During this time of year, Christians face a lot of questions. Questions about responsibility and morality. The presence of the election this year makes these questions all the more important. Rather than talking about the election or Halloween specifically, I want to take this opportunity to discuss some foundational principles that relate to how we should respond to a variety of issues. That being said, the election and Halloween illustrate the importance of talking about this. Many struggle with the question of whether or not Christians should participate in Halloween. Many others struggle with who we should vote for or if we should vote at all. These two highlight the reality that we often come to each question like this individually and attempt to find a specific answer for each. We want a personalized answer for everything. In a sense, we want the Bible to simplify things for us by outlining everything for us. We want a verse that says Christians must vote for this person or that Christians must or must not vote for candidate x. It is like we are attempting to discover the answer to a mathematical problem without understanding any of the underlying principles. We want the answer but often have no desire to understand the process and foundations of the question. It is like wanting to study the answer sheet rather than how to answer. There is a reason that we learn math or writing by starting with the basic, foundational elements. Math starts with counting to ten. Reading and writing start with the ABCs. The question we are looking at today is, what are the foundational elements of Christianity that allow us to confidently answer any question that we face?
Foundational Elements
As we talk about these things here, there are a couple of things we need to understand. The first is that what is happening here is simply an introduction. The format of this devotional/blog does not allow for more than that. The second thing is that any real understanding only comes through work. There are countless examples that we could use to illustrate that people very rarely have the patience required to build a solid foundation. We want to get to the end, or we look at the end and think that we could never get there. To continue using the analogy of math, we come to a test and just want to get it over with, or we look at a complex mathematical equation and say it is simply beyond us. To use a different analogy, we look at a professional athlete and often have two simultaneous thoughts. The first is to think I could never be like that, and the second is the desire to have their level of skill without any desire to put in the amount of work required to get there. In other words, we want the results but do not want to put in any work for it. The sad reality about this is that we all have some part of our lives where we have built up these foundations and benefit greatly from them. The best example of this is probably reading. Because of all the foundational work put into learning the alphabet and rules of grammar, you are able to read this with little issue. Odds are that you have not once thought about the specific sounds of letters as you read through this. It is because you have a solid foundation in the English language. It does not mean that you have mastered it, and there may be works that you have to look up and sound out, but it is more the exception. The point here is that foundations are essential.
Christian Foundations
There are several different foundational elements for Christians. We can think of them as the individual words and letters of sentence. There is not one single thing that we can point to as the only foundation. That being said, we do need a starting point. For Christians, that starting point is the gospel. In some sense, the gospel interacts with every other foundational element of Christianity. It is how we become Christians. It is what introduces us to the character and nature of the Lord. We find the gospel in the Scripture and so on. In a very real sense, it would be impossible to highlight all the ways that the gospel interacts with every other element of being a Christian. The gospel is the good news that Christ gave himself to save sinners. All the other foundational elements come from this good news. We come to these foundational elements by asking questions such as why is it good news? Who is a sinner? What is sin? Who is Christ? Why do we need Christ to be our savior, and so on? All these questions, along with many others, point us to the foundations of Christianity.
Foundations of the Law
Another illustration of how these foundations interact is the Law of God. The greatest commandment tells us that we must love the Lord our God with all that we are, but we only find this commandment in the Bible. There is the appearance of a circular logic here. The commandment points us further into Scripture to understand what it means to love the Lord while at the same time relying on the truthfulness of Scripture in the first place. The Lord over all, but we only learn the extent of that through Scripture. So we need Scripture to teach us who the Lord is, while at the same time, the trustworthiness of Scripture depends wholly on who the Lord is. It is not truly circular because the Lord is the starting place. Everything starts with him, but it appears circular because our understanding of him starts with Scripture. To some extent, every Christian understands the importance of Scripture, but it has become more and more common for those who claim to be Christians to disregard what Scripture teaches. If we are ever going to be able to confidently face the questions that arise, we have to understand the importance of Scripture.
Halloween and Elections
Before finishing, I want to say something about what started all this. In an eternal sense, this election has little to no impact, and Halloween even less, but it does not mean we should not ask questions or that they are not important. What I want us to understand about them is that they highlight our need for a solid foundation. This election is among the most volatile in our history, and questions of how Christians should act abound. Some want to say that Christians should not vote because both available options hold positions that are wholly against what Scripture teaches, while others say that Christians must vote because we have a moral obligation to do so. The reality is more complicated though. For one, voting cannot be a moral obligation because it is not something commanded by God. It could be argued that it is because we are commanded to work for the kingdom, but there are many ways to work for the kingdom that go far beyond voting. Put simply, not voting is not sinful, and neither is voting. The reasons for why you vote or do not vote very well could be though. We must test everything against the foundations of our faith. We must test everything through Scripture. When Scripture does not specifically speak to something, then we must rely on foundational elements. We must ask questions such as: does this choice glorify God? Am I working for the kingdom? Am I more worried about what the Lord commands or my personal comfort? All these questions and more are important.
Summary
I will not tell you that you must vote or go to a Halloween party. What I will tell you is to test everything against Scripture and use the other means of grace that we have been given. We have been given the gift of prayer and the fellowship of the church to help us grow in knowledge and understanding. I will tell you that you should not violate your conscience. If your conscience, tested against Scripture, says you should not participate in Halloween, then you certainly should not. If you cannot in good conscience vote for either candidate, then you should not. There is something to be said for voting to limit the amount of evil in the world. Certainly, we must always fight against the rise of evil. The important thing is that we need a solid foundation if we hope to face the various issues that come up every day of our lives. The question I have for you is, do you have this solid foundation? If you believe that you do, are you working to grow yourself and others? If you do not have a solid foundation, what are you doing to build that foundation?
Soli Deo Gloria
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