Posted on 10/27/2020 9:06:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
Evangelical thinker, author, and Christian pastor John Piper stirred the Christian community and a larger public intrigued with how Christians may vote in the this election with his recent essay, “Policies, Persons, and Paths to Ruin: Pondering the Implications of the 2020 Election.”
Piper concludes: “I will not develop some calculus to determine which path of destruction I will support.” After rejecting the sin of boastfulness with a terminology diagnosed in the Greek with the term “eristikos,” he is willing to forswear voting on or in the Presidential election of 2020. Piper’s critique of leadership character is one of several made by other major evangelical thinkers like Max Lucado and Beth Moore. Piper’s thesis cannot be reconciled to the rhetoric and arguments of basic Biblical hermeneutics.
Piper complains early in the essay: “I find it bewildering that Christians can be so sure that greater damage will be done by bad judges, bad laws, and bad policies than is being done by the culture-infecting spread of the gangrene of sinful self-exaltation, and boasting, and strife-stirring (eristikos). How do they know this? Seriously! Where do they get the sure knowledge...” Piper is condescendingly stunned that Christians might vote in the current election given the tragic political character flaw of boasting that for him obviously precludes the task of voting for President. Piper does not provide biblical examples to support his thesis and offers only the well-worn hermeneutic that all sin is of equal offense in the eyes of God so boasting will be as “deadly” as abortion, according to Piper. In reality, the Bible is replete with human beings plagued with boasting character flaws and yet assigned to not only leadership but political sovereignty.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Better is the Vain & Boastful
thaan
The Evil & destructive
I will vote for the person that promotes peace and protects ALL LIVES!
I will never vote for a demented person that feels it is OK to murder innocent children in the womb. Their entire minds are corrupt and they cannot be trusted. Period.
If all sin is equal, then you can never vote for anybody except Jesus Christ and all elections would be decided by heathens. Christian representation would be impossible.
Any “christian” who is not sure who to vote for, is a hypocritical heathen anyway! Only one trigger should clear it all up for the so-called confused “christian”, and that is ABORTION! They can rot in hell for allowing abortion to continue, and especially partial- and full-birth abortion!!
Infuriating!
Sounds like he’s a little boastful and arrogant himself, not to mention judgemental.
I guess he threw the first stone.
What does that say about him?
LOL!
It is not a pastors job to tell the faithful who to vote for.
If he is doing his job and preaching Scripture faithfully we will know what to do when we vote.
Which makes Biden a liar and a thief...
I’m not voting for him to be my youth pastor.
I’m voting for him to be my president.
He’s just addressing some of the really stupid people that sit next to US in the pews. I know a few.
They think Trump is something he is not.
I was that dense during a certain time in recent history also.
I was a Cruz supporter, before I understood the heart of Trump.
Then it was a “no brainer “.
> shall foreswear voting
Then he should foreswear eating. If he won’t work, he should not eat. Making tough choices is PART OF HIS JOB.
My advice above is scriptural. What a __ssy.
David: Seduced a married woman and murdered her husband
Moses: Killed a man.
John: Vain and boastful.
Peter: Disloyal - denied Jesus.
Thomas: Lacking in faith.
I could go on forever. Flawed people ARE saintly - if they are doing God’s work. That is one of the biggest points made in scripture.
It depends on who’s vain, and why he is, And, why he’s boasting.
I didn’t read the good Christian’s screed, but can guess what was said and why he said it.
President Trump can and should be excused for being vain.
He can also be forgiven for boasting. Lesser men than him boast and many in the clegy praise these lesser men extravigantly.
So, Mr. President, be as vain and boastful as it takes to keep your good work going.
Trump boasts of his accomplishments so that we can make a decision whether to vote for him. He has to tout his accomplishments. All politicians do this. Much of Trump’s boasting is obviously meant to be humorous.
Joseph in the Bible bragged to his brothers about a dream he’d had where they had to bow down to him. God ended up using Joseph mightily, and his story still inspires people today.
God uses imperfect people. That’s part of the point.
Rahab had her issues, too. She was a prostitute, and is in Jesus’ bloodline, IIRC from Seminary classes.
Isn’t every politician in some way vain and boastful? Even those who portray themselves as humble are boasting about their humility and I actually dislike them more than the ones who constantly tell us how great they are. Kasich is the worst, he makes my skin crawl.
My friend used to say, “Jesus isn’t on the ballot this time. Who’s your second choice?”
Moron. By his calculus Moses, David, Paul and Peter were unworthy. The question is not what does your puny flesh think. The question is “what does God think ?” He does not choose the prepared, He prepares the chosen. Trump has clearly been chosen “for such a time as this”. The whited sepulchres (religious leaders, pharisees) have no say. Pray unceasingly.
Some people lose sight of the fact that false modesty is, by definition, also a form of dishonesty.
“This guy is a useful idiot of the Left”
And apparently knows little about the Bible. The 12 Apostles were ALL flawed.
Just more sour grapes from the Godless left.
A never-Trumper trying to diminish the Christian vote.
Which means he’s working for Biden and indirectly, China.
Donald Trump is running for PRESIDENT ... not Pope.
And in that capacity, he has more then proven himself worthy of Christian support.
- FOUR peace prize nominations.
- ending wars.
- nominating a pro-life SCOTUS justice.
- and EVERYTHING he’s done to end human trafficking and child abuse.
Donald Trump stood up for this country.
Him and his family do not benefit from being in the office.
Indeed, they’ve lost significant funds during this ordeal.
Not to mention the outright abuse.
His selfless efforts in order to save the country from the left are indeed noble and humbling.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.