6.10-Basic Christian Belief disqualifies someone to serve in his government?

6.10

Basic Christian Belief disqualifies someone to serve in his government?

Matthew 5.
¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Jesus anticipated that his followers would be influencing and preserving any people group of which they were a part.  He called them the “salt of the earth.”  Salt seasons and preserves.  Christians following good ethics improve the love and kindness and fairness and justice of a community or even a nation.  A few of the Christians will be called to serve in high levels of government work.

In America this works well because the founders determined that there would be no religious test prohibiting the Christians from serving in their government.

Some of these Christians created colleges and universities to make sure their teachers were well educated.  Harvard was formed for such a purpose and many others including Wheaton College.

Wheaton recently had a professor who began to teach some things that were against their doctrinal statement.  She was fired.

In supporting her firing Russell Vought wrote a letter making clear that her views of Muslims was not aligned with the school’s doctrinal statement.

Vought, an alumnus of Wheaton, wrote a blog post last year expressing support for his alma mater.  The fired teacher quoted a theologian who said non-Christians have a "deficient" theology but could have a meaningful relationship with God. Vought disagreed.

"Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology," Vought wrote. "They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned. "

This all might seem to be of non interest to most of us.

But recently this man, Russell Vought, was nominated to be the deputy director of the Office of Managment and Budget.  

Bernie Sanders and a Senate Committee was interviewing him and Sanders seemed to give him some problems for his Christian faith as stated in this letter.

Sanders brought up the passage, again and again, in the hearing. He asked Vought if he thought his statement was Islamophobic.

"Absolutely not, senator," Vought said

"Do you believe people in the Muslim religion stand condemned?" Sanders asked. "What about Jews? Do they stand condemned, too?"

"I'm a Christian," Vought repeatedly responded.

"I understand you are a Christian," Sanders said, raising his voice. The senator is Jewish and has said he's not particularly religious. "But there are other people who have different religions in this country and around the world. In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?"

"I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs," Vought said, while also emphasizing "the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation."

"This nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about," Sanders said, announcing that he'd vote against him.

Then according to Bernie Sanders this man is not fit to serve because of his Christian beliefs.

According to this Senator a Christian who has strong beliefs about his faith being the exclusive way to salvation is unfit to serve his country.

What has happened to America?

All religions think they are right.  Christians think they're right.  Jews think they're right. Buddists think they're right.  That's what it means to believe something.  You think its correct, accurate and true. In this world of shaming us where  micro aggressions trigger the feeling that people are victims.  Intolerance is masked as tolerance.  People can believe anything or nothing, but we Christians can't believe that Jesus came to earth and suffered and died on a cross for the salvation of those who believe in Him.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke

Larry Wishard

6.10.17