Most Christians reading this post would probably
describe themselves thusly, and be wrong!
It is a sad fact of life that all of us use labels which we really do not define nor understand just because of convenience and educated ignorance. This is certainly true of the labels: conservative and liberal {conservatism and liberalism}. In today’s post we will quickly look at the meaning of these labels, why they shifted in meaning, somewhat, and how they distract us from the Gospel which is out only mission on earth.
These two terms grew out of European history and the forces of the Enlightenment Era. Liberalism came to mean a person who supported limited government, laissez faire or free markets and increased personal liberties. Conservatism represented the faction that favored stronger central government, the monarchy usually, mercantilism or government control of the markets and, of course, decreased personal liberties. The article, On Liberal and Conservative Origins, gives some insight into how these labels morphed into what appears to be polar opposites of their original meanings. However, I will discuss how the meanings were simply camouflage hiding the actual changes from people preventing them from understanding their true condition and the only practical solution available.
Though Mr. Bernstein reserved his definition for
Liberals, the same could be said for all peoples.
The above graphic encapsulates all that is desired and all that is wrong with man’s pursuit for peace in this world. This noble human desire is unattainable in this life for the very simple fact that all people are sinful and thus are prone to violence (Ro 3:10-18). To the Christian this should be a basic truth but to the non-Christian {the lost} this simply sounds like empty babbling because this truth can only be taught by the Spirit (1Co 2:14). I say this not from a smug or superior position but simply as a matter of basic fact. What the New Testament teaches as percepts the Old Testament demonstrates by examples.
Cain {given from the Lord} was raised by his mother to be the chosen one who would defeat Lucifer and remove the curse of sin that she and her husband had unleashed (Ge 3:1-15; 4:1). Yet, this man who was raised to believe he was the Great One had a problem, God rejected him in favor of his brother, Abel, the Worthless One. God spoke to Cain telling him that he must control his anger, and his sin, if he was to overcome sin. Obviously he was not able to do this because he killed the Worthless One, Abel. What occurs next is the most interesting aspect that is rarely discerned. Yes, God marked Cain, whatever that means because it is never described; however, Cain became the Wanderer, Nod in Hebrew, and went to the land of Wanderers, Land of Nod. He built the first urban settlement and his descendants began the basic trappings of civilization: music, husbandry, metallurgy, etc.
What must be apparent is that Cain was not the first to reject God since he separated himself from those who followed God and joined himself to those who had rejected God, the Wanders. However, they had been taught that he was the superior man. Thus, he was a natural leader and he indeed did organize and lead these wanderers. When a collection of people live together their must be rules or very quickly disorder and violence sweeps through the community. Thus, Cain, credited with building the first city, must also be credited with developing the first government, with himself as leader of course. Society is nothing more than a system of rules keeping sinful man from annihilating himself; however, while man seeks to control sin he can never negate his sin. It always expresses itself in some form of violence. Man’s history is replete with man’s attempts to use government to control sinful peoples. The Enlightenment Era believed that man through intellect could finally achieve this goal. However, the opposite was proved true. Industrialized societies learned to wage wholesale destructive wars proving that sin could not be controlled but only given ever more violent expressions. Yet, Western culture believed that man could build a godly society on earth and set about to do this using the force of government. Detractors to this concept believed that man, being innately good, could govern himself via natural forces with little government. The former became labeled as conservatism and the latter as liberalism; however, both were built on false concepts.
Left and Right have become synonymous with
Liberal and Conservative – falsely
The height of liberalism was quickly snuffed out by the middle of the 19th century with the rise of socialism. Liberalism’s death knell was heralded by the French Revolution though subtly the American Revolution would provide the guidance to socialism’s future. Revolutions proved to be extremely disruptive and largely unsuccessful. People refuse to be coerced; they want to be wooed. Though America resorted to violence, the nation later relied on creative legislation with the consent of the people to inaugurate and legitimize socialism. By the 20th century Americans were no longer debating yes or no on socialism; they were debating national versus international socialism. America had been built on pietistic moralism backed by government force. This was the main thrust of the 19th century Republican Party in support of Lincoln’s War {Onward Christian Soldiers}. The Democratic Party developed its own pietistic moralism in the late 19th century under the influence of William Jennings Bryant; however, it quickly threw off Christian piety in exchange for a non-God piety that came to full flower in the 1960s through the influence of Social Darwinism and its attendant scientisms. Today, in America, the Conservative label refers to those who support national socialism though many are beguiled by the propaganda of the Republican Party that claims to promote laissez faire economics and limited government. The Liberal label agitates for international socialism using its propagandistic claims of equality, fairness, social justice and so forth.
Christians have been beguiled away from their primary focus of living the Gospel message. Many Christians today who would label themselves as Conservative support the very instruments of society that will one day take away their Bibles, close their churches and forbid their faith. America’s use of force against her own citizens is well documented. The first use was the Whiskey Rebellion and led by President Washington. The clearest use was Lincoln’s War. Both of these were over taxes and the increase power of the central government over its citizens. When America began its imperialistic period it became enamored with dreams of global governance. International socialism supports global governance under a separate hierarchy of elitists while national socialists want America to be the ruling entity of global governance. The Christian who becomes entangled in these affairs loses sight of the Bible. The god of this world {Lucifer} has blinded the minds of the lost and surely has made headway even against the Christians who should know better (2Co 4:3-4). The Christian has received the Spirit from the Father and must ignore the spirit of this world less he, or she, is led away into empty quarrels (1Co 2:12-13; 2Ti 2:23-25).
In the final analysis neither the Conservative nor Liberal, the Left nor the Right or the National Socialist nor the International Socialist will tolerate the true faith. We are not to take sides but to preach the truth to all peoples for all have sinned and need to hear the Gospel. There is no government that will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. However, they all will vie against each other for control of this world, and fail. Yet, even when Christ reigns on the earth man will rebel seeking to destroy even the One who died for sin rather than repent of their sin. Why? Because we all walk in the path of Cain seeking to destroy anyone and everyone who would deter us from our sin. It is only by God’s grace that anyone is saved. And yet, though we do not speak ill of any government, all governments will seek to repress the truth because that is what sin does.