Politics

How Much Did Joe Biden Give Pastor Tim Keller?

by Andrew Tuttle
10/14/20
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Well, I was afraid of that.

At least I can make room on my book shelf for a genuine Christian. Out with Tim Keller’s The Reason for God and in with Elizabeth’s Bristol’s Mary Me.

I know a wolf in sheep’s clothing when I see one.

On Sept. 16, Tim Keller, the famous New York Presbyterian minister told his flock “…when it comes to taking political positions, voting, determining alliances and political involvement, the Christian has liberty of conscience.”

Meaning, a Christian can go ahead and vote for the Democrat presidential ticket of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden without fear of standing before God and making an account for his or her voting record. I suppose if a genuine Christian fell for this deceiver, they have already been washed clean of their sin but as far as Tim Keller, well I wonder if he indeed will stand before the Great White Throne Judgement and not the Bema seat.

How does a man who claims to be a Christian, and even in his Facebook post to followers that instructs them to a liberty of conscience, recognize the evils of abortion and even quasi acknowledging the pitfalls of high taxation and government interference vs. low taxation and charity (exactly what the founding fathers envisioned) stand before the pulpit and preach the Good News?

What are you talking about?

This is what Pastor Tim Keller said as recorded on Facebook:

The Bible binds my conscience to care for the poor, but it does not tell me the best practical way to do it. Any particular strategy (high taxes and government services vs low taxes and private charity) may be good and wise—and may even be somewhat inferred from other things the Bible teaches-- but they are not directly commanded and therefore we cannot insist that all Christians, as a matter of conscience, follow one or the other. The Bible binds my conscience to love the immigrant, but it doesn’t tell me how many legal immigrants to admit to the U.S. every year. It does not exactly prescribe immigration policy. The Bible tells me that abortion is a sin and great evil, but it doesn’t tell me the best way to decrease or end abortion in this country, nor which policies are most effective. The current political parties offer a potpourri of different positions on these and many, many other topics, most of which, as just noted, the Bible does not speak to directly. This means when it comes to taking political positions, voting, determining alliances and political involvement, the Christian has liberty of conscience. Christians cannot say to other Christians “no Christian can vote for…” or “every Christian must vote for…” unless you can find a Biblical command to that effect.

This is what Jesus says about the End Times: "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” As recorded in Matthew 7:15.

I’ve read some of Tim Keller’s books. The one noted above that now either hits the trash bin or donation pile and another that was more of a blathering display of intellectual prowess. I didn’t bother finishing it, giving it away for some poor shopping soul to buy at Goodwill.

I also grew up in the Presbyterian Church.

Stand up. Recite something. Sit down. Repeat after me. Stand up. Sing a hymn. Or two. Sit down. Pray. Stand up, sit down fight fight fight. Oh sorry. This is not a football game. Then I’d listen to the minister preach for 20 minutes about something. That something never went home with me.

As a result, for a time I embraced the idea that I didn’t need to attend church to be a Christian. Still a true statement but I’d never grow.

My point? Not a whole lot of substance in the Presbyterian Church. A lot of tradition borne by man - some of it nice - but in so far as developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and growing in your faith? Well, not so much.

So when I heard about Tim Keller many years ago and read The Reason for God, I was hopeful, not necessarily skeptical but cautious. The plethora of Christian denominations I never really understood thus my move towards a more evangelical approach to Christianity that was denomination free. I thought perhaps Tim Keller, despite being a Presbyterian minister, might have seen the light and brought the Light, without prejudice and man’s tradition, to his congregation.

Now I know my initial apprehension about whether this guy was the real deal was spot on.

I told someone years ago, way before Donald Trump, that a Christian in the United States could not be a Democrat. This idea went above and beyond the abortion issue. Though now, with President Trump being the first true pro-life president in my lifetime, the Christian has no other choice, despite Trump being, at times, a horse’s behind.

Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” as recorded in Mark 12:17. You see, the United States was not founded upon the ideals of government funded welfare and socialism. I interpret Jesus as saying follow the rules as set forth by the government of your country.

If the founding fathers wanted socialism then we’d have no leg to stand on. However, they wanted freedom. As the Soup Dragons said “I'm free/To do what I want/Any old time.”

The United States Government was set up to promote the general welfare not provide. Considering the government wastes as much as 65 percent of every dollar on red tape and bureaucracy compared to reputable non-profits and churches sending 85 percent or more of every dollar donated to the intended purpose, where do you think Jesus stands in terms of government funded welfare or the church and other non-profits helping where and when help is needed?

Jesus was not a socialist. Nor was he an abortionist.

Did you know heaven isn’t based on socialistic ideals? News flash: We don’t all receive the same rewards. I know Billy Graham will have far more rewards than I will get. And I may regrest not doing more in this life when I get to the next life.

And if Tim Keller indeed has embraced Christ as his personal savior, he just lost a number of crowns.

Life is short, so for his sake, hopefully Tom Keller received more than 30 pieces of silver from Joe Biden.