HOW DOES A "CHRISTIAN" ACT?

This story of Katherine Harris saying her opponent, incumbent Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) "doesn't act like a Christian" would be ridiculous if it weren't indicative of the attitudes of so many evangelicals.

One of the cardinal tenets of the evangelical faith is the "priesthood of the believer." That means that the Holy Spirit instructs each individual Christian in how to interpret the Scriptures, how to believe, how to think, how to behave. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity that begins with "God the Father, God the Son ..." It is our "still, quiet voice," our conscience. The concept of the "priesthood of the believer" that separates evangelicals from Catholics, the notion that people of the Christian faith need no earthly priest to tell us how or what to believe, that we are to rely directly on God to do so. We are also, because because being human we are not perfect interpreters of that voice, cautioned to test our private revelations by whether they align with the Scriptures.

That is why there are differences among Christians about how to apply Christian teachings to public policy, and which Scriptures to emphasize in doing so.

The James Dobsons of the world, who profess to be evangelicals (as does Katherine Harris), inexplicably belie that tenet by suggesting or declaring that "Christians" all align with the same public policies, and if you don't, you're simply NOT a "Christian" by their measure.

I loved Bill Nelson's response to Harris's accusation:

Nelson issued a statement this week, saying, "My faith is the essence of my being. But it is a part of my life I don't feel I should try to take advantage of in the public square."

Somehow Harris has forgotten the Biblical admonition, "When you pray, don't be like the Sadducees who stand in the public square praying, so that men will look at them and see how pious they are. But when you pray, go into your private closet and pray to God, who sees you and listens."

Tags: Katherine Harris, Bill Nelson