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How do politics and our belief systems interact, or do they? It doesn't take long for me to come to a conclusion. God's work in changing me happens in everyday life. It touches me in every aspect of life, including how I do or do not involve myself in politics or the process that goes with it. It is a part of life that in some way touches me. So how do I respond to that? The answer is that I must decide what the candidates stand for and believe and then see how that aligns with what I think. I can't see myself voting for or supporting someone who doesn't have similar or, in many cases, antithetical beliefs. That does not make sense to me. So the work God is doing in me affects how I interact in the political world.

Having established that rationale, I move to a criticism being laid at the feet of Christians. We are being told in this political realm that we are divisive because we tend to buck the progressive movement, to stand up against an ideology that was once called sin. There is even a name given to us for making such stands, "Christian Nationalist." That means we are trying to push our beliefs on everyone, even though many have different opinions. Many of these beliefs were long held to be moral and ethical beliefs accepted by most people within the United States, whether they were Christian or not. The idea of morality and ethics is quickly vanishing and at a breakneck pace. Now immorality is being pushed on us who have convictions to the contrary.

This struggle has continued since sin entered the human race back in the garden. But for our present dilemma, I think the driving force started when (1) Some in the Church decided that the Word of God was not really all it was cracked up to be. (2) Evolution became accepted as the norm. It explained that things were changing and that there were no unchangeable standards of right and wrong. In reality, there is no ethics or morals because there is no one to set them. We can make them anything we want because we don't have to answer to a God that does not exist.

This explains why the crime rate has skyrocketed. There is no standard of right and wrong, so why should we worry about the consequences that obviously don't exist. We have been used to expecting Chicago to pile up a lot of murders over the weekends. Still, now Billings, Montana, a place we used to feel relatively safe in, has a significant increase in violence, including homicide.

Let's take it another step, and we can also understand that herein is also a driving force in the suicide rate. If there is no God and no one in control, then there is also very little "hope." Some believe that we (man) can figure it out, and many people with big egos think that, and I'm not one of them. But I do believe that God is in control and has a plan going forward even amid all this calamity.

Here is one verse that can give hope. II Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." This is God speaking and promising that there is a way to heal our land. It is not by might, politics, or high intelligence; it is by humbling ourselves and bowing before God. Praying and asking for His divine intervention. Seeking Him and all He is and wants to be in the individual life. Allowing Him to be God. And finally, turning away from all sin plagues us as individuals and as a nation. We are fooling ourselves into thinking we can figure this all out on our own. God is more than capable, and He wants to save you as an individual throw faith in Jesus Christ. And He can heal this nation to become one that honors and testifies to Him.

In putting this together, I believe that as a Christian, I have the privilege to vote and an obligation. Yes, God will work it all out, but shouldn't I support and vote for people who most are in tune with what I believe. Should I not vote for those who most resemble the nature and character of God? That is not being divisive!

Pastor Lynn Rettig

Musselshell Community Bible Church