Should Christians Be Slandering Politicians?

[quietthinker]

Should Christians Be Slandering Politicians?​

Slandering and blaming is the realm of one known as Satan. Insisted on behaviours of this nature identify his children!

 

[TLHKAJ]

We'd have to know what honor means.

 

[talons]

Give me an example of how you each would honor them - not just one but both - at the current time. What specific words would you use in obedience to the scriptural commands to honor them and/ or give thanks for them?

I am so glad both of you are running for office because to gives me a choice of who to vote for after hearing the issues of today debated .

 

[Hidden In Him]

Truth goes hand in hand with love. If someone hopes to turn another from darkness, their evil deeds being whitewashed is not conducive with love.

Ah, but this can become an excuse for maligning and slander, quite easily actually. How many are having the opportunity to address Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? I'd say not many. The most they can do is talk about them to others, in which case it leans in an unproductive direction.

Here is the thread I was talking about. I have posted it to here now from another forum, but it highlights another problem that occurs. People can grow fond of political candidates, and when a believer in Christ Jesus slanders that candidate it causes pain. This in turn leads the person hurt by it to bring pain to the one who hurt him, which is what scripture sometimes referred to as causing a "root of bitterness" to spring up, and by it many become defiled.

Tell me what you think:

"Hooked" On Political Hate, Part 1

"Hooked" On Political Hate, Part 1 Sad to say it, but too many Christians are being lured into resentment and even hatred over political issues these days. It is a strategy the enemy is using to great effect to bring shame upon the name of Christ, especially on Christian forums, where...

www.christianityboard.com

 

[Hidden In Him]

Such a pleasure,reading your posts, @Hidden In Him ..God Bless,Brother,..a lovely addition to the forum.

Thank you sister. Those are very kind words, and it makes me glad when I see people here blessing others like that.

Very nice of you!

 

[Hidden In Him]

AMPC
Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and harassed and drove us out, and continue to make themselves hateful and offensive to God and to show themselves foes of all men,

What is that, the Amplified? Scott, on occasion the translators embellish for dramatic effect, but the literal translation there simply reads καὶ θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων "they are not pleasing to God," and καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐναντίων, "and are contrary to all men."

Your latter translation was more accurate, whatever that was.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Human government is not ultimate. It is limited in its authority. Believers must act for their conscience's sake in rejecting civil authority when it oversteps its divinely appointed bounds. As Augustine has asserted in The City of God, we are citizens of two realms, one temporal and one eternal (cf. Phil. 3:20). We have responsibility in both, but God's kingdom is ultimate! There is both an individual and corporate focus in our responsibility to God.

Greetings Johann, and blessings in Christ.

I realize that the instillation of kings was never God's desire for Israel, but it was most certainly a reality in the pagan world, including the years when the New Testament was written. So the NT writers sought to teach how to address Gentile rulers, and respond to them in a godly manner, since this could not be avoided.

 

[Hidden In Him]

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that [i]sanctifies the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 Therefore he who [j]swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who [k]dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and [l]self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and [m]adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

Ok, NOW we're getting to some meat, and thanks for bringing this up.

Here is the difference, and I pointed this out earlier. These were "Woes" or in other words a form of prophetic warning being uttered by the Spirit of God directly to those who were sinning. I am not at all against this. The Lord can still speak through prophets in this way of impending judgments upon leaders if He so chooses, just as He himself was doing here. But this is a different thing than simply slandering their character before others. It is uttering a prophetic warning TO them, which is much like speaking a direct rebuke by the Spirit of God into someone's life.

This should not be opposed if it is genuinely Spirit-led, Spirit-breathed, and Spirit-uttered, i.e. through divine utterance. But it's an attempt by the Spirit of God to warn and potentially correct the individual. Simply slandering them before other people doesn't do the same thing, so it's a different matter in my book.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I certainly hope our messages on this board are not condemning any human creation of God as I believe he desires all man to be saved. And our conduct should reflect that somehow eventually in our messages. I apologize if I have not conducted myself in that manner which I believe is pleasing to God. I am a work in progress and enjoy salvation provided by God.

As are we all, brother. Wonderful words.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Well if by slander you mean:

slan·der
[ˈslandər]
noun
law

1. the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. Compare with libel.
2. 
   
3. then we should not be slandering anyone at all! Not just politicians we may strongly disagree with.

That's actually correct, IMO. It nether warns, corrects nor edifies. It just defames and ridicules.

How have you been, Ronald? Glad to see you are still around.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Remember we battle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. So evil men and women gain power and abuse their authority, often in detriment to the righteous. But those people are not solely responsible, the evil spirits backing them are responsible.

Granted there are those who seek power by aligning themselves with these dark forces. They should be prayed against, for the purpose of confounding their schemes. But most of, or even all may be unwitting pawns in a larger battle. These should be prayed for, that they would repent.

That's my opinion.

I would agree with nearly all of it, Forrest, except that even those willfully being used by the enemy can still be turned to Christ. I made a distinction in an earlier post that I don't think there's much hope in praying for the AntiChrist, but those with a human soul which has not been been destined for damnation should still be prayed for. The command was to pray for kings and those in authority, and no one in the earth had more authority at the time than Nero, and he was a Christian killer. But they obviously didn't think he was so far gone that they should not be praying for him.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Some of us in my family and friend circle have an agreement on certain issues, one of which is "politics" and most often results in arguments and sometimes alienation of others. So some of us have learned to stay out of those areas, although others do not. And that is what I enjoy in the family and friends area so that we can enjoy fun happy activities when meeting together without arguments.

Yes. This is a point I was making earlier. Even family and friends can deeply offend one another when they are at odds over political issues and it shouldn't be amongst Christians. I've seen it on the forums as well. Last election cycle I was still here, and a sister (I will not name her) said something I found deeply offensive about the candidate I was hoping would win, and I said something back. She said something back, and it darn near ended the friendship.

People including Christians hurt one another over issues like this, and the hurt leads to more hurt, and even to families being broken up and destroyed. We should be wiser than to be letting that happen.

"Hooked" On Political Hate, Part 1

"Hooked" On Political Hate, Part 1 Sad to say it, but too many Christians are being lured into resentment and even hatred over political issues these days. It is a strategy the enemy is using to great effect to bring shame upon the name of Christ, especially on Christian forums, where...

www.christianityboard.com

 

[Hidden In Him]

How would you Honor Joe Biden, or Kamila Harris or Joe Walz?

How can we keep them from hurting us anymore?

AH! Good question.

The whole concept of praying positively for political leaders I actually oppose is somewhat new to me as well, because I've been an American my whole life, and freedom was equated with just bickering about politics even in the churches.

But if I were give an example, it would be something along the lines of "Father, I pray for Kamala Harris that should she be elected you will fulfill the prophecy spoken over her. Open her eyes to see that while others might have used her as a pawn, You will use her to thwart their plans, and bring true justice and unity to the nation. Remind her of her heritage, and the love her parents had for her and to see justice done in their nation through political means, and restore good relations between the various races of this nation. Let her be a friend of both rich and poor alike, and bring the nation together, united in a spirit of liberty and justice for all that pleases You."

That's a prayer. She would likely have to have her eyes opened as the prophecy says before it would happen, but those would be the words I would pray, or something similar. I wasn't standing in the company of other Spirit-filled believers, and if I was and the anointing hit me the words might be much stronger, but it's just an example.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Wow, this is going fast!
We'd have to know what honor means.

God said to HONOR our parents...not to love them.

So, honor is defined as, “showing esteem for one deserving of respect, attention, or obedience.”

(), a term with social, moral, and theological implications derived from the Hebrew root for weight, meaning honor, respect, reverence, importance, distinction, or glory.

source: The internet, various

So, let's see:
I cannot show esteem for someone who lies about the other candidate,
I cannot respect someone who lies about their own accomplishments,
I cannot obey someone I cannot respect (unless I absolutely have to for whatever reason).

So,
I don't HATE anyone running for office.
I DO hate their policies which I feel are ruining our country.

I cannot ESTEEM, RESPECT, or OBEY some politicians.

If we felt this way about ALL of them... our esteem and respect would be worhless and of no effect.

Tish Tosh! LoL. Try harder!!!!

Love you, sister. Read my post above (#93). It's not impossible to see something good in others if you determine to really try.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I am so glad both of you are running for office because to gives me a choice of who to vote for after hearing the issues of today debated .

Well I'll give you a C+, but keep working on it, LoL.

Welcome to Christianity Board, btw. You seem like a pretty nice guy.

 

[lforrest]

I would agree with nearly all of it, Forrest, except that even those willfully being used by the enemy can still be turned to Christ. I made a distinction in an earlier post that I don't think there's much hope in praying for the AntiChrist, but those with a human soul which has been been destined for damnation should still be prayed for. The command was to pray for kings and those in authority, and no one in the earth had more authority at the time than Nero, and he was a Christian killer. But they obviously didn't think he was so far gone that they should not be praying for him.

Love for ones enemies is an absolute commandment. There are two types of sins pointed out in 1 John 5:16 a sin that leads to death and sins that don't lead to death. Rejection of Jesus Christ is commonly what people believe to be the sin that leads to death referred to in that scripture. Though there are many sins that by their commission speak loud and clear that someone rejects Jesus.

1 John 5:16 tells us not to pray for sins that lead to death. So is this hateful advice to leave people to their fate? Or rather is God's love revealed by telling us not to pray for certain sins? Perhaps scripture is specifically referring to prayers of intercession in 1 John 5:16. We should of course forgive all sins against us. But when we are not directly affected prayers of intercession should perhaps be spared for those who believe in and follow Jesus. Facing the full repercussions of one's sins may be instrumental in God's plans.

 

[Ritajanice]

@Hidden In Him said.

People including Christians hurt one another over issues like this, and the hurt leads to more hurt, and even to families being broken up and destroyed. We should be wiser than to be letting that happen.


RJ...says...Amen!...but, we need to get to this place of understanding, God opened my eyes and ears to understanding this..,once I had let go of pride,ego,it’s a killer, even then,God brought me to understanding pride, ego...

A conversation should be had with dignity/ respect ,once we start throwing stones ,who disappears from the window?

Anyway, I think this maybe another topic.

Do you think that politicians suffer with pride/ego?

Some are desperate for power / must be “ top dog”...,I’m sure some genuinely care for their country....others, not so sure, plus I believe many politicians aren’t in the real world, they’ve lost touch ,or never have known what it is to live In the world as we live.,,sorry I’m rambling,just my thoughts.opinion.

Ps..a politician we need, but, with their fantastic education, they need a heart for God.....imo.

Also loving another ,comes from the heart, it’s an act from the heart.

Remember, God knows the heart of every individual, that is what he looks at...

Short commentary...David prayed, "God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). He wanted a heart that was clean before God. This represents an individual who devotes their life to God.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Love for ones enemies is an absolute commandment. There are two types of sins pointed out in 1 John 5:16 a sin that leads to death and sins that don't lead to death. Rejection of Jesus Christ is commonly what people believe to be the sin that leads to death referred to in that scripture. Though there are many sins that by their commission speak loud and clear that someone rejects Jesus.

1 John 5:16 tells us not to pray for sins that lead to death. So is this hateful advice to leave people to their fate? Or rather is God's love revealed by telling us not to pray for certain sins? Perhaps scripture is specifically referring to prayers of intercession in 1 John 5:16. We should of course forgive all sins against us. But when we are not directly affected prayers of intercession should perhaps be spared for those who believe in and follow Jesus. Facing the full repercussions of one's sins may be instrumental in God's plans.

I could agree with that.

With the stipulation that if we are to say anything regarding kings and those in authority, it should not be with "wrath and disputing" as Paul said to Timothy. If we say anything, if should be prayer for them that honors them in some way.

 

[Hidden In Him]

@Hidden In Him said.

People including Christians hurt one another over issues like this, and the hurt leads to more hurt, and even to families being broken up and destroyed. We should be wiser than to be letting that happen.


RJ...says...Amen!...but, we need to get to this place of understanding, God opened my eyes and ears to understanding this..,once I had let go of pride,ego,it’s a killer, even then,God brought me to understanding pride, ego...

A conversation should be had with dignity/ respect ,once we start throwing stones ,who disappears from the window?

Anyway, I think this maybe another topic.

Do you think that politicians suffer with pride/ego?

Some are desperate for power / must be “ top dog”...,I’m sure some genuinely care for their country....others, not so sure, plus I believe many politicians aren’t in the real world, they’ve lost touch ,or never have known what it is to live In the world as we live.,,sorry I’m rambling,just my thoughts.opinion.

Ps..a politician we need, but, with their fantastic education, they need a heart for God.....imo.

Also loving another ,comes from the heart, it’s an act from the heart.

Remember, God knows the heart of every individual, that is what he looks at...

Short commentary...David prayed, "God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). He wanted a heart that was clean before God. This represents an individual who devotes their life to God.

Oh goodness. That was an excellent close.

Let me share some perspective as a Yank here, since I see you are from across the pond. The sister I had a scuffle with was as well, and I know that Trump is not well thought of over there. Certainly anyone who wants to find faults in him is going to find them in a hurry, LoL.

But for a little perspective, I'm somewhat familiar with British politics but not a lot, but I know you have a few politicians there who are genuine statesmen and serve for a higher purpose, and then you have several who are career politicians and in it mostly just to keep themselves in office (and other things not so pleasant to talk about).

For me, the question becomes, what would motivate a man to keep running when they are repeatedly trying to assassinate him? Before that he has always been vilified by most of the media, not just over there but over here. He has a Right wing segment that support him, but most US media have vehemently opposed him.

I'm about to catch flak for saying these things, from one member in particular because she utterly despises the man, Lol, but while Trump is no one's paragon of virtue, I sometimes wonder how many paid politicians would still be running for office after three assassination attempts. And if there is one positive I think Left-leaning Christians could find to pray about Trump, it's that the Lord bring out the best in him to see his country succeed, because I think that's honestly what he wants. I see no other way around continuing to risk his life to have the job again unless that were at the heart of his motives.

Anyway. I'm rambling too, so I don't know what I said, but looking upon the heart was SUCH a good point. God saw the heart of David, and I think it is incumbent upon us as believers to try to do the same thing as well, and not always just see the worst in people.

Blessings, and thanks for the response.
- H

 

[Lambano]

Do you think that politicians suffer with pride/ego?

Nah, I think they enjoy the pride and ego.