My comment is related to the point of the Piper article. I agree with his premise that immorality, boastfulness, vulgarity, "and the like", are deadly sins for the soul, if left unforgiven. Donald Trump is obviously guilty of these things, but we don't know whether or not he is forgiven because we are not God. Given the recent revelat…
My comment is related to the point of the Piper article. I agree with his premise that immorality, boastfulness, vulgarity, "and the like", are deadly sins for the soul, if left unforgiven. Donald Trump is obviously guilty of these things, but we don't know whether or not he is forgiven because we are not God. Given the recent revelations about his past practices, it is obvious that Joe Biden is no saint, either. We've seen the tapes of him "boasting" about how he pressured political leaders to implement policies that benefited him and his family, and he has certainly lied about his stance and actions on many different issues. My point is that they are both deeply flawed sinners... but so are we all. Frankly, I feel more comfortable trusting the man who wears is sins on his sleeves with the future of my children than I am voting for a man who lies about his morality and hides his sins from us, just so he can "appear" more moral. My problem with the logic that Rev. Piper is advocating is that if we follow it, the only people we can vote for are the ones who "act" pious, regardless of the "deadly" policies they advocate. "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1). Whether or not Donald Trump or Joe Biden have repented and are forgiven is not my concern. The policies they advocate and implement are my concern, and those policies are the basis of my decision on which one to vote for.
Thank you for your comments, C. Y. Smith. I struggle with what Piper writes in his article, because I am a Christian and a seminary graduate and know that I should be holy. Yet I could not become ordained, and at age 29 I joined the Army. Admittedly 23 years in the U. S. military loosened my morals some, in that I got used to the immorality and profanity around me. But are Christians called to stay outside the military completely? Now that there is no military draft, most of us have an opportunity to stay away from the military. But is that fair to those who, perhaps for financial reasons, go into the Armed Forces? The great Jean Calvin mused that the occupation of executioner might harden one's soul, but the occupation is necessary. Perhaps the Christian remedy is for people to take turns in the job of executioner, so one person need not do that for his entire earthly life! Sometimes Christians are called to support the lesser of two evils.
My comment is related to the point of the Piper article. I agree with his premise that immorality, boastfulness, vulgarity, "and the like", are deadly sins for the soul, if left unforgiven. Donald Trump is obviously guilty of these things, but we don't know whether or not he is forgiven because we are not God. Given the recent revelations about his past practices, it is obvious that Joe Biden is no saint, either. We've seen the tapes of him "boasting" about how he pressured political leaders to implement policies that benefited him and his family, and he has certainly lied about his stance and actions on many different issues. My point is that they are both deeply flawed sinners... but so are we all. Frankly, I feel more comfortable trusting the man who wears is sins on his sleeves with the future of my children than I am voting for a man who lies about his morality and hides his sins from us, just so he can "appear" more moral. My problem with the logic that Rev. Piper is advocating is that if we follow it, the only people we can vote for are the ones who "act" pious, regardless of the "deadly" policies they advocate. "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1). Whether or not Donald Trump or Joe Biden have repented and are forgiven is not my concern. The policies they advocate and implement are my concern, and those policies are the basis of my decision on which one to vote for.
Thank you for your comments, C. Y. Smith. I struggle with what Piper writes in his article, because I am a Christian and a seminary graduate and know that I should be holy. Yet I could not become ordained, and at age 29 I joined the Army. Admittedly 23 years in the U. S. military loosened my morals some, in that I got used to the immorality and profanity around me. But are Christians called to stay outside the military completely? Now that there is no military draft, most of us have an opportunity to stay away from the military. But is that fair to those who, perhaps for financial reasons, go into the Armed Forces? The great Jean Calvin mused that the occupation of executioner might harden one's soul, but the occupation is necessary. Perhaps the Christian remedy is for people to take turns in the job of executioner, so one person need not do that for his entire earthly life! Sometimes Christians are called to support the lesser of two evils.