Doctrine and Politics

When those in our church family see the title of this blog they might fall over. They know what dominates my voting decision is the issue of life. The protection of life is certainly one of the areas the government should aid in, but in America that is not so much the case. However, the purpose of this blog today is not to deal with the millions of babies that are butchered inside a mother’s womb, the purpose of today’s blog is to mention none other than Presidential Candidate, Rick Santorum. Now, I am not endorsing Senator Santorum, and while I will vote, my hope is certainly not built upon what political candidate wins or what party is in office. We had no more of a movement of God in America when Ronald Regan was President than we did when Bill Clinton was President. However, over the last few weeks there has been much ado made concerning Senator Santorum injecting his Catholic theology into his politics. Now, I find this accusation very interesting and in truth, extremely ignorant: after all, you will not find a candidate today, or at any other time, that did not inject their theology into their campaign. Again, I want to reiterate that there is not a candidate in the field that really excites me - while I follow politics I never really get excited about it. But the point here is that President Obama injected his doctrine into his campaign, did he not? If a person believes there is no one to answer to above the American electorate, then that is the doctrine they live by. They live out of the bible of opinion polls and surveys. If a person does not believe that there is a Holy God that they will give an account to on “that day,” then certainly it impacts the daily decisions they make. Certainly, Mr. Romney’s Mormon doctrine plays a role in how he sees America: after all, according to his doctrine, if he is going to rule an entire planet one day as a god, certainly being President could be good practice for him.

I say all this to simply make the point that what we believe determines how we behave. I have said multiple times in the pulpit at Trinity that doctrine that does not impact the way we live is not really doctrine we believe. If I believe that every word I say I will give an account for, it should impact my speech. If I believe that I am a steward of the resources I have, whether it is my finances or being over my family, it impacts the way I spend and the way I love them. Just because Senator Santorum, is up front as to how his doctrine impacts his views on birth control, or whether or not I as a Baptist am a true Christian, doesn’t mean the other candidates are any less formed by their doctrine. It may just mean that they veil it a little better. I could spend an entire blog dealing with the horrible doctrine of the Mormon or Catholic Church, but the point each of us need to understand is that what we believe determines our world view. If I get my view about God from the only truth source we have which is the Word of God, it will impact that way I see the world, the unborn, politics and every other arena of life. If a person believes there is no god, or they can get to Heaven by doing good, or that they can gain a planet by trying hard, it will certainly impact their eternity and that should burden anyone that is a true child of God. But, we don’t need to buy into the notion that only Senator Santorum is impacted by his beliefs - all of us are impacted by our doctrine and it is our doctrine that gives us our view of heaven, hell and our world…and the only source we have of true doctrine is Scripture.