welcome to this episode of real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge reach week I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough the question this is 100% listener support audio Ministry of relearn. Org and for those who don't know our mission a tree learn.org is to educate and equip ordinary Christian to plant biblical confession house churches for more information just visit relearn. Org forward slash house
 all right so Western culture is a rotating before our eyes that seem to be non-stop public peace seems to be an impossible task and everyone seems to feel the division is rising to an irreconcilable territory as Christians what's our role in the chaos what does the Bible say about our participation and bring him peace in the midst of political war this is what we talked about today but before we begin I just want to make one quick announcement it's that time of year for us as a non-profit our ministry is truly only made possible by those of you who give and support us financially and I want to tell you our plans for 2021 and I want to ask you to consider making a donation of any amount to support those efforts we have lots of things going on but 2021 will be the first year of our Biblical house church planting school we have twenty men currently enrolled
 for this first term which is a full a full enrollment and Lord willing will have 20 more later next year and this means that we could possibly have 40 new biblical House Church has planted in the next 18 months we are currently however short on instructors to grade papers and to support students we are also needing to hire about two more of full-time faculty members that are qualified to do so we are also hoping to apply for Christian accreditation in the spring but most importantly we have many men who are Desiring to enroll in the program but just can't afford it even if we discount it so we do need your help for scholarships for support and getting this curriculum not just your new wasp around the world this is eternal War, I can't tell you or try to convince you anymore that church planting and pastoral training is at the heart of great
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 alright great question Kristoff thank you for that question I expect it actually many people Christians and non-christians alike have a similar perspective or question I think however your question has some incorrect assumptions it so I won't have first approached the question by clarifying A few important points I think Christians need to understand as kind of a foundation in order to have a Biblical view of our current political climate additionally I want to let you guys know the contents of this episode will not lose their substance or the application depending on which candidate wins or losses in this United States presidential race this episode of recorded before the election results were released and that's fine and for two reasons first regardless of who sits in the White House division in our country is still very much an issue a division of the West is very much an issue secondly these principles are Universal and their time
 meaning that these are truths that are valuable and useful regardless of the state of our Western political climate so let me just give you guys for points and then I'm going to close by offering the best biblical answer that I can give to your question Kristoff I never one I want to start with is this at the end of the day
 as Christians we cannot play into identity politics okay we are Kingdom men and women and as Kingdom men and women there is no right or left conservative or liberal Republican or Democrat there was only lost or saved to both conservatives and liberals will find themselves in hell if they don't repent and believe it makes you this Christ Lord and this is how God views the world and this is how we must view it as well so let that first be the lens by which you view the current political climate the lens by which you view all people it's the only lens that matters lost or saved no regards to your statement on being a bridge first I want to say
 we are not called to bridge the gap between the politics of the left in the politics of the right can we are called to bridge the gap between the politics of heaven and Humanity of this this could include standing up for righteousness as I discussed in last week's episode but more importantly it includes the proclamation of the Gospel to convert work to use your word bridge the gap between men and God the Great Commission obviously speaks most directly to this Christian duty but you can read that in Matthew chapter 28 but 2nd Corinthians 16 through 20 actually I don't know the chapter I didn't put the chapter John tickets chapter 5 Second Corinthians chapter 5 16 through 20 speaks to this responsibility in a way that I believe is a most fruitful for our discussion today and Paul writes this and pay attention near me says quote from now on there for we regard no one according to the flesh which again supports my first point
 about identity politics verse 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away behold the new has come
 all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation here that first 19th that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation verse 20 therefore we are ambassadors for Christ God making his appeal through us we implore you on on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God okay now this is Paul explaining his ministry
 his personal Ministry how repulsive tells us be imitators of me just as I also am an imitator of Christ and so what I'm saying here is that we are to participate in reconciliation Ministry this is what the gospel is its reconciliation Ministry so your heart is right here Kristoff and Reconciliation this leads me to my third point which is critical if you ask the question how can I be a peacemaker now I assume that you're referencing Jesus a statement from The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:9 says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God
 well crisis the Prince of Peace in the citizens of his kingdom it only makes sense that we would walk in step with the posture and identity of Arcane which is a peacemaker right so so yes we are to be peacemakers now that there are several ways to act as a peacemaker but as a great at the election James Kaufman once said a peacemaker can bring men through the preaching of God's word to become reconciled to God which is the greatest of all the achievements of The Peacemaker and quote and so let me just speak to this point for a moment these are critical foundational perspective to have as a Christian in this current political climate may speak to this there's only one way
 to find true peace in this world
 if we have helped two groups of any kind of people find worldly peace without facilitating Heavenly peace with God then our peacemaking work is superficial and it's something in other words are Central priority as Christians are Central priority okay as Christian is not to facilitate peace between men it is to facilitate peace between man and God now we need to do both but the central priority is to facilitate peace between men and God and when a Democrat or Republican finds peace with God they will soon abandon their secular identities and find peace with one another in Christ
 not really the gospel not only reconciles us to God it also is the only way to bring genuine peace between one another
 that's a key I'm going to read that one more time cuz my notes here it's ultimately the gospel not only reconciles us to God it's also the only way to bring genuine peace between one another or it's my last point I'm going to make this this is an incredible time to be a Christian I just want you to again lay this as a brick on the foundation of the discussion today
 and it's critical that you have this perspective it is an incredible time to be alive as a Christian right now I have to tell people that when I put on my political glasses the world looks dark and intimidating I'm going to put on my spiritual glasses the world looks primed and ready for the gospel we we have to remember the most fertile soil is always dark and muddy but that's where life comes from it it's when men are scared and worried and hopeless and Confused that the light of the Gospel shines at its brightest we know this pain and suffering
 are often the tools God uses to pry our own self sufficiency from our hands and allow us to see soberly our need for Christ
 did that this is critical
 the time that were in
 looks dark
 but the Lord is doing something great right now and we need to have that perspective I put it on those spiritual glasses
 so get my conclusion with this Kristoff
 we often want to do the right thing the wrong way
 we want peace but we go about it in a worldly manner we want to bring Unity but we forget that you can't reconcile light and darkness sin has caused this broken world that we live in sin has caused these dividing parties sin has caused the inability to reconcile between so many powerful ideas that are out there today
 the only path to true peace between people is to reconcile them with the Prince of Peace this is our number one towering priority as Christians the Great Commission is not the great suggestion K Matthew 9:37 through 38
 Jesus looked at the culture that he was living in at the time and how broken it was and he saw the great need for reconciliation he actually said to his disciples the Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few there for pray earnestly to the lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into the Harvest
 this needs to be our prayer okay Kristoff and anybody else who's paying attention here this needs to be our prayer ask the Lord
 to raise up men and women of the Kingdom who are willing to preach and proclaim the gospel who are willing to pay the price of persecution to be hated
 to be unpopular to be slandered for people who are willing to labor for the gospel
 better yet I should say pray the Lord will use you to do those things
 I'm not talking about just telling someone that you're a Christian
 or inviting them to church I'm talking about proclaiming the gospel
 explaining the gospel accurately fully
 how many people talk about quote sharing their faith
 very few proclaim the gospel this is your great bridge building work this is your great reconciliation work this is your peacemaking work
 this is what we're called to do especially in this time especially in this fertile ready Harvest that is so Bountiful
 the opportunity
 in the West
 is wonderful it is become an incredible Mission field
 and I'm not close
 today's episode
 quickly and I'm going to close it with one of my favorite quotes from a seventeenth-century Puritan George Gershwin talk and want these words to just sit on your heart you can actually go write it down put it somewhere in your house I do I actually have it as a poster that I made just so I could remember it
 he said the time is short the task is large the work is important
 I'm going to read that one more time to time is short
 the task is large the work is important let that sink into your heart
 but I won't leave you guys with that alone I'm also going to give you guys a few resources that I think will further your ability to be great peacemakers great reconcilers great bridge Builders between men and God and you can find these resources on the post page for this episode a tree learn.org is episode 118b mission-minded in a broken America you can also Titleist a broken Western culture
 podcast is the first one and the podcast I want you to listen to is an episode that I did I think it's 102 what is the gospel is the title of it and for those who simply just don't feel confident in their ability to communicate the gospel this will be a helpful resource and then the second one is a book and the book is titled what is the gospel and this is actually by Greg Gilbert it's a little black book published by 9 marks and he's done a fantastic job of explaining the gospel in about a hundred and twenty Pages maybe 140 pages and I think it's worth reading as as a Christian you need to know the gospel mechanics so that you can Proclaim this so that you can do your Christian Duty so that you can be a peacemaker
 on that note I just want to ask those who are regular listeners of the real Christianity podcast if you guys will leave us a review those reviews really do healthy exposure of the show I do read them you don't need to write anything you can just hop the stars of the podcast app that would be helpful but they are a big help in the algorithms and supporting our podcast making the charts in people finding our ministry through the podcast app also if you guys don't already consider following us on Instagram we are posting their regularly trying to bring bold gospel-centered content for you guys that edifying for your personal Ministry I'm not no guys my name is Dale Partridge and we will talk to you next week
 thank you for listening to this episode of real Christianity if your regular was no to this show would your carefully consider making a donation to support our ministry efforts simply visit relearn. Org forward slash donate again at 3 learn.org for donate and for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home you can download our free pdf ebook title the basics of biblical Houston visiting re learn.org for house last week do you have a theological question you would like answered on the show submit your question at relearn. Org forward slash question thanks for joining us on this episode of real Christianity we will see you next Wednesday