Is Perfect the Enemy of Good?

I know why (up until this election) I used to vote party line. I intuitively knew that not every Republican candidate was perfect. I believed the saying "Perfect is the Enemy of Good" applied to my political choices. There have always been certain things that I could never do. I could never vote for a candidate who supported the murder of the unborn. I could ever vote for a candidate who was a Socialist or a Progressive. I could never vote for a candidate who would restrict American's rights under the 2nd Amendment. I could never vote for a candidate who would overtly, or surreptitiously, oppose religious liberty. Since the covenant of marriage became a national issue, I could never vote for a candidate who advocated against the biblical position. Politically, these convictions placed me firmly in the Conservative camp, a label I was proud to bear. But then things began to change.

Barack Obama epitomized everything that I could not vote for, so you can imagine my surprise when the Republicans in Congress decided to respond to his Progressive agenda with only a pretense of actual opposition. I knew the Religious Right was long dead as a political force. Republican leadership had always viewed them as nothing more than useful idiots, but they were now a liability and quickly discarded. The Tea Party movement recognized the GOP's own brand of invasive Progressivism and made its mark in the 2010 mid-term elections. Unfortunately, its influence has waned, and some of its poster children, like Marco Rubio and Michelle Bachmann, have either been coopted by the Establishment or run out of Washington. The truth is that the national Republican Party is not a conservative party. Party leadership has always resisted true ideological conservatives—including Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Ted Cruz.

What struck me as odd is that Christians will separate quickly over theological issues such as—tongues, baptism, Calvinism, biblical inerrancy, ecclesiology, bible versions, et. al. Christians will even separate over the color of the carpet and how long the pastor preaches. However, there is still a large contingent of Christians who are married to the Republican Party no matter what the party does or who the party nominates. Intellectually I have always considered that rather hypocritical, but since I was a complicit in that hypocrisy for many years, I never acted on the tug to my conscience. All of that changed in the past year.

When the slate of Republican candidates approached the 2016 Iowa Caucus, I considered many of them less than ideal. Most of them were Establishment Republicans that would dutifully comply with the wishes of the Party. They were the same-old, same-old brand of Republican contestants on the latest reality show episode of “America’s Got Presidential Talent”. In my mind, most them should have been contestants on “The Biggest Loser", but I digress. While I was not a fan of most of the candidates, there were several of them I would have voted for against Hillary Clinton. As the primaries progressed, there were only three candidates who had a chance to win the nomination: Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz. Most of you know that Ted Cruz, without a doubt the most conservative candidate in the field, was my candidate of choice. However, I would have voted for Marco Rubio if he was the nominee, even though he was far from being my preferred candidate. Having done my research on Donald Trump, I was Never Trump before there was a Never Trump movement. In my opinion, Donald Trump’s moral failings and his Progressive-leaning social and political views disqualified him from being president. But then I had to face the real hurdle—contrasting Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton.

As I alluded to earlier, in the past I would have voted for the Republican nominee without question. I would justify my decision by giving myself a pep talk that I needed to choose the lesser of two evils. That pep talk did enough to sooth my conscience (or deaden it—take your pick), and I would cast my vote for the John McCain’s and Mitt Romney’s of the world. But this election cycle I noticed something alarming. It wasn’t that like-minded Christians were going to hold their nose and vote for Donald Trump as the GOP nominee, they were going to vote for Donald Trump to be the GOP nominee. Knowing his moral failings, Christians overwhelmingly voted for Trump in the primaries. To me, this was much worse than voting for Trump in the general election. In the general election, an argument can be made to vote for the “lesser of two evils”. But that argument can’t be used in the primaries when there were better choices available. The more I mediated on the role Evangelical Christians were playing in Trump’s eventual nomination, the more I realized that there is a connection between our political choices and our professed faith. The Christian life is not one of compartments. We don’t get to say, “I’m a Christian on Sundays’, but not at work, play, or in my politics.” No. We are members of Christ’s family 24/7/365. There are many issues to take into consideration when selecting a candidate to vote for. We have liberty in matters of conscience. And while Christians are far from perfect (we struggle with the same temptations and sins as everyone else), we should have a tender conscience towards those things that offend God, as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ. So, it was with more than just disappointment that I watched Christians choosing a man like Donald Trump to be the GOP nominee.

As more about Donald Trump’s character is leaked by Clinton operatives, my fears have only been reinforced. There is nothing new in these revelations. Donald Trump’s megalomania, misogynism, and scorched earth tactics are old news. These things were known about him before the primaries began. Had he been the only candidate in the field, then there may have been some validity to the “lesser of two evils” argument, because there’s no doubt that Hillary Clinton will be antagonistic towards life, the 2nd Amendment, and religious liberty et. al. But as for me, the light finally went on. I realized that Donald Trump was not the problem. The Republican Party was not the problem. I was the problem. I had allied myself with a political party that had become antithetical to my beliefs. I decided to stop being part of the problem. I could no longer compromise my beliefs, deceiving myself by thinking I was doing so for the greater good. I had to prepare myself for the blistering criticism I would receive from other Christians who still believed as I used to. I knew I was going to be accused of helping Hillary Clinton win the presidency (and true enough, that has happened). Given my personality, I honestly could care less about the criticism I've received. Anyone who has convictions will face criticism. I was more bothered by the number of professed Christians who chose moral pragmatism over principle.

So, I was done with the Republican Party. I officially registered as “unaffiliated” (independent). I would no longer give my support (moral or monetary) to a party that was complicit in under mining those things I consider important to my faith. When I made that decision, something unexpected happened. Yes—I got all that criticism I mentioned. I’ve been called nasty names, had my claim to be a Christian questioned, and even been unfriended. I especially love the accusations that I am a de facto abortionist. I expected all of that. What I did not expect was the freedom of my conscience from self-imposed bondage. It was as though I was seeing with new eyes. I am still a man who struggles with the mortification of sin in my life. Thank God for His abundant mercy and grace; for without both I would “have[ing] no hope, and [be] without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). I knew that I could never again ally myself with any person, group, or party that stood in opposition to Christ. The Bible tells me, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Eph. 5:11). So, for me, my change was not just political, it was theological. Because my understanding of God and His word changed, my political convictions changed. Cause and effect.

Now, I called attention earlier to “Perfect is the Enemy of Good”. That saying is true and applicable to many things in life; most notably horseshoes and hand grenades. But it is never true when referring to God’s moral law. There is an absolute right and wrong when it comes to the protection of the unborn, how men are to treat women, and God’s covenant of marriage. There is no room for pragmatism on any of these issues. For the Christian, these issues are morally and theologically driven. A Christian's moral and theological convictions drive his worldview. Note that I did not write that they should drive his worldview—they do drive his worldview. Therefore, if the worldview is antithetical to the clear teaching of scripture, something is seriously wrong.

When this election is over, it is quite possible that Hillary Clinton will be the president-elect. Even if that happens, is that a death-knell for the Church? Far from it! Could it be that God is using his winnowing fork to separate the wheat from the chaff within His flock? Could it be that God wants the message of the gospel to go forth with clarity, not mixed with moral pragmatism, so that it can truly be “the power of God unto salvation” in the ears of those who hear? Make no mistake. The Church will be in for a tough time under a Hillary Clinton presidency. Expect the government to increase its opposition against Christ and His church. Expect the courts to drive social engineering and legislate from the bench. But if God is for us, who can stand against us?

A Spirit-guided conscience never loses.

 

The real challenge is what will become of broad evangelicalism after the election.

Many of us have been through church splits. They are the result of sin. Still, blessing can come out them when God's people repent and walk in obedience. In the case of the 2016 Presidential Election, it is my hope that the American church wakes up and realizes that our faith needs to permeate every part of our life. Is the Church more powerful through preaching the Gospel and acts of charity or in political action? Is abortion and the profaning of marriage more likely to be curtailed through the Supreme Court changing laws or the Supreme Judge of the Universe changing hearts?

I am not asking Christians to retreat from society. We have rights as American citizens and are free to exercise them. I am asking Christians, including me, to look at the world through gospel eyes. How does the world view us? Do they see us committed first to Christ?