Is There a Biblical Mandate to Be a Single-Issue Voter?

Is there a biblical mandate to be a single issue voter? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

You can also post your question on our Facebook or Instagram accounts, or you can email us at questions at corechristianity.com. First up today, we have a good news story to share with you. Elderly patients at a nursing home who can't see their relatives due to coronavirus were overjoyed by a resident's always benefit greatly from pet therapy, which allows them to interact with animals. She says many residents who normally spend most of their day in their rooms were eagerly interacting with others when they got a chance to pet the horse. Sarah says it brings back memories and allows the residents, 90% of whom suffer from dementia, to express themselves in ways they probably wouldn't otherwise. Isn't that beautiful? And I'm glad to hear that they were encouraged. You know, it's really important for us to remember all the people right now who are isolated and who don't have community and don't have people around them, family, and to pray for them and even to reach out to them. This has been a very hard time for many people, so I'm glad to hear that even though others haven't been able to visit them, this miniature horse could stop by and provide some encouragement.

That's neat. You know, if your church has elderly people and some of them are shut-ins right now because of coronavirus, there are some creative ways to reach out to them safely, so you might want to talk to your pastor about that and identify some of those people and just express God's love to them. Well, let's get to our first question. This is an email that came in from Catherine in the United Kingdom. She says, Hello, I hope you don't mind me asking if we can take communion at home.

Are we meant to do it once a week? I just left the Catholic faith and I haven't yet found a church here in the United Kingdom. God bless, Catherine.

Hey, Catherine, thank you for your question. So I'm going to say something that is probably going to come as a shock to many people because I know that a lot of people just assume, yeah, I mean, why couldn't you take communion at home on your own? And I actually used to believe that, too, as a newer believer. The church that I was going to at the time really basically thought that was okay.

There's nothing wrong with that. And I think a lot of churches teach the same. It's about your personal experience with Jesus. If you want to have this special time with Jesus wherever you are, go ahead and take a saltine and a glass of milk or whatever you have and take communion. The reality is, we can't just take communion on our own at home. And again, I know that that might sound like, well, how could you say that?

Why is that the case? Well, let me explain to you. It has to do with what communion is. Communion is not just a common meal. It's not like when you sit down with your friends and you have some pizza and Diet Pepsi or whatever and you give thanks for the food.

It's not a meal like that. It's a meal that Jesus instituted that is a sign of his sacrificial death for us. It's a place where we have special communion with the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 14, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Now get this, verse 17, because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Now in the context of 1 Corinthians there, the Apostle Paul is rebuking the Corinthians because of the way in which they were taking communion. When they gathered together, they weren't being mindful of one another in the church. Communion is something that we do together as the body of Christ, not individually and privately, because communion, one of the things that it signifies is the unity that we have as a corporate body of believers in Jesus Christ through his blood and through his body.

As I said, it's not just a common meal. It's not simply bread and wine in the sense that all it is is this cracker and this wine or this juice and we just remember. No, through these signs of bread and wine, Catherine, we have, like Paul said there in 1 Corinthians 10, 16, communion, fellowship with the true body and blood of Jesus by faith. And so it's something that should be done in the context of the gathered assembly, the worshiping body when we come together.

There are other things that I could say there. I mean, one of the other reasons why we can't just do it on our own is because if we could, things like church discipline, which Jesus instituted in Matthew chapter 18, would be virtually impossible. When someone is excommunicated from the church, they're cut off from the table of the Lord.

It's this judgment that comes where the officers in the church, the pastors, the elders, the church says this person is cut off because they've essentially turned away from Jesus. Well, if anyone can take communion whenever they want, wherever they want by themselves, it just makes church discipline impossible. So this is something that the church does together under the ministry of the word through ordained pastors and elders who are helping to govern the body. And that's why it's so important, Catherine, that you do get into a good church, that you get plugged into a place where the word of God is going to be faithfully taught, where they are receiving communion on a regular basis.

Now, you asked, does it have to be every week or should it be every week? Personally, it's what we do in our church. We take the Lord's Supper every week because it is this special communion that we have with Jesus himself by faith. And so I think it's this gift that God gives to us.

We should want to receive it. But that doesn't mean that churches that take it less frequently, that there's something wrong with them. You know, I think you want to be patient and just wherever it is that the Lord has you, where the gospel is being faithfully proclaimed, where they are receiving these gifts, these ordinances that Jesus gave to the church, whether it's every week or maybe once a month or something like that. Get plugged in and receive the ministry that Jesus has for you, the preached gospel, his body and blood in the Lord's Supper, embracing that by faith.

And as you do, more and more you'll grow. And so I'm just really encouraged by your question. I do hope that you find a church very soon there in the UK and pray that the Lord blesses you as you look for one. God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And Adriel here is a question that's very timely given the current election season. Diana posted this on her Facebook page and she says, Is there a biblical mandate to be a single issue voter? It seems that neither political party cares about all image bearers and we end up having to choose between one or the other. Yeah, like you said, Bill, a very timely question, Diana. I'm glad you put it that way. Is there a biblical mandate to be a single issue voter?

No, there isn't. Now, there may be single issues that are so big and so pressing on our own consciences that they drive us to vote in a particular way, but the Bible does not mandate what those particular issues are. And we need a couple of things, I think, during this election season one. We definitely need wisdom. And where does wisdom come from? It comes from God.

It's a gift that God gives to us. James even says, If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, but let him ask in faith. And so one thing, brothers and sisters, one thing, Diana, that you should do in this time is pray to the Lord and say, God, give me wisdom. Really, we should do this for everything in life, but especially right now with all the tension. We need God's wisdom.

Don't let fear or the five o'clock news be the primary thing that drives your vote. Let the love of God, the love of your neighbor and a firm conviction in the scriptures be what compels you. And that's what we need. Two, here's another thing that we desperately need, I think, right now, especially in the church, and we can be such a model for the rest of the world in this. We need charity from the Holy Spirit.

By charity, what I mean is love. We need to recognize that godly people might think differently than we do when it comes to how things should be governed. Some people feel compelled to vote for one candidate over another.

Others don't feel comfortable voting for anyone. Each person should be convinced in their own mind. Now, in line with all of this, I just want to share with you a really important principle, you know, related to pastoral authority, because I think, you know, this is another part of this whole discussion is, you know, pastors who say you need to vote in this way. As a minister of the gospel, I don't have the authority to bind your conscience on an issue that isn't taught in the scriptures. I have what's called a ministerial authority. I minister the word, and God's word is ultimate, but I don't have the right to make up rules for other Christians. For example, if I said you have to vote for this candidate or you're not a Christian, I would be overstepping my ministerial bounds.

You're right, no candidate is perfect and no party is perfect, so I can't try to bind your conscience regarding one or another. Here's what I can do. Preach God's word, apply it to the issues of today, seek to align myself as closely as I can to the teachings of the Bible, and call people to follow Jesus. And right now, that's what we all need. We all need to follow Jesus, to dig into his word, to pray for wisdom, and to let God guide us. Let his word guide us as we seek, as I said, to love him and to love our neighbors. And so may the Lord give you and each and every one of us wisdom as we seek to honor him in the decisions that we make, in the way we treat each other, and in how we act during this election season.

God bless you. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you're a regular listener to this program, we want you to know that we are listener supported, so we count on people just like you to make donations to keep us on the air. One of the ways you can do that is by joining what we call our inner core. Yeah, we long to see people grow in their love for Jesus as they come into a deeper understanding of God's word. We're answering questions about the Bible, about the Christian life, about theology. And if you've been blessed by this program, if you feel like you've grown as a result of the answers you've received, would you consider becoming a part of the inner core?

With the monthly donation of $25 or more, you can join the team that's making it possible for us to reach new listeners every single day. And so head over to corechristianity.com forward slash inner core to learn more. Or you can give us a call to learn more about the inner core at 833-THE-CORE. That's 833-843-2673. Adriel, let's get to another call that came in.

My name is Jody and I'm calling from San Lorenzo. My question is, I know I am supposed to forgive and I know why it's done. The question is, how do I forgive? I know why, but how do I or does one forgive?

What is the process? Hey, Jody. You know, forgiving someone who has hurt us is one of the most difficult things we will ever do.

I mean, it really is not easy. And I can tell just by listening to your voice there in that call that this is something that you're wrestling with. And so maybe the first thing that I would like to do right now is pray for you, that God would give you strength and fill you with His Holy Spirit to give you the grace to forgive. Let's pray. Father, I lift Jody up to you, Lord, and we don't know her situation specifically. We know how difficult it is to forgive people when they've sinned against us, when they've hurt us. Well, God, I pray that you would fill her with your Spirit, that you would grant her the ability, the grace to be able to forgive those who have sinned against her. And I pray, Jesus, that you would comfort her, that you would point her to yourself, help her, Lord, to see how gracious you've been to her, your great love for her, your great forgiveness over her so that through that, Lord, she might be able to extend the grace and the love that you give to her to others. Blessed I pray, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Yeah, Jody, I think it was C.S. Lewis who said everyone thinks forgiveness is a good idea until we have someone to forgive. It's really easy to talk about how wonderful, how beautiful forgiveness is. It's so hard for us once we've been sinned against to extend forgiveness. In fact, there was a Barna study that was done not too long ago that discovered that one in four practicing Christians has someone in their life who they say they cannot forgive.

In other words, for them, it just feels impossible, and maybe that's how it feels for you. God calls us to forgive from the heart. I mean, there are all sorts of passages of Scripture that make this clear. I mean, Jesus in the Lord's Prayer talked about forgiving others, the importance of forgiving others. You think about the discussion that he had with Peter where Peter says, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times. And Jesus sort of blows his mind and everyone's mind there at the time.

He says 70 times seven. This is this ocean of forgiveness, this willingness to forgive others who have sinned against us, even others who have sinned against us repeatedly. Now, this isn't to minimize their offense, how they've hurt us, or to brush it under the rug, to pretend like everything is all good. That's not forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't just grit through it and pretend like you're fine. Forgiving someone hurts. In forgiveness, we feel pain, and we recognize the reality of pain, but we choose instead of retaliating or responding in a way that would hurt the other person, you know, by maybe speaking ill about them or building up walls and cutting ourselves off from them in a way that is meant to hurt them.

No, we choose instead to cover the debt, if you will, because we know that our debts have been covered. How can you forgive? I think the only way is by continually looking up to the cross and remembering I was dead in trespasses and sins. I had turned my back in rebellion so many times, and to this day, I still sin against my Heavenly Father in thought, in word, in deed, every single day. And despite His repeated mercy to me, I still fail. I still struggle and fall, and yet the mountain of my sin was carried on Jesus' back to the cross where it was dealt with once and for all, and God washed me. He forgave me. And if Jesus forgave the mountain of my sin, I can forgive people who have sinned against me. Now again, I don't mean to say that their sin against us is small.

I mean, that it's not a big deal. We can really be hurt by others. And I do wonder if sometimes it does require an extra measure of God's gracious Holy Spirit working in us to give us the strength to forgive, and that's why I prayed for you, and that's why I want to encourage you, Jody, also to pray and say, God, give me the grace, the strength that I need to forgive. And sometimes, Jody, what you're going to feel like is you're going to feel like, okay, I've let this go, I've forgiven this person from my heart, and I feel better now, and then you wake up the next day, you wake up with those feelings of unforgiveness, of bitterness, of anger.

And one of those things I think that we continually have to bring before the Lord and say, God, help me. The only way we can do it, the process, is it begins with understanding how much we've been forgiven. If our focus is on the other person and upon their sin, it's going to be really hard to forgive them, but if our focus is on Jesus, His mercy, His love, His forgiveness of our sins in spite of the fact that we've repeatedly failed, from that place, we're able to extend love and forgiveness to those who have hurt us.

Now, again, speaking about the process, because there is a process here. We're all called to forgive, to forgive from the heart, and sometimes that looks like something you do by yourself. Maybe there's not the opportunity to go to another person and extend forgiveness.

Maybe they've died or maybe they've moved away or something like that, but we're all called to forgive from the heart. Reconciliation is the next step after forgiveness. Reconciliation requires that someone else, the person who sinned against us, realizes what it is that they've done. While we can always forgive, reconciliation isn't always possible because it requires two parties. You might be willing to forgive someone, but if they're still clinging to their sin and unwilling to repent, unwilling to admit how they've hurt you, well, reconciliation would be very difficult in that instance. In the Church, in the body of Christ, I think we're called especially to pursue reconciliation with one another, to listen to each other, to humble ourselves, to identify how we've hurt each other, and to say, look, please forgive me, to try to reconcile. And restoration is the next step in the process.

Restoration means just sort of restoring the relationship to what it was before. Now, we're not always called to do that. Sometimes it's actually unwise to do that.

Let me just give you an example. Let's say someone works as a checker behind the counter at the cash register, and it's been discovered that they've been stealing money. The boss comes and he goes to that person and says, you've been stealing money and we're going to have to fire you. And the person says, I'm so sorry.

Yes, I've been caught. And in that situation, the boss can extend forgiveness and say, okay, I know you've been caught. I forgive you. We can still be friends, but there are consequences here. There can even be a kind of reconciliation where they're still friends. But would it be smart to restore that person to the position of being the checker behind the cash register?

Probably not, if that's a temptation. And similarly, in life, there are instances where, Jody, we are always called to forgive, to pursue reconciliation, but restoration may not be the wisest thing. And that's where you need God's wisdom. That's where maybe the counsel of a pastor or a group of godly friends can be really helpful.

So if you don't have that, pursue that. But remember, our forgiveness of others is rooted in the forgiveness that we've received from God himself. And only as we're resting in and receiving that forgiveness, as that's at the forefront of our minds, will we be able to extend grace to others. And so may the Lord, Jody, fill you with the great sense of his love for you, of his forgiveness of your sins, so that you might forgive others as well.

God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And Adriel, it's interesting, we received another question that deals with forgiveness. This one from Matthew in Singapore. Matthew, so nice to have you listening overseas.

He says, I'm very encouraged by your radio show and enjoy listening to the podcasts on Spotify. My question is, based on Matthew 615, is the forgiveness of our sins conditional on whether we forgive others? Yeah, thank you for that question.

Let me just read. I mean, this is in the context of the Lord's Prayer. And what a great question, piggybacking off of Jody's question. Jesus said that we ought to pray like this in Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse nine. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Then Jesus said, For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. If my reception of forgiveness is dependent upon how well I forgive others, well, then I'm always going to be questioning whether or not I've ever been forgiven. Because like I said, even when you get to a place in your life where you feel like, okay, I've forgiven this, I'm able to let this go, I forgive this person. There are still those moments where all of a sudden, you know, something happens or something triggers you, and the feelings of unforgiveness, of anger, of bitterness begin to rise up again as this sort of battle, this back and forth thing that could cause you to question if my forgiveness of others is what grants me God's forgiveness. Boy, I don't know that I could ever be confident in the fact that I have been forgiven.

And so that's one of the reasons why this text is so troubling for people. And yet, I think that we have to be really careful concluding that that's what this is teaching, because Jesus makes it very clear elsewhere, as I've already said in the answer to Jody, that God's forgiveness of us is what grants us the ability even to extend forgiveness to others generously. I think what Jesus is doing here is he's making an argument from lesser to greater. And to say that God's forgiveness of us is dependent upon our forgiveness of others is really contrary to the whole message of the gospel, because it's like being able to say, God, look at what I've done. I've forgiven these people, therefore you must forgive me. Well, that's antithetical to everything we understand about what the gospel is.

It's not about your performance. It's about Jesus' performance. And he gives you his perfect life.

He forgives all of your sins so that having received that generous forgiveness, that mountain of your sin being removed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you would, in response, be someone who forgives others, not to earn God's forgiveness, but because you have been forgiven and you're resting in that great reality of the gospel. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.