Some very general observations about the values we associate with God's will in the political realm in the light of Luther's Small Catechism

Sometimes we Christians associate particular causes or candidates with God's agenda. We need to be very careful when we do that. As we'll see below, the Second Commandment warns us, among other things, against saying things in God's Name which God does not say. We misrepresent God when we do that, and misrepresenting God is a serious matter.

We do not, it is true, elect public officials to be our pastors. But when we identify a politician or a political movement with the agenda of God's Kingdom, though, we would be well advised to be very conscious of exactly what values we are associating with it.

Abortion is an important issue. The attitude we, as a society, take toward human life, especially at its most vulnerable point, doesn't simply say a great deal about us as a society. It plays a major part in determining what sort of society we're going to be.

I agree with and even applaud those in the Missouri Synod and elsewhere not only among my fellow Lutherans and fellow Christians but among my fellow citizens generally who place importance on a political figure's position on abortion because, as Luther put it in the Small Catechism,

The Fifth Commandment
You shall not murder.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.

But I'll say this again: what we say in God's Name and how we represent His agenda is important, too. God is Truth. He does not lie. Lies have another father. As Luther put it,

The Second Commandment
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

We all break the Commandments. Judging politicians by their success in avoiding temptation is not only unwise but presumptuous. But falling into temptation is one thing: yielding to it willingly and habitually, in such a manner as to openly reject God's commands and rebel against Him is another. So we also need to consider the other Commandments, and not just the Fifth, in comparing a human political agenda with God's, and in what we imply about Him and His requirements when we do so. We all yield to temptation at times. When we sin, we repent. So we should be wary of judging people too harshly because at one time or another they have failed to keep this one:

The Sixth Commandment
You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

That's especially true since Jesus said that even a lustful look violates it. Even so, marriage vows are a sacred thing, and human beings are not objects to be used but beings created in the image of God to be cherished, honored, and respected, all the more so when we are united to them in the most basic governmental unit in God's Kingdom of the Left Hand, holy matrimony.

Not only in our private lives but also in the business world and certainly in our conduct in public office, another kind of honesty is also important.

The Seventh Commandment
You shall not steal.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

It isn't simply that our leaders serve as examples for all of us, including our children. We have not only the right but the obligation to expect that those responsible for the affairs of the government and the economy behave in an honorable and straightforward matter with the worldly things with which they are entrusted.

Truth is important, and especially for those in government, bearing false witness is a serious failing. We ought not to lie about others. We ought not to misrepresent what they do and say. We ought not to make up "facts" to suit our needs of the moment, and we certainly ought to admit our mistake when something we say is shown to be incorrect rather than doubling down. It's important to living a life that bears witness to God's truthfulness and love that we heed His commandment in such things.  It's well for us to beware of political leaders who lie about others and especially those who habitually and often without basis attack the character those who disagree with them or criticize them. As Luther explains it,

The Eighth Commandment
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way

Using the law to take something that rightfully belongs to another is not God's way. In the numbering of the Commandments Lutherans, Catholics, and certain other Christians use, not only the Seventh Commandment but also the Ninth and the Tenth forbid this,

The Ninth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.

The Tenth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

All of us violate the Ten Commandments every day. None of us has any room for looking down on others for breaking them. At the same time, when we identify the Kingdom of God with a certain political figure or movement, we do well not to become so fixated on one Commandment that we lose sight of the others.

The Fifth Commandment is important. But it is not the only Commandment. God is serious about all ten Commandments, and we would do well to consider whether we are really standing for the values we are called to stand for when we seize on one Commandment and ignore what the causes we identify with God's cause imply for the others as well.

No, our political leaders are not called to be our pastors. But they are called to be honorable examples and to perform the duties in the Kingdom of the Left Hand- the area of laws and rules and governments- to which they have been called with honor and with honesty, and not only to enforce our laws but to provide us with an example in living lives of respect for and obedience to the law. We fail in our duty as Christian voters when for the sake of advancing this or that commendable and God-pleasing policy or opposing this or that public injustice, we allow our perspective to become so distorted that we are willing to tolerate and even excuse dishonesty, lawlessness, and reckless disregard for God's will and for the duties incumbent upon those called to serve as His representatives in this world to be ignored or flaunted by the rulers and leaders who, under our system of government, are accountable to us.

We are obliged before God to hold them accountable, not only for the sake of God's will and God's honor and for the temporal well-being of our neighbor, but because when we are seen to identify leaders who fail in this regard with the cause of God's kingdom because of their position on abortion or other social issues we bring Him and the Gospel into disrepute and drive people for whom Christ died away from Him.

And not least do we drive the very leaders whose cynical and hypocritical injustice we ignore or even excuse for the sake of achieving even a worthy and God-pleasing political objective from the possibility of repentance. We owe it not least to them to hold them accountable if we are going to identify their cause with that of the Kingdom of God.