How to Get Rid of that Bad Taste in Your Mouth
- Andrea G. Schwartz,
The results of this past week’s national elections have many Christians in a quandary. Some have shared with me about their “Christian” friends who eagerly voted for the president-elect, have no difficulty with the idea of gay marriage or accepting that abortion is a personal choice. The questions keep coming: is it wrong to separate from these people, even if they are extended family members, neighbors, and associates at work? They want to keep people with these wrongheaded views away from themselves and especially their children, for they don’t want their families to get the idea that such views are consistent with an orthodox application of Scripture.
Is this an overreaction? Or, should they figure this “bad taste in their mouth” will subside with time? Should they get used to the status quo and just accept it?
The crux of the matter is differentiating between those who are brothers and sisters in the Lord and those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. The ONLY way you are going to differentiate between the two is to have an absolute standard. Those who love the Lord hear His voice (His law-word) and respond. Those who are of another sheepfold don’t. Jesus said that those who love Him will keep His commandments. That would include agreeing with Him and His Word as to what constitutes evil and what constitutes good.
Thus, those “Christian” friends are professing Christians without being confessing Christians.
The next issue is to be sure you are differentiating between those who have been taught poorly and those who are indeed wicked. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees knew what the Scriptures said and substituted their own laws and ordinances. They were legalists – trying to obtain salvation on their terms. Jesus correctly identified them as vipers and snakes.
My suggestion to those who are in the quandary described above is to embark on a study of Biblical law so that they will not “struggle” with these issues, but have an effective way to view the law-word of God and teach it to their children. Feelings are a poor substitute for an absolute standard. Feelings can come and go, but God’s Word is established forever.
Fed up with not knowing how to think Biblically? It is time to become an expert in knowing and applying the full counsel of God.
- Andrea G. Schwartz
Andrea Schwartz is Chalcedon’s family and Christian education advocate, and the author of eight books including: A House for God: Building a Kingdom-Driven Family, The Biblical Trustee Family: Understanding God’s Purpose for Your Household, Empowered: Developing Strong Women for Kingdom Service, Woman of the House: A Mother’s Role in Building a Christian Culture, and The Homeschool Life: Discovering God’s Way to Family-Based Education. She’s also the co-host of the Out of the Question podcast, the Chalcedon podcast, and has an active teaching schedule with women and high schooled students.. She can be reached at [email protected].