Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher
There are things that my precious children
Esther (8) and Evangeline (5) do
that I do not approve of but I still accept them as my children.
There are things that my precious wife
Chandraleela does that I do not approve of, but I still
accept her as my wife. There are vices I do that my wife can
never approve of but she still accepts me as her husband. My
children will never approve of my vices but they still accept me as
their daddy.
We should never ever equate accepting someone means we approve of
their behavior. This can be far from the truth.
As an Evangelical Christian, who loves the Lord Jesus Christ very
much, when I accept my daughters and wife no matter what vices they
are guilty of towards me, towards one another, or towards society
does not change the fact that the Lord Jesus gave them to me to love
and cherish in spite of their behavior.
Every vice they commit that is not pleasing to the Lord makes me
upset and sad because they are sinning against the Lord even if the
vice is against me, against each other, etc.
When I don't approve of their behavior, I let them know. However,
they will never feel that they are not accepted by me.
Why should I accept them no matter what vices they commit?
First and foremost, I accept them because the Lord Jesus gave them
to me. When Chandra and I got married,
we got married with the Lord Jesus being in the center of our
marriage. For me that means, 'For what
God has joined together, let no one separate.'. For me that
also means, 'In sickness and health, for
better or for worse, till death do us apart, we will be one
as we depend on the Lord Jesus'.
In a marriage vow, you never say, 'if you have all these vices, I
will not accept you'. You hope and pray that the negative vices will
never become part of your marriage.
At the same time, if they do creep into our lives, I don't say as an
example, "After 10 years of marriage, your behavior is horrendous to
the point that I won't accept you anymore." On the contrary, what I
would say is, "I will never approve of your vices that are
contradictory to Scripture" but I will always accept you as my wife.
When I accept my children or wife, I am not approving their
negative behavior. It is a fallacy to believe if you accept somone,
that means you agree with their behavior. When my wife and children
accept me despite my vices all these years, I never ever think they
have approved of my behaviors that have saddened them.
They accept me for different reasons even when they don't approve of
my behavior many times. The reasons could be religious, financial,
relational, etc.
To equate acceptance with approval of behavior is very dangerous. I
don't have to approve of my wife and children's behavior if they are
vices but I can still accept them for different reasons. They can do
the same for me.
Each year, when we have celebrated our anniversary, we have
reflected on the good things that have happened in our lives in the
past year. In essence, by focusing on the good things that have
happened, it is easier to vote for each other for another year of
marriage. That said, even when we focus on all the bad
behaviors that happened in the past year of marriage, God's love is
shown because even though we have not approved of the behaviors, we
have accepted each other and voted for each other for another year
of marriage for different reasons where those reasons outweigh the
behaviors that are not approved of. The first and foremost reason in
a marriage is because 'God hates divorce'.
Sadly in marriage, our society has become a place where if a
husband/wife don't approve of someone's obnoxious, salacious,
prideful, arrogant behavior, they take the ballot paper of divorce
and vote a husband/wife out. They don't stop there but usually go
look for a new husband/wife to vote in their lives.
Those who choose to stay for religious, financial, relational, etc
reasons even without approving those behaviors are ostracized for
accepting the person.
Questions such as, "How can you continue to
stay with a person like that?", "What kind of example will it set
for others to see you stay with a person like that?", "Are you not
as bad as that person if you continue to stay with that kind of
behavior?", "Is this the best you can do?" are the questions
that are asked!
From a marriage, we can learn a lot about not approving of a
husband/wife's behavior if it is constantly obnoxious, salacious,
prideful, arrogant, etc but still accepting the marriage year after
year for different reasons other than behavior.
Does that make the husband/wife bad for accepting one another for
different reasons while disapproving of the behaviors?
Of course not!
Yet, in society so many Evangelical Christians and others are
villianized and ostracized to the point that others try to make them
feel guilty for accepting President Trump
by giving him their vote for 4 more years even though his behavior
is condemned.
As Evangelical Christians, we can learn a lot how to conduct
ourselves politically if we use those same principles of marriage
where 'ACCEPTANCE does not mean APPROVAL of BEHAVIOR', when we vote
at the ballot box.
When I accept Trump at the ballot box
on Nov 03, 2020 for four more years, I am not approving his
obnoxious, salacious, prideful, arrogant behavior that he has sadly
exhibited so many times. On the contrary, when I vote to accept him
for four more years, it is because of religious, financial, and
relational reasons that have been exhibited in his policies. The
religious reasons are priority for me even over financial and
relational reasons when it comes to all the policies of the 3.5
years.
What I love the most is all the protections
Trump has given to the unborn. Trump
has been the most Pro-Life president in the history of our nation.
As an Evangelical Christian, I can never vote for a Pro-Abortion
ticket of Biden-Harris which will be
the most extreme ticket in recent years.
Because I know what I believe, I will never be ashamed or ostracized
by anyone who tries to blame shame me by saying,
"How could you call yourself an Evangelical
Christian and vote for Trump?"
There are those who will try to persuade you against voting
for Trump telling you all his shortcomings and character flaws. They
will even ask you, "What does it tell about
you as an Evangelical Christian to vote for a person like him or
what kind of example will you be setting for your children to vote
for him?"
To shame you, they will even ask you, "What
kind of Jesus example are we setting by voting for a person like
Trump?"
How do I answer these questions?
When in doubt, I always go to Scripture to backup why I do what I
do?
"One day, when visiting the city of Gerar, he
declared that Sarah was his sister! Then King Abimelech sent for
her, and had her brought to him at his palace.....""Whatever
made you think of this vile deed?""Well," Abraham said, "I figured
this to be a godless place. 'They will want my wife and will kill me
to get her.' I thought. (Gen
20:1b-2, 11, TLB)
Abraham was willing to lie about his wife, for the king to sleep
with her just so his life can be spared.
What are the character flaws here of Abraham?
Selfishness, possible adultery, narcisstic behavior, unloving,
deception, etc
What happened to Abraham?
The Lord still used him
for His purposes.
Never forget that the sins of the father will be passed on to their
sons/daughters if we are not careful. Isaac was the son of Abraham.
"So Isaac stayed in Gerar. And when the men there asked him about
Rebekah, he said, "She is my sister!" For he feared for his life if
he told them she was his wife; he was afraid they would kill him to
get her, for she was very attractive. But sometime later, King
Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw
Isaac and Rebekah making love." (Genesis 26:6-8, TLB)
Isaac was willing to lie about his wife, so the people would not
kill him.
What are the character flaws here of Isaac?
Selfishness, possible adultery, narcisstic behavior, unloving,
deception, pornography, etc
What happened to Isaac?
The Lord still used him for His purposes.
Abraham and Isaac's deception carried into the life of Jacob who was
Isaac's son and Abraham's grandson.
Isaac says to Esau: "Your brother was here and tricked me and has
carried away your blessing." (Genesis 27:35, TLB)
Esau (bitterly) says to Isaac: "No wonder they call him 'The
Cheater.' For he took my birthright, and now he has stolen my
blessing. Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?" (Genesis
27:36, TLB)
What are the character flaws here of Jacob?
Deception, brotherly discord, dishonor of father, selfishness,
lying, cheating, and stealing.
What happened to Jacob?
The Lord still used him
for His purposes.
Joseph, was the son of Jacob.
"Joseph recognized them [His brothers] instantly, but pretended he
didn't. "Where are you from?" he demanded roughly. "From the land of
Canaan," they replied. "We have come to buy grain...But he said to
them, "You are spies..." (Genesis 42:7,9, TLB)
Later, Joseph throws them into jail for three days. If this was not
bad enough, he deliberately has his silver cup put in his father's
favorite son, Benjamin's sack to frame him.
"But when they were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his
household manager, "Chase after them and stop them and ask them why
they are acting like this when their benefactor has been so kind to
them? Ask them, "What do you mean by stealing my lord's personal
silver drinking cup, which he uses for fortune-telling? What a
wicked thing you have done!" (Genesis 44:4-6, TLB)
What are the character
flaws of Joseph we see here?
Deception, pretending, rough tone, lying,
framing, engaging in fortune-telling, etc
What happened to Joseph?
The Lord still uses him for His purposes.
"One day, many years later when Moses had grown up and become a man,
he went out to visit his fellow Hebrews and saw the terrible
conditions they were under. During his visit he saw an Egyptian
knock a Hebrew to the ground--one of his own Hebrew brothers! Moses
looked this way and that to be sure no one was watching, then killed
the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand." (Exodus 2:11-12, TLB)
What are the character flaws of Moses we
see here?
Nationalistic, deception, secretive, anger, rage, wrath,
short-temper, murderer, etc
What happened to Moses?
The Lord still
uses him for His purposes.
"One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof
of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was
very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The
man said, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of
Uriah the Hittite." Then David sent messengers to get her. She came
to him, and he slept with her. Then she went back home. The woman
conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant....""In the
morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it
he wrote, "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest.
Then withdraw from him so he will be struck and die." (2 Samuel
11:2-5, 14-15 NIV)
What are the character flaws of King David we
see here?
Wife
betrayer, adulterer, murderer, selfishness, cunningness, disloyalty,
pornography, etc
What happened to King David?
The Lord still uses him for His purposes.
All these characters from the Bible had terrible character flaws but
the Lord still chose to use them. When the Lord decided to use them
after the fact, He was not approving of their behavior but for His
purposes was using them.
These are only some examples but there are so many more in the
Bible.
Did they pay for their character flaws?
Of course they did in different ways.
When I look at Trump, he has so many
character flaws as our president because of his brazen personality.
He can never be my pastor. I am not voting for a Pastor-in-Chief but
a Commander-in-Chief.
"Well," you may be saying, "what terrible people you have been
talking about!" But wait a minute! You are just as bad. When you say
they are wicked and should be punished, you are talking about
yourselves, for you do these very same things!" (Romans 2:1, TLB)
'For you do these very same things'
refers to "Their lives became full of every kind of
wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting,
lying, bitterness, and gossip. They were backbiters, haters of God,
insolent, proud, braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning
and continually being disobedient to their parents. They tried to
misunderstand, broke their promises, and were heartless--without
pity. They were fully aware of God's death penalty for these crimes,
yet they went right ahead and did them anyway and encouraged others
to do them, too." (Romans 1:29-32, TLB)
We all have character flaws and if not for the grace of the Lord, we
do not know where we would have been. The Lord still uses us for His
purposes and used Biblical characters for his purposes.
If the Lord used all those biblical characters with all their flaws
for His purposes, I believe he can choose to use
Trump too in all his weaknesses for his
purposes. Throughout Scripture, we see the Lord using different
characters to accomplish his purposes.
This does not again mean accepting to vote for
Trump means approving his behavior. On the contrary,
accepting to vote for Trump means
approving his policies over his personality. It means accepting his
biblical policies over his opponents anti-Biblical policies.
When I look at what Trump accomplished
these past 4 years, I am flabbergasted and awed because as a
businessman turned president, he made me see that a good business
man always keeps his word to his clients and expects loyalty. We the
people that voted for him were his clients. Whatever he campaigned
on, he did his best to ensure those promises were not broken. He is
the first president in my lifetime that I can say, "Promises Made,
Promises Kept".
As an Evangelical Christian, I am utterly amazed that
Trump of all people became the most
Pro-Life president in the history of the United States with his
Executive Orders to protect the unborn here and overseas, with his
appointment of 3 Supreme Court Justices who are originalists and
Pro-Life, and the amazing speech he gave as the first president to
ever address the March for Life Rally since 'Roe v Wade' made
abortion legal.
There are those that will make you believe we should not vote for a
person like Trump just because of the
Pro-Life issue because every Republican politician has used this
issue to get Evangelicals to vote for them but rarely anything
changes. The difference is Trump is no
politician and has brought more change to the Pro-Life movement than
all the Republican presidents combined. He did not just talk the
talk but walked the walk.
"Rescue
those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let
them die. Don't try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn't
know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he
knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds!"
(Proverbs 24: 11-12, TLB)
"You created all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me
together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully
complex. Your workmanship is marvelous and how well I know it. You
were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion. You saw me
before I was born and scheduled all the days of my life before I
began to breathe. How precious are your thoughts towards me Oh Lord.
I cannot even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards
me and when I wake up in the morning, you are still thinking about
me!" (Psalm 139:13-18, TLB)
The Lord said to me, "I knew you before you were formed within your
mother's womb; before you were born I sanctified you and appointed
you as my spokesman to the world." (Jeremiah 1:5, TLB)
Just because you hate Trump's personality, are you willing to elect
the most radical pro-abortion ticket of Harris-Biden?
You may say to yourself, "As a Pro-Life person, I am not going to
vote for either of them!"
What do you think happens then if all Evangelical Christians took
that approach?
I will tell you what will happen!
You will get the Biden-Harris ticket
where the slaughter of the unborn will continue.
On the other hand, give Trump 4 more years and see the changes that
will come to the life of the unborn.
You can do that with your vote! Don't waste your vote and sit out
this election as some Evangelicals who resist
Trump want you to do.
Trump has been the advocate for the
unborn because he had neither allegiance to establishment
Republicans or Democrats who hate his guts.
There are a lot of other things Trump has accomplished but all of
them would mean nothing to me if he did not do everything he could
for the unborn. The Pro-Life issue pertaining to the unborn is the
main reason, that I am voting for Trump
again.
You can do that too with your vote and protect the unborn!
In a week, I don't know if the Lord will be pleased to give
Trump another 4 years or will remove
him from power.
"For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from
God. He promotes one and deposes another." (Psalm 75:6-7, TLB)
Does that mean Trump will win again in 2020?
That is up to the Lord! If the Lord wants him to win, he will win.
If the Lord wants him to lose, he will lose. Whatever the outcome,
He allows it for His purposes. I hope it would please the Lord to
allow him to win because of many of his polices especially regarding
the unborn and religious freedom, but that is up to the Lord.
I know that I have to do my part and leave the results in the Lord's
hands.
Will you join me in voting for Trump to protect the unborn?
It is important to remember that voting for
Trump does not mean you approve of his personality. It means
you approve of his policies.
What do I say to those that say that Trump is a con-artist who is
duping the Evangelical community to get their votes as a wolf in
sheep's clothing?
Actions speak louder than words for me. I see what
Trump has done for the unborn!
Even if Trump has been doing everything
for his selfish gain including pleasing the Evangelical community
with his policies, I am reminded of the Scripture passage that talks
about the Gospel going out.
"Some, of course, are preaching the Good News because they are
jealous of the way God has used me. They want reputations as
fearless preachers! And some preach to make me jealous,
thinking that their success will add to my sorrows here in jail! But
whatever their motive for doing it, the fact remains that the Good
News about Christ is being preached, and I am glad." (Philippians
1:15, 17-18, TLB)
In the same way, whatever people say Trump's
motives are, the fact of the matter is that
Trump has been the most vocal protector
of the unborn and advocate for Evangelical Christians.
Trump claims to be a non-demoninational
Christian who is surrounded by Evangelical leaders. Sadly, his
personality does not seem to reflect that many times. But then I am
reminded of myself when people have questioned me and say,
"And you are supposed to be a Christian and if
that's what being a Christian is, I don't want to have any part in
it."
In essence, what they are saying is those that claim to be a
Christian should have a certain type of aurora. In a way, they are
right. If we say we are Christians, we need to live as Christ did
imitating him. Sadly, we give more into the flesh than we give into
the Spirit! Hence, we fail so many times. When I do that, I pray
Romans 7 and am comforted by Romans 8.
"Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh!"
When it comes to personality and what a person believes in, I have
learned so much from Pastor Josh when
he reminded me that there are Christians that believe a lot of
things that are not biblical such as evolution, pro-choice, gay
marriage, etc but this is where discipleship is so much important.
I know that Trump needs a lot of
discipleship to change his 74 years of behavior but I am also an
ardent believer that the Lord can continue to use a broken vessel
like him too for His purposes as His policies reflect Biblical
policies especially when it comes to the Pro-Life issue, etc.
What gives me hope is when I see glimpses of Trump's heart towards
God when he prays!
Trump
said, "Every family who lost a loved one... I just want to say an
extra-special prayer," "I want to give my warmest sympathies to the
families that have lost someone, and I've lost many friends....We
know that God hears our prayers, we have no doubt about it. He's
always with us and he'll always help us to overcome this
challenge...I just want to thank everybody and I want to thank God
for working miracles, and I ask God for the wisdom and grace to lead
our country and to lead it at the top level..." (Trump
prays for 'wisdom and grace' to lead country in call with
Evangelical leaders, Caleb Parke)
Recently, Trump also shared with
'Religion News Service', "It was amazing
to see so many great Americans who reached out and said they were
praying for me and my family. This country is full of wonderful
people with strong faith in God. Melania and I felt the prayers of
Americans from all across the country--and even around the world.
When I was at Walter Reed, I said, "There were miracles coming down
from heaven." I meant it - Melania and I are very thankful to God
for looking out for our family and returning us to good health."
Even one of our dear pastors from India was praying for
Trump's recovery.
We all may not have all the characteristics that we abhor in
Trump regarding his personality but we
have sins in our own lives that are still bad in the eyes of the
Lord. We need the Lord's help to build our lives upon!
In closing, I want to say, "Unless the Lord
builds the house, our toiling is in vain!" (Psalm 127:1, TLB)
Trump will only win if the Lord allows him to win! Let us do our
part and vote for him leaving the results in the Lord's precious
hands!
Reddy's Right Rhetoric takes you into the
world of accepting family without approving behavior, putting
policies over personality and accepting policies without approving
personality.