Those of you who actually read these articles and essays know that first and foremost I’m a servant of the Most High God of the universe, the Lord Jesus the Christ. Everything I write about or endeavor to do, I do for His glory and not my own for in the grand scheme of things, I am nothing and I realize that more so as I get older. So my personal opinions mean nothing if they’re not founded in His word.
That being said, I’ve been disturbed by some things of late having to do with some conservatives and the word of God.
Conservatism: The New Religion
I’m a conservative for one reason: the principles of conservatism line up with the word of the living God. I’m a capitalist because of the same reason (for anyone who wants to debate that, I’m happy to do so). This is not to say that all capitalists and conservatives are godly. Quite the contrary. I see many of them who are hooked up with me here on Facebook who clearly are not. Their conservatism supersedes their faith (some which have none except in themselves which is a whole other topic) and their numbers are many.
For these, being a conservative consumes them. Daily, they troll blogs and websites for the most recent political news and commentary. They spend time Photoshopping pictures of their political opponents in shameful displays that they present to anyone willing to join in with their slander. If anyone disagrees with their view on the political landscape, they are vilified and demonized with no vestiges of honor and decency.
In short, they act like a lot of liberals. This only proves that the evil that lurks in the hearts of men and women is not partial to political affiliation. It will use anyone willing to embrace it.
On the flip side, there are those of us whose faith supersedes our conservatism. I’m one of those people. But in my case, I have it bad. I’ve been afflicted with the Micaiah Malady.
Micaiah Malady
In the book of 2 Chronicles in the Bible, chapter 18, there’s an account of two kings. Jehoshaphat, a good king from the southern kingdom of Judah, and Ahab, an exceedingly evil king. They met because Ahab was about to go to war and wanted Jehoshaphat to join him. They went to inquire of the prophets who prophesied victory and encouragement. But Jehoshaphat recognized these were not true prophets of God and asked if there were any in the kingdom. Ahab, reluctantly, responded:
There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him (my emphasis); for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla.
Notice an evil king hated the good prophet, not because the prophet had personally done any wrong to him, but because he was a prophet of God. Because Ahab was an evil king, what he heard from God was evil for him because he’d set himself up in array against God. Take note of that because I’m going to come back to this very important point.
So they went to get Micaiah. When they got there, the messenger said:
Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.
He said it nice and inviting. However, what he really was saying was, “Compromise your faith for political acceptance.”
Micaiah’s response?
As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.
(Continued in Part II)
