Is it any coincidence that the same time period is when we began noticing how divisive and mean we were becoming about politics?

   I am in no way condemning social media. I use it often. I obviously blog, as I am doing now....It got me into reviewing books, which means free books for me....score! I have gotten back in contact with friends and family I don't see often, and have made new friends. My best friend and I are friends because of social media. I am in Facebook groups with others who have the same struggles as I do, and have been helped and encouraged by many of them.... and at times managed to help and encourage others. Yeah, surprise.

   But then there is the dark side of social media. There are all kinds of dangers, and it can be a predator's playground. And it brings out the worst in people. We say things to people we would never say in person, and act in ways we would never do off screen.

 I fear that politics has replaced reason and decency among all of us....Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, Christians, sinners.....

We are to be like Jesus, but would He act the way we do on social media?

Would He trash people for not voting like Him....if He even actually voted?

Would He say the things about never Trump people that many Christians have said?

Would He say the things about Trump many people have said?

Would He say the things about Hillary, Obama, and other liberals we freely say?

  People love to condemn you if you say negative things about the politician they like.....yet they can turn around and say the same and worse about politicians they don't like.

 We have strayed so far from the Bible when it comes to politics, and sadly most of us don't realize it or care.

    Are we living the Christian life we should be if we are attacking those we disagree with politically? Whether it be Trump supporters, never Trump people, liberals, libertarians, independents, or whoever....the Bible does not say to be kind and love everyone, except those who disagree with you politically. No, the Bible commands us to love our enemies, do good to those who do us wrong, and to forgive 70 x 7. How many of us are doing that when it comes to politics? Too many of us...myself included.....are doing the opposite. We don't really care how our words will affect the other person. We don't care if we hurt them and cause them to stumble spiritually. All we care about is getting our point across and winning an argument.

   What if you knew that person you are harshly criticizing for not voting for Donald Trump is really discouraged and about to give up? Would you still say it? What if that friend was about to ask you about your relationship with Jesus, but then she saw what you said about the politician she likes......Hillary Clinton? What if by being so outspoken politically, we are destroying any chance of being an encouragement or help to someone spiritually some day?

    Personal example: Before the election, there was a lot of people trying to guilt, shame, scare, and using other tactics to get people to vote for Trump who felt they could not, or would not vote for him. Spiritual leaders had strong words for those people. There is a preacher from the same kind of very conservative church background as me that joined this effort. He did a post comparing Donald Trump to Sampson, trying to make the point that as bad as Sampson was, God still used him. He gave an impassioned plea for anyone not voting for DT to do so, and said if we didn't and voted third party, we were just throwing our vote away. This post was shared by several of my friends, and one even tagged me to make sure I saw it.

    If you really want to irritate me, tell me I threw my vote away or that by voting third party I was actually voting for Hillary. Neither of those statements are true, and I say anyone who says that is a liar. Including that preacher. Strong words, but come on....are those statements true Biblically?  It is sad we have gotten to  the point that we only see and consider 2 parties. I prayed and honestly felt I could not vote for DT, and voted for a 3rd party for the first time. It was not a wasted vote, I didn't throw it away, and it certainly was not a vote for Hillary.

   Several months passed, and it came time for my church to have revival services. And guess who the evangelist was. It was Bro "Trump is like Sampson and you are throwing your vote away if you vote 3rd party." Do you think I got any help out of those services? None at all. I would have liked to just stayed away, but my little sister and family were the singers, So I went every night I could go, and as this preacher preached I sat there with disgust that a man in his position would try to guilt people into voting how he wanted. Preachers shouldn't do stuff like that, say stuff like that.......

   But should any of us? If you support Trump and think he is the greatest thing since chocolate, would you want to hear someone preach or teach that was very outspoken against him and those who voted for him? If you don't support Trump, would you want to hear someone teach or preach that tried to guilt or scare you into voting for him and said things about you and others that were not nice or Christian?

 What is truly more important to us.....politics, or our relationship with God and others? Should we be more concerned with how someone votes, or how we make them feel? Should we be more concerned with American politics, or being prepared for the world we will go to when we leave this one?

   I am not saying we should not vote......though  I am so turned off on voting, I may never vote again...at least in a presidential election......but I have to wonder if Jesus would vote and be political if He was here doing His earthly ministry. I can't say for sure, but I don't believe He would. He stayed away from politics when He was here, and spent time healing and ministering to people. Israel was under Roman rule at that time, yet we have no record of Him saying much, if anything against Rome. He had a lot to say about and against religious leaders, but political.......not so much.

    And should we be any different? Can we encourage people, minister, and be a Christian witness while railing against politicians and those who support them? Can we love our enemies and practice the fruits of the Spirit while we exchanging harsh words with those who oppose our politician/candidate? Are we being like Jesus when we block or un-follow people on Facebook because of politics?

    No one has actually said the words, but the attitude seems to be that everything the Bible says about how we treat people and feel about them doesn't apply when it comes to politics. A harsh assessment? Maybe, but when you consider how Christians act and treat people in regards to politics, it doesn't seem to be a wrong assessment.

   We are all so concerned about the sins of abortion, homosexuality, transgender, and more. We rightly take a Biblical stance on those, but then we turn around and go against the Bible in the areas of how we treat people. What if by being so outspoken and harsh, we turn someone off on God and Christianity? What if we were the person who could have led someone to Jesus, but we forever hurt that chance by our political activism?

 What if someone is really discouraged and battle-worn, and we tip them over the edge by badgering them about politics?

  I'll be honest...I am so sick of politics - mostly because of things to do with the 2016 election - that I really have no interest in voting. Maybe that will change. Now imagine for a minute if I announced that on Facebook - that I, Mark Buzard may never vote in an election again in my life. Do you think the many Christians I am friends with on Facebook will leave that alone? No. I would get a lot of grief from all the wonderful people in this wonderful family of God I am part of.

   Social media is a wonderful tool. What if Christians used it to help and encourage others, instead of using it as a platform for their political views? How far back would someone have to go through our Facebook posts to find something Christian, instead of political? If our Facebook page is a continual barrage of our political views, something needs to change. We are never going to help anyone to Heaven by constantly praising or trashing politicians.

  Try to set aside American ideas and politics for a moment. Which is truly more important to us: how someone votes, or the spiritual condition of that person and how we will impact them by our words? It has been said that some people are so heavenly minded, that they are of no earthly good.......but what if we are so American minded that we are of no heavenly good?

 I get it. I care about our freedoms and rights. But what if we have place them in such a high place of importance, that we are not living as God wants us to?

  There are a lot of gay people turned off by the church and Christians who may never find their way to God because of the hate and perceived hate from Christians. Unfortunately, politics has made that such a divisive issue, that evangelical Christians have done and are doing harm to gay people. I don't have all of the answers. Gay marriage is wrong, and makes a mockery of God's intent for marriage.....but so is the rampant divorce and remarriage that is even happening all to often in the church. So is shacking up and careless dating. And I understand it.....if I was "out and proud", I would want to marry some day too....What if we are spending so much time fighting people, that we aren't doing what God wants is to do - love people, spread the Gospel, win people to Him?

 Or are we too focused on winning people to our political views and the guy or gal we want them to vote for?

  And yeah, I have bashed Trump a lot. Back before the 2016 election, I had a guy from my church texting me a lot trying to get me to vote for Trump. He said something that still sticks with me: he said the way I was talking about Trump my ruin my Christian witness. I wish I had asked him this in reply: "where were you the last 8 years when I was bashing and criticizing Obama? Why do you only care when it is a politician you are for?"

 That is where the rub comes in. If it is wrong for people to criticize and bash politicians we agree with, it is wrong to do so with politicians we disagree with. Believe me, I have toned it way down and don't say nearly as much as I think....but when I do dare criticize DT, someone jumps on me.....but then I see what Christians are posting about Democrats, and it is often not very nice and is worse than what I say about DT.....is either OK? Is either what we should be saying as Christians?

    Some day we will all stand before God. We will not be judged on how many people we won to our political views, or whether we always voted Republican. We will, however, be judged on how we treated people. And who knows.......God may bring up our Facebook posts and comments when that day comes, and we may be judged by those.

 And I am in no way saying we should never post or talk about politics, and care about it.......but if your Facebook page is more politics than Christian....there may be a problem.