Can You Be a Liberal and Be a Christian?

Last night someone said that she is a Christian, but her family calls her the unchristian Christian in their family because she is liberal. She did not detail her liberalness, but left it at that.

If someone claims to be a liberal and believe what liberal's believe, can they be a Christian?

First of all, let’s clarify what it takes to be a Christian.

Romans 10:9-10 says, That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

The only “criteria” for being a Christian is surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. It’s not who we are, what we’ve done, or how we think that allows us to be a Christian. It’s who Jesus is.

Okay, so becoming a Christian definitely has nothing to do with our politics. Once we are a Christian, we’re instantly changed to a conservative, right? I was, in many ways. But not everyone is going to have the same experience.

I’m a conservative. For me, this means I believe in limited government. I don’t believe in government entitlements (the church should support the poor). I believe in state’s rights, unless explicitly the Federal government’s domain as defined in the US Constitution. I believe in the right to bear arms – individuals can own guns. I believe in lower taxes. But, I pay my taxes and believe there is a need for taxes (I’m a flat tax proponent, myself, but that’s outside our scope here).

No where that I know of in the Bible does it say that the above list of beliefs are necessary for a Christian. You can believe in big government – David’s and Solomon’s governments were big. You can believe in entitlements – “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.’” (Leviticus 23:22). You can believe in a stronger Federal government and a weaker state government (Caesar versus Herod). You can believe in high taxes. You should not believe in not paying taxes. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Romans 13:6. And you can be against individuals owning guns.

So far, doesn’t really matter.

There are two issues, though, that bear mentioning. Abortion and homosexual marriage. Can you support abortion and / or homosexual marriage and be a Christian?

Doing so doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian, but doing so also means that you don’t believe all of God’s Word is true.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Psalm 22:10.

God recognizes us as human beings from conception, not from birth. Therefore, killing an unborn child is murder. You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13.

“‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.’” Leviticus 18:22.

“‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.’” Leviticus 20:13.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Romans 1:26-27.

God considers homosexuality indecent and He detests it.

There are many more versus against these two issues.

But again, back to our original thought. Okay, so if one supports abortion and one supports homosexuality, does that mean they are not a Christian?

No, no, and no. It may mean they are in rebellion to God. It may mean they are a weak and still growing (aren’t we all) Christian. They may be an ignorant Christian.

Now, I believe that over time, the Holy Spirit will work on our thoughts and bring us around to seeing as God sees. But because someone, at the moment, doesn’t believe something WE believe, does not give us the right to judge their salvation. Actually, nothing ever gives us the right to judge someone’s salvation. Only God knows our heart.

In nearly all issues, we can disagree, but we should do so lovingly. We should accept anyone as a fellow person. We can reject their ideas, but we can’t reject them. And, we should not judge another unless we know we’re pure ourselves.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. " Matthew 7:1-5.

I’d love to hear what you think.