Towards a Conservative Ideology founded on Jesus Christ's Teachings Alone
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
As I reflect upon the greatness of America this Fourth of July 2008, I want to thank God for my family and friends and for allowing me to live in the United States of America, the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
For as long as I have had a cognitive thought in my head I have been a conservative. I have spent my entire life defending conservative values and the Republican Party. However, as a devout Evangelical Christian who believes in the authority of the Bible and the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all realms of life, I have sometimes found it difficult to agree with the conduct and frequent angry and rancor filled rhetoric of right wing media celebrities such as Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Ann Coulter. While I generally agree with the ideology espoused by these conservative media icons, I have often grimaced in embarrassment over the vitriolic words and methodology often employed by these conservative media darlings.
While I have devoted my entire life to American conservatism, above everything, I am committed to being a follower of Jesus Christ and such a commitment is to govern the way I conduct myself in society and in engaging in civic discourse. As an Evangelical Christian dedicated to seeing non-Christians come to a saving knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is a major priority to me to see those I disagree with in the realms of politics and religion witness the saving grace and unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
Too often I have observed these before mentioned conservative media spokespersons speak harsh and demeaning words against their opponents. As a disciple of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I am commanded by Holy Scripture to “love my enemies” (Matthew 5:44) and to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Jesus said, “There is no greater love than this, that a man lay his life down for his friends” (John 15:13).
Thus, as a conservative Republican and as an Evangelical Christian, I have often felt torn between my love for conservative American values and my commitment to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I love my country very much and I want to stand up for conservative principles such as abortion and the traditional family. But, I must, above all things, conduct myself as a Christian empowered by the love of Christ to everyone around me, even liberals and those who do not hold to my beliefs.
However, I do not believe conservative political views and Evangelical Christianity are necessarily incongruent and contradictory. In fact, I believe true conservatism should be founded on the immovable foundation of the Bible, which is God’s inerrant and infallible Word. I utterly reject the sort of godless and self-interest driven conservatism espoused by such ideologues and philosophers and Ayn Rand (1905-1982), the atheistic Russian philosopher and founder of the Objectivism school of thought. Ayn Rand, who is still enormously popular in many conservative circles, developed an anti-altruistic philosophy of life devoid of God that elevated selfishness and self-interest as the chief priority of human existence.
The conservatism that I espouse is founded on, above everything on the authority of the Bible alone. I believe in the Protestant Reformation’s essential priorities, that all of live is to be lived for the glory of God and that men and women are saved from God’s eternal wrath on the exclusive basis of God’s sovereign grace alone.
Thus, I am not a conservative because Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity has convinced me via the electronic media, I am a conservative because fidelity to God, my family and my country are enduring and timeless principles found in the pages of the Bible. Above everything, I believe in God the Father Almighty and in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead in order to give all who sincerely repent and believe eternal life through faith in His Holy name. America’s only hope is to turn back to the God of our Fathers before its too late, for as the Holy Scriptures eloquently proclaim,
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3)
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
