Are you a Liberal, a Conservative or a Christian? | Tomorrow's World

Are you a Liberal, a Conservative or a Christian?

19th June 2008
Don Davis
Comment on this article
These days, it seems it is "every man for himself." Every woman, too. Our society has fractured into innumerable special interest groups seeking advantage for their constituencies. As America's "ship of state" sinks under ever-worsening economic conditions, conservatives and liberals are clawing for space aboard the shrinking number of lifeboats, hoping to survive the storm-tossed waves of fiscal and social disaster. Selfish interest and party spirit will bring the United States—and the other Western democracies—to ruin, unless citizens can recapture the standards that once upheld their nations, and can begin looking to God rather than to politicians for the answers. "You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes" (Deuteronomy 12:8).
Is the conservative view right, or do liberals have a better plan? Should we decide for ourselves, or is there an objective standard to which we all can look, and if followed, will it bring success to every aspect of our lives? "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death…. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above" (Proverbs 14:12, 14).

In the realm of religion, one common definition is that a "conservative" is someone looking down from his self-righteousness perch, quick to condemn others who fail to live up to the ideal he upholds publicly—even while in his own private life he justifies practicing the same sins he is not willing to tolerate in others. Christ described this attitude: "Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men" (Matthew 23:1-5).

At the other extreme, we find religious "liberals" who water down biblical standards, looking for "loopholes" in God's word, so they can draw closer to the world and justify unrighteous lifestyles. "Liberals" may deceive themselves into thinking God is so "merciful" that He does not really expect Christians to grow in righteousness. They assume God will let them "squeak into" His Kingdom at the last minute, without experiencing real repentance. What does Christ say about this attitude? "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself" (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Does God want us to be conservative, or to be liberal? In our own lives, He expects us to be "conservative"—comparing ourselves with humility and honesty, not against others, but to the words of Scripture. In dealing with others, He expects us to be "liberal," showing longsuffering toward those who are still maturing in their Christian commitment, yet in word and deed, setting them a godly example in love.

How can you know your spiritual condition? Ask God to show you! "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified" (2 Corinthians 13:5-6). Use the word of God as the standard to determine how your life compares to the way Christ lived and what He taught.

Be sure to read our booklet, The Ten Commandments, to see what Jesus Christ expects of us all.