People were questioning how the church should behave during an election year way before the questions were asked this election cycle, and the Assemblies of God voter guide from 1984 has recently gone viral for its wisdom.
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In a post to X, Dr. Daniel Isgrigg, a professor at Oral Roberts University and a historian whose focus is on Pentecostalism, shared with the world an excerpt from the 1984 AG voting guide.
These 10 guidelines appear to be more relevant today than ever:
- Do not confuse patriotism, national pride and Western culture with Christian faith and practice.
- Do not confuse secular political activity with the purpose of the church, nor campaigning with witnessing and preaching.
- Do not make slanderous or false accusations against your opponents, but maintain your integrity. Do not consider a brother or sister who is of like precious faith an adversary if he or she holds a different political view.
- At all times endeavor to verify information before accepting it as true or before repeating it to others.
- At all times endeavor to know and understand the candidate’s positions and evaluate him or her on that basis, on the basis of his or her ability to perform the duties and functions of the office, and his or her integrity.
- At all times endeavor to know and understand the issues; do not excuse yourself from this duty by saying, “God will show me whom to vote for.”
- At all times compare a candidate’s position with Scripture but only where the Scripture addresses the issue; do not force Scripture to address issues that the Author did not intend it to address.
- Neither vote nor work for a candidate merely because he or she professes to be of the Christian faith.
- Do not neglect your family, worship, prayer or Bible study.
- At all times uphold your leaders in prayer.
These guidelines from 40 years ago carry a heavy conviction behind them. When we take a step back and analyze how much more hostile, angry and accusatory both sides of the political spectrum have become, it would behoove us to take a breath and read over wise guidelines such as these so that we act in a way that is befitting of one who represents Jesus on earth.
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.