As another presidential election nears in the United States, it is important for dedicated followers of Jesus to apply their faith to the civic duty to vote in such manner as to seek to advance the values and ethics of Christ's kingdom. To that end I gave a seminar at Bethel World Outreach Church in Brentwood, TN, entitled, Political Forum: Thinking Critically About Issues and Candidates as a Christian. The seminar does not directly address either major political party or their presidential candidates, but instead focuses on sound principles, which should remain relevant for years to come so long as America's constitutional form of democracy remains intact.
The introductory remarks addressed the need to develop a biblical worldview based on sound biblical interpretation, giving attention to literary, historical, and cultural contexts. A series of questions are then presented to guide us in identifying and prioritizing issues of contemporary relevance and/or importance. These then must be correlated to any given public office in terms of their political significance. Finally, candidates should then be correspondingly evaluated in relation to appropriately significant issues. Two case studies are briefly considered; namely, abortion and social justice. In conclusion, several resources for further study are enumerated.
The title and core content for the seminar were acquired from Josh Crossman, who served as an elder in the Every Nation church I had pastored in Seattle. As I recall, Josh, who completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University, had acquired the core material from a professor at Duke. I have taken the material and adapted it to my own ends, and therefore assume responsibility for the seminar's content, even though I am unable to take credit for the core concepts, diagrams, etc.
The seminar's audio and notes are available for download as an MP3 file and two alternative PDF files through the following links:
fidworks.blogspot.com
