"FIVE: We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church. We affirm that Christ's kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), therefore the Church necessarily stands apart from earthly political powers so that it may speak prophetically to all people, the society, and governing authorities. The Church has been given a divine mission of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). First, we call everyone to be reconciled to God through the proclamation of the Gospel as we teach people everywhere to copy the way of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Second, we seek to reconcile people to one another by addressing issues of justice, righteousness, and peace (Amos 5:24). We accomplish this by loving our neighbors (Mark 12:31), and by engaging our public life with humility, integrity, and a commitment to the common good as defined by our faith in Christ (Romans 12:18).
We reject both the call for the Church to withdraw from societal issues out of fear of political contamination, as well as any attempt to distort the Church into a mere vehicle of political or social power." - Evangelical Confession
Yes! Christ's kingdom is not of this world! Prophecy is supposed to be for all the church and not to be corrupted by the world and carnal political goals. Reconciliation is not accomplished in the voting booth, despite what people like Jack Hibbs and Dr. Michael Brown claim on Charisma News. They address an interesting point here. People of discernment and those tired of being abused are actually withdrawing from societal issues. It is exhausting to continue to watch brothers and sisters being deceived and then deceiving others. I dare you to read the political garbage on Charisma and see if there is a scintilla of humility, integrity, or common good as defined by our faith. The message from the apostate leaders is that we only reconcile people to ourselves if they first agree with our political persuasion. Our neighbors are only those we agree with. It is such a bastardization of our faith.
"SIX: We value every person as created in God's image. We affirm that all people bear God's image and possess inherent and infinite worth (Genesis 1:27). Jesus bestowed dignity upon those his culture devalued, and he taught us that our love, like God's, must extend even to our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). Our faith in Christ, therefore, compels us to act with love and mercy toward all from the very beginning of life to the very end, and honor everyone as an image-bearer of God regardless of age, ability, identity, political beliefs, or affiliations (John 13:34-35). We commit ourselves to advocate for the value of everyone our society harms or ignores.
We reject any messages that employ dehumanizing rhetoric, that attempt to restrict who is worthy of God's love, or that impose limitations on the command to "love your neighbor" that Christ himself removed." - Evangelical Confession
Now this is an important point. Jesus bestowed dignity upon those His culture devalued. The perfect example is the Samaritans, who were utterly reviled by the Jewish people as half-breeds. The hatred and vitriol they showed them is akin if not worse than how the church is conditioned today in this country to loathe the immigrant. That is why Jesus made a Samaritan the hero of the Good Samaritan parable, the conclusion of which is the key verses above. Which of these proved to be the neighbor for the man who fell victim to the robbers? The one who showed him mercy. The Samaritan. The one you hate. The one you revile. We are supposed to go and do likewise, not find our own Samaritans that we have convinced ourselves it is righteous to despise. The apostate church is quick to defend pre-birth life but not so much after the fact. When we insist to vote myopically, we willfully ignore all of the other harms our candidate might visit upon other marginalized groups of people as if they somehow do not matter to God. Charisma is now in the business of dehumanizing people based on political disagreement. The candidate they insist is God's choice has made his political living on debasing and dehumanizing anyone who disagrees with him. Are we so blind that we do not realize the lost will see this hypocrisy for what it is?
"SEVEN: We recognize godly leaders by their character. We affirm that the character of both our political and spiritual leaders matter. Within the Church, we seek to follow spiritual leaders those who display evidence of the Holy Spirit"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus warned us to be on guard against false teachers who come as wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). These voices will tempt us with flattery, bad doctrine, and messages we want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). They serve the false idols of power, wealth, and strength rather than the true God. Outside the Church, we will evaluate leaders based on their actions and the fruit of their character and not merely their promises or political success (Matthew 7:15-20). When any leader claims to have God's approval, whether in the Church or in politics, we will not confuse effectiveness for faithfulness, but carefully discern who is truly from God (1 John 4:1).
We reject the lie that a leader's power, popularity, or political effectiveness is confirmation of God's favor, or that Christians are permitted to ignore the teachings of Christ to protect themselves with worldly power." - Evangelical Confession
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