CONSERVATIVE IN ALL YOUR LIFE, Dan Mayfield 

Conservatism carries the idea of preserving the past traditions. The conservative approach to the Bible is to preserve the meaning, intent, and spirit of the original text just as God meant it. 

Liberalism is about change. The liberal approach to the Scriptures tends to lead to new interpretations and teachings that conform to external pressures coming from society or from fleshly desires.

My description of conservative and liberal is not well received by a liberal Christian because he believes it is he who is being faithful to the Word, not the conservative. This is a case of confusion.  It’s a case of the legal lawyer calling the other guy a lawyer. The lawyer knows the letter of the law. A conservative lawyer, ideally, strives to apply the “letter of the law”.  But a liberal lawyer has a different goal where the “letter of the law” becomes the “spirit of the law”. A conservative sees no legality in what is not written but only in what is written. The liberal lawyer sees the holes and loopholes, the areas of silence, as a legal opening for a given activity. When someone is accused in a derogatory sense to be a “lawyer”, it is not the liberal who is guilty of this because his manner is to wrestle from the inspired word the approval he has desired.  

The Bible says not to associate with people who are given to change, Pro. 24:21. When the authority of God is under attack, it’s coming from a liberal. They say, “The meaning of the Bible depends on the time in which it is read.” They say, “That was written to a first century audience and doesn’t apply to a better educated 21st century audience.” They say, “God is love and that trumps all law.” They say, “Most important to God is a person’s happiness and so He wouldn’t expect me to be unhappy.”

With the logic of the Liberal mind, the rich young ruler would not have walked away unhappy. With the logic of the Liberal, there would never be said a discouraging word, such as, “Unless you repent you will likewise perish.” With the logic of the Liberal, there would be no painful choices. “Stay in that condition in which you were called”, misapplied by the Liberal, means to homosexuals to stay in the homosexual relationship you were found in. It means to the thrice married man to stay in the adulterous marriage that you were called in.

The Liberal mind cannot explain the hard sayings of Jesus Christ. Why is it so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Today it’s not hard because the Liberal logic doesn’t call him to repent. Today it’s not hard for the people who are engaged in sexual immorality to be Christian. The sexual immorality is simply not addressed. Easy peezy!

The Bible is very clear that the only sexual relationship that’s acceptable to God is in the “marriage bed”. But today the “marriage bed” is the “partner bed” or the “girlfriend and boyfriend bed” or the “gay and lesbian bed”.

As the world changes, it moves further and further from the teachings and values of God. That equates into a harder life for Christians who refuse to compromise and change.

What about politics? Politics are a reflection of the values held by a society. A society that values life will strongly punish those who take life. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” Genesis 9:6.

So what does it tell you that the average time spent in a Minnesota prison for murdering someone is about 12 years? It says the dead man’s life was worth about 12 years. The human life is devalued. What does it tell you that an abortion cost about $500? It says that the baby in the womb is worth about the price of a cheap TV at Wal-Mart.

A man’s politics can’t be divorced from his faith. If the man votes, he’s reflecting his faith in some way. He’s voting his personal desires or he is voting the righteousness of God. “But Dan, church and state, there’s a separation of church and state!” That’s just a distraction. When the state indoctrinates your children to not believe in God, how is that a separation of church and state? When the state tells a photographer or a cake baker he must act contrary to his conscience, how is that separation of church and state!

Certainly, God wants Christians to be good, law-abiding citizens, 1 Pt 2:13ff; Rom 13:1ff. And we need to be focused on preaching the Gospel regardless of what the state says to the contrary. So let’s not be distracted.

When a President, Democrat or Republican, starts talking religion, then his errors must be rebutted. When George Bush said Islam is a great religion and that Muslims serve the same God as Christians, the old “just another path to the same God” argument, I was offended and said so. And when Pres. Obama said in 2013 that homosexuals should be allowed to marry, I took exception and preached against the lie he told.

Conservatism in your life means that your beliefs, values, and practices are going to intersect with the world and there’s no way to avoid it. Sometimes you will have to turn the other cheek. You will have to say, “we must obey God rather than men.” The intersection between the conservative who clings to the Bible is going to intersect and clash with the Liberal who wants everything changed including the Christian and his family.Remember the Proverb: do not associate with those who are given to change.

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