What's the Product?
By:  Reed R. Heustis, Jr.
August 13, AD 2006

  Printer Friendly

Principled Christians in politics are often accused of not being able "to work" with others unless they are in complete agreement on 100% of the issues, 100% of the time. Such an obtuse accusation is nothing short of disingenuous.

In any realm of life, an organization is only as good as its product. Before joining an organization and supporting its mission, the very first question one must ask is what’s the product?

Christians are certainly allowed, able and willing to work with non-Christians on a plethora of goals in life. It depends on what the final product is.

If both liberal feminists and Christian Constitutionalists support the banning of pornography and prostitution as a quirky result of an intersection of their worldviews, then both may temporarily join forces to pursue that goal. Therefore hypothetically, if a local Christian councilman agreed with his feminist colleague on the issue of a zoning ordinance against pornographic peddlers, then there is nothing wrong with the combining of his vote with hers to obtain the end product.

Other examples also abound. If an activist who happened to be a self-proclaimed homosexual sought increased border control in accord with the viewpoint of a Christian activist, then there is nothing wrong with both temporarily working together to accomplish that limited goal. The end product is not at odds with Biblical Christianity.

The same is true for the commercial realm. Christians are allowed to work with non-Christians for a company whose goals do not run afoul of Christian principles.

The plumbing industry is one example where the end product is not necessarily at odds with Christianity. When a pipe explodes, a homeowner will hire a plumber because he needs his pipes fixed. A Christian plumber and a non-Christian plumber are equally able to provide the same end product. Therefore, a Christian plumber is allowed to work for a non-Christian plumbing company whose end product is mere plumbing service. As long as the employer is not advancing an anti-Christian agenda, the Christian employee is not compromising principle while employed.

The sports industry is another example where the end product is not necessarily at odds with Christianity. A professional baseball club’s main product is a competitive baseball team. As long as the club is not promoting an anti-Christian agenda, Christian ballplayers should have no problem working with non-Christians toward a common goal of winning baseball games. The final score at the end of each game is determined by how many runs each team scores at the end of nine innings, not by how many Christians came up to bat.

In the realm of politics, political parties also provide an end product, but pose a quite different dilemma for the Christian. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the ultimate products produced by a political party are its candidates and the principles they hold, and not merely the victories at the ballot box. When a party’s candidate wins an election, the principles held by that candidate also win. This should concern each and every Christian in politics.

In order to attract (and produce) ideal potential candidates, the leaders of a political party draft a platform of principles and enact resolutions in pursuance of such platform. Together this platform and the party’s actions produce the quality of its product, its candidates.

The first and foremost principle in Law and Politics is the Sovereign Kingship of Jesus Christ, the supreme Lord and King of all the world. This should be the top priority and concern for the Christian in the legal and political realms.

When Christian voters realize that the main goal of their party is its collective product, they should immediately ask, What’s the product? If it is a product that falls short of proclaiming and upholding Christ’s Kingship, then the Christian should disaffiliate from that party.

There are two main methods by which a political party promotes and produces an un-Christian product. First, if the party does not explicitly proclaim the Kingship of Jesus Christ as its First Principle, then the party promotes an un-Christian product. The Republican Party is a perfect example of this. Although too many Christians have been bamboozled into believing that the GOP is somehow a friend of the Christian voter, the framers of the GOP platform refuse to acknowledge King Jesus and His Sovereignty. Therefore, its products are ultimately un-Christian, which explains why the Republican Party continues to resemble the Democratic Party with each passing election cycle.

Second, assuming the party already explicitly proclaims Christ’s Kingship in the platform, if the party pursues resolutions and actions that run afoul of such proclamation, then the party likewise promotes an un-Christian product. The national Constitution Party is a perfect (and sad) example of this. Whereas many Christians fled the GOP to join the Constitution Party as a result of its proclamation of Christ and its unwavering stand for Life, the Constitution Party’s recent actions of tolerating and promoting barbaric feticide in accord with demonic Mormon theology demonstrate its dedication to a contrary end product.

Since Christians in America remain free to influence government, Christians have a duty to select and prefer Christians as their rulers. But they cannot do this using their own political party if it is not likewise committed. A political party organization is supposed to act as a tool to be used to effect a certain result. If the tool ceases to be effective, then the tool must be discarded.

If Christians are to affiliate with a particular political party, then they must affiliate with a party that not only proclaims the Kingship of Jesus Christ, but also boldly acts in accord with such proclamation.

Does this mean that Christians cannot work with non-Christians in politics? Of course not. Christians are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Although they are not "of" this world, Christians are in the world, and if they simply withdraw from the world, then their salt and light becomes worthless to the world.

Outside of an explicitly Christian political party, one of which is the American Heritage Party, Christians may work with strange bedfellows in pursuance of common goals. The Christian should be the non-Christian’s best and most reliable neighbor. But when it comes to a combined effort to establish and build an organization such as a political party, Christians are obligated to ask, "What’s the product?"

Nothing less than the Crown Rights of King Jesus will suffice.

© AD 2006 The Christian Constitutionalist, accessible on the web at www.ChristianConstitutionalist.com .  All Rights Reserved.