All, I wrote this article on Facebook. Should you all want a copy yourselves, I can send you the Word Doc that I wrote it on.
Spread it around!
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In this crucial time we live in, it is coming down to the wire as to who we should vote for as Christians. We, unfortunately, have been given two main choices in the media and are provided with no biblical alternatives. Should we choose the lesser of two evils? Should we choose neither? If we look into the Bible, we can compare the predicament many Christians are having today with the time of Jesus (without the voting part).
In order to understand the situation we are all faced with, we must first understand the two main religious (and political) powers at the time of Christ, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Of course, Rome was the dominant power at the time over Israel, but we will not focus on that as much. For now, we are going to look at the differences and similarities of the Pharisees and Sadducees in order to build up the point I will make. I have taken an excerpt from Gotquestions.org because they did such a beautiful job laying down exactly what needs to be revealed about these two very dominant views at the time of Christ. In all portions of this excerpt, the emphasis in bold was added by me for later use and clarification.
/start quote/ The Sadducees: During the time of Christ and the New Testament era, the Sadducees were aristocrats. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. They worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome (Israel at this time was under Roman control), and they seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion. Because they were accommodating to Rome and were the wealthy upper class, they did not relate well to the common man, nor did the common man hold them in high opinion. The common man related better to those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. Though the Sadducees held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, history indicates that much of the time they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, because the Pharisees were popular with the masses. Religiously, the Sadducees were more conservative in one main area of doctrine. The Pharisees gave oral tradition equal authority to the written Word of God, while the Sadducees considered only the written Word to be from God. The Sadducees preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). While they could be commended for this, they definitely were not perfect in their doctrinal views. The following is a brief list of beliefs they held that contradict Scripture: 1. They were extremely self-sufficient to the point of denying God's involvement in everyday life. 2. They denied any resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18-27; Acts 23:8). 3. They denied any afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death, and therefore denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life. 4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons (Acts 23:8). Because the Sadducees were more concerned with politics than religion, they were unconcerned with Jesus until they became afraid He might bring unwanted Roman attention. It was at this point that the Sadducees and Pharisees united and conspired to put Christ to death (John 11:48-50; Mark 14:53; 15:1). Other mentions of the Sadducees are found in Acts 4:1 and Acts 5:17, and the Sadducees are implicated in the death of James by the historian Josephus (Acts 12:1-2). The Sadducees ceased to exist in A.D. 70. Since this party existed because of their political and priestly ties, when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70, the Sadducees were also destroyed. The Pharisees: In contrast to the Sadducees, the Pharisees were mostly middle-class businessmen, and therefore were in contact with the common man. The Pharisees were held in much higher esteem by the common man than the Sadducees. Though they were a minority in the Sanhedrin and held a minority number of positions as priests, they seemed to control the decision making of the Sanhedrin far more than the Sadducees did, again because they had the support of the people. Religiously, they accepted the written Word as inspired by God. At the time of Christ's earthly ministry, this would have been what is now our Old Testament. But they also gave equal authority to oral tradition and attempted to defend this position by saying it went all the way back to Moses. Evolving over the centuries, these traditions added to God's Word, which is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2), and the Pharisees sought to strictly obey these traditions along with the Old Testament. The Gospels abound with examples of the Pharisees treating these traditions as equal to God's Word (Matthew 9:14; 15:1-9; 23:5; 23:16, 23, Mark 7:1-23; Luke 11:42). However, they did remain true to God's Word in reference to certain other important doctrines. In contrast to the Sadducees, they believed the following: 1. They believed that God controlled all things, yet decisions made by individuals also contributed to the course of a person's life. 2. They believed in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6). 3. They believed in an afterlife, with appropriate reward and punishment on an individual basis. 4. They believed in the existence of angels and demons (Acts 23:8). Though the Pharisees were rivals of the Sadducees, they managed to set aside their differences on one occasionthe trial of Christ. It was at this point that the Sadducees and Pharisees united to put Christ to death (Mark 14:53; 15:1; John 11:48-50). While the Sadducees ceased to exist after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Pharisees, who were more concerned with religion than politics, continued to exist. In fact, the Pharisees were against the rebellion that brought on Jerusalem's destruction in A.D. 70, and they were the first to make peace with the Romans afterward. The Pharisees were also responsible for the compilation of the Mishnah, an important document with reference to the continuation of Judaism beyond the destruction of the temple. /end quote/
Now here is the hard question, if the Pharisees and Sadducees were running for office today, who would you vote for? Would you vote for the Pharisees because their beliefs are closer to ours as Christians? After all, being close is better than not at all, right? I am not being sarcastic, just asking crucial questions about the decision making process that seems so predominate in our thoughts. What about the Sadducees? Would you vote for them because you are upper class and they control the interests of the upper class? Would you vote for them because they are concerned with political affairs and relationships between the governing powers and the current state of the nation?
Each of the above questions are sort of rhetorical, and maybe to some, unanswerable. But the main question that I am trying to get to is why? Why would you vote for the Pharisees over the Sadducees, or vice versa? If you vote for Sadducees, it wouldnt matter much seeing the Pharisees are in better standing with the common people and that outnumbers the 70 seats held by the Sadducees. If you vote for the Pharisees, you might be going with the more popular vote, but regarding relationships with the higher powers the Sadducees have the greater influence. So what do you do? Do you go for those who you think have your economic class in mind? Do you vote for the ones who are going to uphold similar (although maybe not all together similar) beliefs as your own? What if both were against what you believe even if they were somewhat similar? What if, no matter how much politically or religiously you had in common, they both despised your political and religious agenda? In the case of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, this was a reality toward Christ.
As the article from Gotquestions.org reveals (so does scripture) both the Sadducees and Pharisees at the time were willing to put aside their differences to kill Jesus Christ. Why? Jesus was not catering to either side! The Sadducees saw Him as a threat because of their concern over what the Roman Empire would think, and the Pharisees saw their beliefs and popularity being called into question because of what He taught, which was against their religious system. So both, in an effort to do away with this threat once and for all, come together, united for this one cause, to kill God in the flesh Jesus Christ.
So lets make this a little more modern. Obama is popular with the common people. He claims to look after the welfare of the lower to middle class and holds a pretty good standing among the popular opinions of our day. Romney may not be as popular, but he holds the interest of the middle to upper class in mind. Although Romney does not believe as Christians believe, it is closer than what Obama believes, so why not him? But not matter what you vote for, you must remember that biblically speaking, both hold Christ in contempt.
I would like to say that I am not trying to accurately compare Obama with the Pharisees or Romney with the Sadducees or vice versa. I am simply pointing out the political and religious similarities of Christs day to get to the single, most important answer to the dilemma that we are facing. I am not trying, in anyway, to form a very accurate depiction of the stances of either party. I could be very wrong on some of the things I said, but I will state that I am not wrong to say that the opinions and views of the Sadducees and Pharisees, and the political or religious sway they held, are similar to what we are facing today. I am also right in stating that, at any time, both can easily join forces to try do away with Christian influence altogether. And so far, if you have been watching the compelling change of Americas attitude toward Christians lately, it would not be too far-fetched to believe this could occur.
So what is the point? Here it is: what was Jesus response to this time and era he lived in? To parrot Ray Comfort in the Way of The Master, what did Jesus do? The answer to that question is in this text:
/start quote/ Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore said to Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. (John 18:36-37 NKJV, underline added)/end quote/
So what was Jesus purpose in the midst of political and religious turmoil? To bear witness or testify of the truth! In other words, in the midst of what we are going through as a nation, our number one priority; the very reason we are still in the world as Christians is to preach the gospel! Yes, we can vote (as long as the law permits), and as some say we should go out and exercise that right. But, if the choices we are given as a people of God are choices in which we are to compare Pharisees with the Sadducees, than we better start concerning ourselves more with preaching the truth of the gospel than with lobbying or protesting just because we are not getting what we want. In all things, we are Christians first, politicians second (not that I actually believe one should be separated from the other, I am just stating a fact of affinity to God being primary in all things).
In the current state of our nation, we as Christians must imitate what Christ stated to Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. What a statement! And we, in the midst of our voting (if we choose to do so) should remember that if we are not out preaching the gospel and testifying to the truth of Jesus Christ on the streets, to our children, to our neighbors, to our co-workers, friends, or family members, than we are really failing at our true calling. We are not called to fight (whether physically or verbally or politically) against the system so that we might be delivered unto the Jews (in this case the political agenda of our day), but we must preach the truth! If we fail at this one thing, we not only dishonor God with our lives, but we deny the very thing He came in the world for. The choices we are faced with today are a sign that the times in America are truly becoming darker. Because of this, our first reaction should be a zeal to witness, not to vote for a better alternative or protest the results of a vote. Especially since Christians are being silenced more and more in America, now more than ever we should proclaim the gospel.
Here is my final plea with you dear Christian. If you feel that it is your duty to vote, then do it. If you feel it is futile, then dont. That is a call you have to make individually as a citizen of the United States. However, if you do not take the time to go out and preach the gospel consistently and with fervor (for our time is short), than it doesnt really matter who you vote for because you are not contributing to what really matters, and that is Gods kingdom on Earth! Christian, the choice is indeed yours. Whether you vote for the Pharisees or the Sadducees is up to you, but remember that in the midst of a government that is slipping away more and more into darkness, the greatest spiritual and political contribution you can make is not by checking a box, but by opening your mouth and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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