Liberal or Conservative?

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Question: Dear Scripturists, Are you liberals or conservatives?

Answer: “Liberal” and “conservative” are not Biblical labels that we can prove are good or bad with the commands of God.

I am called to be liberal in my giving (2 Corinthians 9:13) but not in my doctrine.

I am called to conservative and “stand firm and hold to the teachings” which the Apostles “passed on” to us. (2 Thessalonians 2:15) but I am not called to be conservative and hold to the “traditions of men.” (Matthew 7:8)

The idea that liberals are progressive and conservatives are traditional is what makes me avoid both terms. I hold to the traditions of the Apostles and Prophets (1 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 2:20 & 3:5) from the Word while at the same time I am very progressive in how I obey the Word of God which they gave us by “becoming all things to all men.” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Which am I, a liberal or conservative?

What was Jesus? When it came to following the Law he was very conservative. (Matthew 5:17-18) When it came to the traditions of men he was very liberal and bucked their man-made traditions. To the Pharisees Jesus was a flaming liberal who healed on the Sabbath (Mark 3:2) and didn’t wash his hands before he ate. (Matthew 15:2) To the Sadducees he was a rabid conservative who naively believed in angels, demons, man’s soul, an afterlife, judgment and the resurrection of the dead. To both groups he was a radical who didn’t believe people became blind and poor as punishment for their sins or the sins of their parents. (John 9:2-3) And even his own disciples thought he was and extremist when taught that you can’t divorce your wife unless she committed fornication. (Matthew 19:9-10)

Though there were times he did keep some traditions in order not to cause unnecessary offence. (See Matthew 17:27) His normal practice was to buck man-made tradition in order to ward off hypocrisy and teach about the true meaning of the Word of God. There were times he would offend people to show that they were blind guides. (Matthew 15:12-14). And there where time he would heal the lame or save the lost rather than not offend some legalist’s opinion of right and wrong based upon things they added to the Word of God. In fact, when they allowed man-made tradition to trump mercy, healing, or salvation, it made him angry. (Mark 3:5)

This meant that Jesus consistently rebuked the lack of sincerity and complete obedience to the weightier matters of the law of the doctrinally conservative Pharisees (Matthew 23:23). And he also was consistently rebuking the lack of trust in the Word of God or faith in the power of God by the doctrinally liberal Sadducees (Matthew 22:29).

Jesus was an equal opportunity offender. So we see Jesus as holding unswervingly to the Word of God but being very progressive and often, but not always, breaking the traditions of men. These traditions, which the Pharisees and Sadducees held on par with the Word of God, were often used by them to supersede obedience to the word of God. (Mark 7:13) But Jesus kept the whole Law without fault. (Hebrews 4:15)

Jesus didn’t fit in with the liberals or the conservatives. He wouldn’t let zealots make him King. (John 6:15) He wouldn’t let the Sadducees Priests continue to turn the “house of God” into a “den of robbers.” (Luke 19:46-47) He mocked the Pharisees religiosity without compassion, mercy, justice or faithfulness. (Matthew 23:23) He rebuked the government leaders like Herod. (Luke 13:32) He taught government employees to repent of injustice. (Luke 18:13 & 19:9) His own family said he was crazy. (Mark 3:21) He cast a legion of demons into pigs that farmers shouldn’t even have been keeping according to the Law. (Luke 8:33 & Deuteronomy 14:8) He reached out to Samaritans (John 4:9) but was ultimately rejected by them (Luke 9:52-53) and every one else (Luke 23:21). All the liberal and conservative groups conspired together against him and put him to death. (Mark 3:6 & Mark 12:13)

Therefore, to this faithfulness to the word of God with rejection of human traditionalism, to this obedience to will of the Father over the will of men, to this hate for sin with a love for sinners, to this sincerity in religion with rejection of religious pretensions and to this zeal for the “house of God” while receiving persecution from the religious traditionalists, we are called.

My problem with liberals is not that they are progressive in styles or methods but that they don’t hold firmly to Biblical doctrine and apostolic tradition. They are more upset that their church is not using the latest music styles in worship than the fact that some of our leaders have compromised on the method of accepting Jesus Christ and how you are saved.

My problem with conservatives is that they are not conservative out of a love for God’s Word but a love for tradition of all kinds and especially their own. They are conservative for conservatisms sake. They are more upset that someone introduced drums in the worship service than the fact that the majority of people in their church (including them) have not tried to share the gospel with one person this year.

So I am not a liberal or a conservative. I am a follower of Jesus.

The question is not are we liberal or conservative. The question is: Are we lovingly faithful to the pattern of sound teaching revealed in the Word of God?

Philippians 3:17 “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

2 Timothy 1:13 “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus said in Luke 11:28 ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."