By:
Dale Weckbacher
1 Timothy
3:8-9
Likewise
deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not
greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.
NKJV
Both books
of Timothy are written to Timothy, an itinerant preacher who converted to
Christianity under the teaching of Paul.
These letters are believed to be the last writings of Paul and are
instructions to Timothy on how to carry out his duties as an evangelist. (1) The passage in 1 Timothy 3:8-9 is a call to
live reverently, single-mindedly focused on the Lord and God’s Word, and in
moderation (i.e. not given to much wine or greedy for money). This is an example of biblical
moderation.
However,
before we go off believing that being a moderate politically is the correct biblical
position we must also look at what Jesus said in John 14:6 where he said, “I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.”
(NKJV) Jesus statement is hardly
a position of moderation. The Jewish
Schma found in Deuteronomy 6:4 states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the
LORD is one!” (NKJV) In the first of the Ten Commandments states, “2
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of bondage. 3 You shall have no
other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:2-3
NKJV) On one hand, it appears the Bible
supports the moderate position politically.
However, on the other hand the Bible seems to support taking a firm
position that the only way to salvation is through belief in Jesus Christ’s death
burial and resurrection, that God is the one and only true God, and that we are
to devote our lives entirely to Him. So,
exactly what is the biblical position on moderation?
The passage
in Timothy is addressed to deacons.
Deacons were in care of the temporal concerns of the church. They were in charge of the maintenance of the
church, making provisions for the poor while the minister devoted their life to
ministry, prayer, study, and preaching of the Word of God. In their positions as assistants to a
minister of the Gospel, these individuals appeared regularly in public. It was therefore imperative that these
individuals be seen in public as living lives in total devotion to God’s Word
and in moderation. (2)
Jesus
statement recorded in John 14:6 is instructing people that He is the only way
to salvation. As a believer, I interpret
this statement to mean that there is never a time when I should moderate on my
belief that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection are the only way to have
salvation from sins. People of the
Jewish faith are taught that the Lord God is the only one true God and
commanded to devote their lives entirely to serving their God. This is what Paul meant when he taught that
deacons are not to be double-minded. As
a Christian, there is no compromise or moderation on these basic beliefs.
In
the Declaration of Independence, our founders stated the foundational values of
our nation, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (3) We can never compromise or moderate these
basic values.
I
will never compromise on the God given right to life, not just life for the
born, but the unborn as well. I will
never compromise on the God given right to liberty. The Bible tells us that where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). This God given right to liberty came at a
high price, the death of God’s only Son.
I will never compromise on the God given right to pursue happiness. God has a plan for each of us and true
happiness is finding that plan, and pursuing it. I will never moderate my belief that
government is there to protect my right to pursue whatever God has planned for
my life and will resist any attempts of my government to obstruct God’s will
for my life.
Unfortunately,
political correctness has made it difficult for someone to have strong values
for which they refuse to moderate or compromise. The current schism in the Republican Party
revolves around moderates that are asking conservatives to moderate on their
positions on abortion, traditional marriage, and immigration in order to win
elections. (4) In
fact in my opinion, this schism is the reason many stayed home in the 2012
election (5)
as a means of protesting moderates asking them to moderate. As a result, Obama won reelection even though
he received fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008. (6)
Let
this be a warning to moderates, these are deeply held beliefs for conservatives
and as such are not something they will moderate. Therefore, I believe the path to victory in
the next presidential election is not in moderating these strongly held beliefs
but in presenting a candidate that holds these beliefs strongly and allowing
them to boldly present these beliefs to the American people who are still a
majority conservative, (7) but just silenced
through political correctness. (8) Just as a silent majority was awakened by
Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s, leading to two landslide victories, I believe the
right candidate will once again awaken this silent majority and bring an
electoral victory in 2014 and 2016. So,
why not try it. (9)
On
the next two Saturdays we will perform a leadership assessment on two moderate
candidates being touted by the GOP establishment, Chris Christie and Jeb
Bush. Our assessments will show the flaw
in leadership, especially the lack of courage of moderates who do not remain
strong on their basic values but moderate in order to follow the political
winds. I look forward to sharing my
findings with everyone.
1. Matthew Henry's Commentary. 1 Tiumothy Overview. www.studylight.org.
[Online] Studylight.org. [Cited: May 1, 2014.]
http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/view.cgi?bk=53&ch=0.
2. —. 1 Timothy 3. 222.studylight.org. [Online]
Studylight.org. [Cited: May 1, 2014.]
http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhm/view.cgi?bk=53&ch=3.
3. Hillsdale College. The Declaration of
Independance. The U.S. Constitution: A reader. Hillsdale Michigan :
Hillsdale College Press, 2012.
4. Miller, Emily. MILLER: CPAC to debate Tea
Party vs. moderate for 2016 GOP nominee. www.washingtontimes.com. [Online]
The Washington Times, March 5, 2014. [Cited: May 2, 2014.]
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/5/miller-cpac-debates-tea-party-or-moderate-in-2016/?page=all.
5. Trende, Sean. The Case of the Missing White
Voters. www.realcleapolitics.com. [Online] Real Clear Politics, November
8, 2012. [Cited: July 5, 2013.]
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/11/08/the_case_of_the_missing_white_voters_116106-2.html.
6. Krayewski, Ed. Barack Obama First President
Re-Elected With Less Popular, Electoral Support Second Time Around. reason.com.
[Online] Reason.com, November 19, 2012. [Cited: May 3, 2014.]
http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/19/barack-obama-first-president-re-elected.
7. Walker, Bruce. The Resilient Conservative
Majority. www.americanthinker.com. [Online] The American Thinker,
February 12, 2013. [Cited: May 5, 2014.]
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/02/the_resilient_conservative_majority.html.
8. Marcus, Lloyd. Silence of the Conservative
Lambs. www.americanthinker.com. [Online] The American Thinker, May 5,
2013. [Cited: May 3, 2014.]
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/silence_of_the_conservative_lambs.html.
9. Institute, German Historical. Inventing the
"Silent Majority". www.ghi-dc.org. [Online] German Historical
Institute, August 18-20, 2013. [Cited: May 3, 2014.]
http://www.ghi-dc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1359&Itemid=1173.
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