One of the takeaways from this election is the message of the gospel and the life of the messenger must be one and the same. I heard from many Christians across America that they could not support Trump because of his personality or character flaws. Many other Christians were willing to overlook personality or character issues, and voted to support the platform. Both groups agreed that the platform of the Republican party were far more aligned with Biblical values. One group rejected the platform because of the life of the messenger. The other group said that “pride does not kill millions of unborn babies,” and they thought it unfathomable to vote for anyone supporting abortion.
God has called the church to preach the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul was very concerned about the message of the gospel and the life of the messenger. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, he wrote, “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” He did not want anything in his life interfering with the preaching of the gospel message.
In Titus 2:9-10, he encouraged bond-slaves to be subject to their masters, be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of our Savior in every respect.” Again, he did not want the life of these slaves to contradict or hinder the message of the gospel.
In Philippians 1:27, Paul wrote, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…” The way that we conduct ourselves, in speech and in lifestyle, needs to be in alignment with the message of the gospel. If we want the world to accept the gospel message, they need to see us living the gospel message.