What Would Jesus Do?

I have listened to as many Evangelical sermons as I could find on YouTube and there are many there. I have been especially interested in how the Evangelical pastors were telling their people how to vote without actually just saying “Vote for Trump.” They must have attended some conference to study what to say. They all had basically the same four points presented as what they were going to consider when they decided who to vote for and they all used the same language and followed a set pattern.

First, they spent a great deal of time defending their right to preach on the subject and proclaiming that the idea of separation of church and state is not in the Constitution and should not be. They proclaim that the church is supposed to be vitally and powerfully involved in government using a lot of Old Testament scriptures as illustrations. Then each one claimed they did not have the right to tell folks how to vote but would just list the issues they would use in making their decision. Then most had four points such as vote for policies not personalities, which of course clears away any need for Christians to deal with the lifestyle of the candidate. Or the border, which has become a great fear of those who think white folks will no longer be a. majority and we will be replaced. Usually, the next one was voting for someone who was committed to supporting Israel, then followed in every case with I will vote for the person who can get things done.

Each point was proof text with a scripture which in every case was a text from some Old Testament book.

The pastor of First Baptist church Dallas, Texas, ended his sermon by asking “How do you think God feels about murdering babies or the distorted and reverse sexuality of our time? I bet this folks left thinking God had just told them how to vote.

But something very important was missing. Jesus was not in the mix. HIs name was only mentioned in the perfunctory “In Jesus name” used to end prayers.

 The God of the Old Testament did not save me.

I did not surrender my life to following the God presented there. I chose to follow Jesus and look upon the God presented in the Old Testament as a picture of failure. A picture of men trying to find and please a God without any light or knowledge and missing Him. Then came Jesus THE WORD became flesh and dwelt among us so we could see God. Jesus said “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

Jesus is our savior, and He is our final authority. What would Jesus do is not a question of Christianity it is THE question. As a follower that must enter into every issue I face. When someone claims something is scriptural, I want to ask, Is if “Jesus-ical”?

The sad thing to me has nothing to do with who wins the election. The thing that breaks my heart is none of the preachers ask WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? and no one suggested that each member should ask and answer that question for themselves. No Christian should vote until they have seriously consider seeking insight from His spirit to guide us in this most vital issue. If not, then millions of His followers will simply ignore the one who came to show us the way the truth and the life.