Thursday, March 4, 2010

Politics Doesn't Determine Christianity

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." -- 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Here in Alabama we've been having a big fuss over electronic bingo. There has been lots of fingerpointing and accusations on both sides. What particularly disturbs me are the accusations that those who favor legalized gambling aren't Christians.

First, I don't really know how any person can know the soul of another person. Only God can truly see inside a soul. Being a Christian is not determined by whether you support one side of a political issue or another. I guess as simple as it sounds, I'm just a John 3:16 kind of person. It's what the Bible says and I believe it.

Second, I get upset when one side tries to mold the Bible to fit their personal views or political agenda. When we gamble are we coveting another person's money? Yes -- because we want something we don't have. We want to win the game and the prize that goes with it. Just like we covet our neighbor's new car, a promotion that went to someone else or a glazed donut our co-worker is consuming. Anytime we  want something we don't have, we covet it. Because we are wanting something someone else has -- whether it's a person or a business.

Electronic bingo isn't stealing from the poor. It's playing a game. When the local senior center sells chances -- excuse me, "takes donations" -- before they raffle a quilt each year, they aren't stealing from the poor seniors who probably don't have a dollar or two to spare. People make choices. We are all responsible for our own choices, whether we're playing a game, buying a ticket or purchasing a gallon of ice cream we probably shouldn't be eating.

Third, as I scrolled websites I was appalled at the "Christians" who mock the christianity of pro-gambling people. It gets my own Christian hackles up when someone questions another person's ability to be saved based on a political viewpoint. I want to suggest they focus on their own soul first, plucking that plank out of their own eye before they reach for the speck in someone else's eye.

As Christians we are going to disagree on many things, including Biblical interpretations. But when we stoop to mocking and questioning another person's christianity based on politics, we've crossed a line. Shame on all of us!