Tim Keller, the Marxist co-founder of the political organization, The Gospel Coalition, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, warning Christians not to identify with the Republican Party and not to assume the Democratic Party is not “the Christian one.” This editorial seems to have set the tone for more recent attacks against partisanism on the part of ERLC and TGC leaders we’ve seen in recent weeks.
The article, now behind a paywall, is available via pdf here. For more on Tim Keller’s Marxist beliefs, click here.
Keller wrote in the NYT…
To work for better public schools or for a justice system not weighted against the poor or to end racial segregation requires political engagement. Christians have done these things in the past and should continue to do so.
Nevertheless, while believers can register under a party affiliation and be active in politics, they should not identify the Christian church or faith with a political party as the only Christian one.
To Tim Keller, political involvement for the believer has little to do with stopping infanticide. The NYC religious leader virtually never mentions the plight of the unborn. Neither does he seem to care one iota about gay marriage, religious liberty, or rights endowed by our Creator. No, Tim Keller thinks government-run schools are the primary reason Christians should be involved in politics.
Keller has several reasons for not identifying with the Republican Party, and the first of which is that lost people might be offended.
However, Keller said Christians should be involved in politics. He added…
Racism is a sin, violating the second of the two great commandments of Jesus, to “love your neighbor.” The biblical commands to lift
up the poor and to defend the rights of the oppressed are moral imperatives for believers. For individual Christians to speak out against egregious violations of these moral requirements is not optional.
While mentioning the Democratic talking points of racism (which is about as common in our country as alcohol abolitionism these days) and “lifting up the poor,” he did not mention anything about protecting religious liberties, the right of conscience, or the unborn.
However, there are many possible ways to help the poor. Should we shrink government and let private capital markets allocate resources, or should we expand the government and give the state more of the power to redistribute wealth? Or is the right path one of the many possibilities in between? The Bible does not give exact answers to these questions for every time, place and culture.
Christians who know their Bible understand that the Bible does give an exact answer on whether or not government should redistribute wealth to the poor in Exodus 20:15, “Thou shalt not steal.”
That commandment presumes the right of private property ownership, and theft of one’s resources is a sin ever as egregious as slavery. In fact, making a man work so the government can steal his wealth and give it to others is a form of slavery.
Wish-washy, namby-pamby New York liberals masquerading a Christians may not understand the Bible’s teachings, but for Biblically-literate believers in fly-over country, we understand that there is only one party that remotely comes close to reflecting the values of Christ. And that is not the Democratic Party.
