Liberals vs. Conservatives: Who Has the Answers?‏

Hello Friends!

The current worldwide economic malaise continues with no end in sight. In an attempt to stimulate their respective economies, central banks in both Japan and the United States plan to purchase distressed debt in the coming months. Europe continues to struggle under massive sovereign debt. And even one of the most vibrant economies of the world, China, is experiencing an economic slowdown. It appears that the worldwide economic conundrum will continue, at least for the foreseeable future. Is there any hope? Are there answers or solutions to this world-wide crisis?

Liberals vs. Conservatives: Who Has the Answers?

In the United States, 2012 is a presidential election year – something that happens every four years. The economy is a major election issue, and more specifically – jobs. Domestic unemployment is unusually high. Many people are out of work and looking for employment. Others would like to find employment but, after a protracted unsuccessful effort, have given up.

The United States has a two party political tradition, which means there are typically two options for president – a conservative or a liberal. Conservatives say the solution to our languishing economic condition is lower taxes and less regulation. Liberals say the solution is higher taxes to fund more government control. Who is right? Or better yet, what is the truth?

Both conservatives and liberals make assumptions about the nature of reality – God, and man. Some of the assumptions are the same and some are very different. For example, with regard to the nature of reality, both conservatives and liberals commonly believe in either naturalism or deism. Naturalism is an atheistic philosophy; deism is a theistic philosophy. Naturalism assumes the only reality is tangible reality. Since in their view there is no God, there is no spiritual reality and therefore all phenomena must be explained by only natural causes. Deism assumes there is a God, but deists do not believe God is engaged in His creation and therefore, as in naturalism, all phenomena must be explained by natural causes. For all practical purposes, deism and naturalism are philosophically identical. Though liberals and conservatives may have differing views of God, both assume answers to all life’s issues are found exclusively in the natural or tangible world.

Regarding the nature of man, both conservatives and liberals believe in human potency. Human potency affirms that humans have the power to do as they wish. That is, humans can freely choose to do good or evil. It is assumed there is no bias in human nature to prefer one over the other – good versus evil.

Conservatives believe that humans will typically choose good over evil and therefore do not need extensive regulatory oversight.

Liberals agree with the assumption of human potency, but they do not believe humans will typically choose good over evil. They believe that given the opportunity, humans will choose to be greedy and self-serving. Liberals believe that to protect people from sin, government must regulate human beings. In other words, liberals believe their responsibility is to manage the sin in the world – particularly the sin of governmental leaders.

The challenge of the liberal vs. conservative debate is that neither position is built on Biblically sound assumptions. Biblically, the Holy Scriptures teach that God is the sovereign creator of the entire universe, which means He is actively engaged in and cares for His creation. A Biblically correct view of reality must reflect both the existence of God and His sovereign control over all creation. This means naturalism and deism are not correct philosophies since naturalism and deism reject any idea of a Sovereign Creator who is engaged with His creation.

Regarding the nature of man, the atheistic and deistic assumption of human potency is inconsistent with Christianity, which holds to human impotency or human depravity. This means that, in and of himself, man is not able to make good choices:

…for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God – Romans 3:23

The only way man can choose good over evil is through Divine intervention. Divine intervention comes in two forms known as Common Grace and the Grace of Jesus Christ. Common Grace is the ability God grants each person to obey some of God’s principles, albeit on a limited basis. Common Grace is why even the most pagan people of our world can survive in God’s universe. However, Common Grace is not sufficient for eternal salvation from the penalty of the human sin nature known as Original Sin. The grace of Jesus Christ is the divinely granted empowerment through the Holy Spirit that is both efficacious for salvation and enables Christians to obey the will and ways of God. It is this grace – Jesus Christ’s Grace – that enables a person to reach his or her full potential by finding and fulfilling his or her God-ordained life purpose and calling.

The liberal view of man’s nature is closer to truth than the conservative view. However, the liberals’ solution is flawed. They assume government regulators can be good enough to manage sin in the world. The problem is that all regulators are sinners too! If the regulators are only empowered by Common Grace, then their ability to perform well will be extremely limited in scope and ineffective - at best.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? – Jeremiah 17:9

Both the conservatives and liberals approach economic problems with flawed thinking based on partial truth. Without Jesus Christ, the conservative approach will lead to abuse and greed. Without Jesus Christ, the liberal approach is simply sin management, which is inefficient and largely ineffective. So, is there any real hope? Yes!

The only real solution to our economic malaise is Jesus Christ!

A Biblical view of Jesus Christ leads to a profound understanding of the nature of reality – God and man. The sovereign God of the universe – who most fully reveals Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ – created all of reality. By nature, man is depraved and needs more divine intervention than Common Grace is able to provide. Sinful man needs divine intervention to transform man’s heart and enable him to obey God’s will according to God's ways. Left to himself, man chooses to do his will according to his ways. But the supernaturally transformed man has the ability to choose God’s will and ways, which lead to success in God’s universe - see Psalms 1.

The real solution for the current economic malaise – or any of life's malaise – is to assist people in experiencing the transforming power of God through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit! This means the real role of a pastor is to be a true shepard and to disciple people into the will and ways of God.

Neither conservatives nor liberals have a profound response to the deep economic malaise because neither group seems to understand the root issue – sin. The root issues of life are always spiritual in nature. The only way to solve spiritual problems is with spiritual solutions. Jesus Christ being formed in us as believers – Christians – is the ONLY profound spiritual solution to all problems in life.

May Jesus Christ be so profoundly formed in us that we no longer live to do our will according to our ways. But rather, are transformed to do God’s will according to God’s ways:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God – Romans 12:1 – 2

When we live this way, we will be able to prosper in God’s creation - in His will and in His ways - regardless of the political climate... as the Christian waits for His call to return to Him in Heaven...

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late!  If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

Blessings on your studies and involvement in understanding and sharing the Truth!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

Encouraging Concepts

Truth for Today

"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <>< 
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)