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About Barbara Shafer
Expertise
I am an Evangelical Christian who is willing to answer faith questions in a thoughtful, researched manner. In particular, my heart`s desire is to assist those who need answers regarding suffering and those seeking to reconcile the Christian faith with the field of science.
Experience
I have a Masters of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I particularly enjoy apologetics (defense and explanation of the Christian faith) and systematic theology (understanding how the Bible itself supports various aspects of Christian doctrine). Both of these play a vital role in the "nuts and bolts" of evangelism... but the heart of Christian evangelism is love and compassion.
A turning point for me was when I experienced the loss of my daughter Julia. Since then, my heart has been to help people who struggle to understand the Christian faith (and those who may be questioning the goodness of God) in light of the problem of evil and suffering.
I've been informally answering Bible questions via other Internet avenues for over 7 years- to skeptics and believers alike. Thank you for blessing me with these opportunities.
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You are here: Experts > Religion/Spirituality > Christian Teens > Christianity -- Christian Living > Does a Christian have to be Conservative?
Expert: Barbara Shafer - 11/12/2009
Question
Here is something that I have always, wondered. I am a Liberal and I believe that Jesus died for our sins, and he is the Messiah. I believe in salvation by Grace. But I don't share my opinions with my church, because they differ. I mean this is really nothing major on scriptural doctrine. But I hear the word Liberal thrown around very judgmentally. But by the definition of Liberal, was Jesus not one? Even though I believe 98% of my pastor's sermons (being human my interpretation of some of the minor meanings of parables differ slightly. But that is due to my different experiences in life I am sure.) Am I less of a Christian for being liberal? How do I tell members of my church that not all Liberals are Unbelievers?
Answer
Here is something that I have always, wondered. I am a Liberal and I believe that Jesus died for our sins, and he is the Messiah. I believe in salvation by Grace. But I don't share my opinions with my church, because they differ. I mean this is really nothing major on scriptural doctrine. But I hear the word Liberal thrown around very judgmentally. But by the definition of Liberal, was Jesus not one? Even though I believe 98% of my pastor's sermons (being human my interpretation of some of the minor meanings of parables differ slightly. But that is due to my different experiences in life I am sure.) Am I less of a Christian for being liberal? How do I tell members of my church that not all Liberals are Unbelievers?
Hi Earl,
I love your question! There are so many ways in which Christianity is misunderstood and your question points to one of them. In fact, there's a recent book by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons called unChristian. http://www.unchristian.com/ It does an artful job of describing the topic you allude to: that Christians are too political.
I should mention that there are two senses in which the word Liberal is used in Christian circles and it's good for us to recognize the distinction.
(1) Liberal... can be used to refer to people whose political views are to the "left" of center, believe in the good of government to address social problems, often vote Democratic, and whose self-identified label is "Progressive." This is a political distinction and has NOTHING to do with one's Christian faith...since political Liberals/Progressives can be Christian as well as political Conservatives. Oftentimes, those Christians who would call themselves Liberal gravitate toward certain denominations that affirm their political views: Episcopal, certain Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Congregational churches. Roman Catholics are kind of full-spectrum political churches...with some RC's being highly liberal, others being very conservative.
The reason they can still be Christian though they are politically Liberal, is that these individuals elevate the concerns of social justice, freedom, love, nonjudgmentalism, and the good of people in government to help those in need. These are all valid Christian applications/concerns to uphold.
Conservatives, on the other hand, elevate pro-life, religious freedom, law and order, a biblical Creation view of origins, family values, and the role of the individual in helping those in need. These are likewise valid Christian applications/concerns to uphold.
In fact, the ideal church would demonstrate all of these biblical concerns, but the truth is that we're all sinners and we've turned a revolutionary man like Jesus into someone who was liberal or conservative when in fact, He was apolitical.
Consider these statements:
Matthew 22:15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" 21 "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
John 18:36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
Luke 22:52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour-- when darkness reigns."
Mark 14:7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.
Acts 1:6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
All of these would indicate that Jesus was concerned about Kingdom affairs and was not sidelined with political concerns of a transient and earthly nature.
Which brings me to Liberal #2...which is of concern to Christians.
(2) Liberal can also mean Theologically Liberal. This one has to do with what you believe about Jesus Christ, the Bible, God, Judgment etc... and should be of great concern to ALL Christians irrespective of their politics.
Theologically Liberal people interpret the Bible as being informative, but not Absolute Truth. Many theological liberals do not affirm that the Bible is true and they question the authenticity of the Scriptures, in whole or in part. Jesus--for many theological liberals--did not live a sinless life or perform miracles. Generally, they deny the miraculous and the existence of Hell. The Jesus Seminar typifies this view http://westarinstitute.org/
I believe they are wrong and their work is harmful to the Christian faith.
Theologically Conservative people are often called "Fundamentalist" in a pejorative sense. But the Fundamentals actually articulate a beautiful description of things considered to be "non-negotiables" of the Christian faith. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fundamentals
I don't believe one can legitimately call him/herself a Christian if the Jesus he/she claims to follow is one made in man's image...rather than One who IS God. Jesus must be God to anyone who is a Christian. This is why many churches like to read the Apostle's Creed: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/d...
So, my hope is that people will be able to seek the Kingdom first...deny themselves, and follow Christ. We can wait (patiently but active in our faith)...and look for His returning and the Final Judgment where all our beliefs and actions (whether Liberal or Conservative) will be tested by fire until only Truth remains. We'll probably see some politically Liberal actions and some politically Conservative actions commended by our Lord. :-)
I'm open to further discussion, if you'd like. Either here or on my e-mail address askseminarygal@aol.com
Blessings to you and thanks for a great question!
in His service,
Barbara <><
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