As we explained in a previous post, Joshua One is written by two “Evangelical Independents.” I wouldn’t be surprised if blogger Mark Daniels would also be happy to accept that label. I enjoy Daniels’ observations on politics and other topics and recommend his Better Living blog.

Daniels, a native Ohioan and founding pastor of Friendship Lutheran Church in Amelia, Ohio, has been writing Better Living for more than four years. Daniels is one of those bloggers (how do they do it?) who posts to his blog every single day. I read through the past two months of posts and found that Daniels is drawn primarily to four topics:

* Religion: Daniels has the interesting practice of posting notes during the week as he works on his sermon for Sunday;
* Sports: Daniels is an Ohio State grad and Buckeyes booster, as well as Cincinnati Reds fan;
* Rock music: Daniels is a Beatles fan, as I am – not unusual, since we are both in our early 50s.
* and Politics.

Daniels also shares his political insights on a Christian political blog, RedBlueChristian. Nowhere in the writings I’ve seen at RBC or Better Living has Daniels identified himself with either the Republican or Democratic parties. Perhaps he is a fellow independent; if he has an affiliation, he isn’t revealing it. In one post he proclaims: “Jesus is Not a Republican … [or] a Democrat.”

He writes:

Theologically, I would describe myself as being a confessional Lutheran with a reverential attitude toward Scripture that some might say is conservative. (I would agree with them.) But I loathe the Pharisaic politics of people like Jerry Fallwell, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson. They don’t represent my views theologically…or politically.

I’m generally opposed to the politicization of the Gospel which leads, almost inevitably, to an idolatry of ideology that subordinates Jesus Christ to a particular political agenda. This is as much a problem on the Christian Left as it is on the Right which is why, while acknowledging that Jim Wallis is a bright guy, I don’t like his political ministry either.

With rare exceptions, I don’t believe it’s possible to draw straight lines from Biblical faith to specific political ideas. That’s why, unless I feel that the Bible leads to a clear perspective, I almost never comment on political issues.

From those remarks it is obvious that Daniels is not trying to make friends among the Religious Right. However, Daniels wrote the above to express his shock that Slate magazine recently described him as a “liberal” blogger. Perhaps, like Rod Heggy and myself, Daniels would embrace the label “Evangelical Independent.”

Despite his claim that he “almost never comments on political issues,” Daniels does write often about politics, and I enjoy what he has to say. For example, while almost everyone seems to have accepted as a foregone conclusion that Hillary Clinton has the Dem’s 2008 nomination sewn up, Daniels predicts Clinton will not be that party’s nominee. Instead, Daniels names Birch Bayh III from Indiana as the most likely Democrat torchbearer. If Bayh gets the nod two years hence, Daniels will look like a political genius.

Daniels also wrote an interesting piece evaluating Barack Obama’s qualifications for the presidency at this stage in his political career. Daniels correctly notes that the most common qualifier for the presidency is not legislative experience but having served as governor. That point applies not only to Obama, but to Clinton. (Although a first lady who worked as partner to a governor and a president and then became a senator in her own right is unprecedented. One could argue that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified presidential candidate to come along in years).

One of Daniels’ comments above is particularly profound: “With rare exceptions, I don’t believe it’s possible to draw straight lines from Biblical faith to specific political ideas.” I believe every Christian, as a free citizen, has the right to express his opinion on political issues. However, many Christians go too far when they confuse their own political views with “the gospel truth.” As Daniels says, there are no clear Biblical instructions on many of the political questions that confront us.

• We are EVANGELICALS: theologically conservative.

• We are INDEPENDENTS: not Republicans or Democrats, not members of the “religious right” or “progressive left.”

• We are NOT MODERATES: we do have strong beliefs on the issues, and we do not seek the center ground.

• We are NOT COMPELLED TO BE ALIGNED with any political group; our goal is to align our political beliefs with the teachings of Christ and the Bible.

• We are OPEN-MINDED: we listen with respect to those with whom we disagree. Indeed, the two of us often disagree with each other.

* * * * *

Thanks to Andy Jackson at Smart Christian for linking to this post.

Chuck Colson voices strong disagreement with Pastor Greg Boyd’s decision not to lead his church in political activism. Here’s our original post on Boyd: “Pastor Says No…” Here’s Colson’s opinion: “Speak Out or Give In.” Colson writes:

Life issues, you see, go to the very heart of the Gospel, which is why the first-century Church cared so passionately. And we can do no less today. The Church does not just have the right to speak about it; it has the duty to do so.

Colson cites early Church teachings denouncing abortion, but I think he misses the issue at hand as illustrated by Boyd: Should pastors, congregations and denominations focus on political activism, or should they focus on equipping the saints and then leave political activism to individual believers as they express their faith?

Two interesting articles about churches being involved in politics.

The first is a New York Times article about the pastor of a Minneapolis megachurch who preached that he would not lead his church in political activism, because he does not believe politics is the solution. As a result, about 1,000 conservative Christians among his 5,000 attenders stopped coming. From the article:

He preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns. “When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”

The second is a blog post at RedBlueChristian on the above by theology professor Scot McKnight, who basically applauds the minister’s position. Scot writes:

Each person [church member] is responsible to decide where he or she stands. If we educate, we permit others to make up their minds; if we indoctrinate, we don’t. Churches that align themselves with one party indoctrinate; churches that follow Jesus remain politically independent and gain a hearing for a prophetic stance. But, if we educate, we permit folks to make up their minds — and that means within local churches some will find abortion important and others war and yet others the poor and still others the economy. If your church cares about only one, there is indoctrination. If it has a variety of folks, there is education and there is responsibility being left on the shoulders of local Christians to make up their own mind.

Let me fill you in on two important Christian blogs: SmartChristian.com and RedBlueChristian.com. SmartChristian is one of the most popular blogs in the Christian blogosphere, drawing 3,000 visitors a day. RedBlueChristian is brand new, just launched 11 days ago.

Dr. Andrew Jackson

Both blogs are hosted by Dr. Andrew Jackson. Jackson, ordained in the Evangelical Presbyterian church, has multiple seminary degrees and has written several books. He serves on the ministry staff of Word of Grace Church in Mesa, Arizona. Meanwhile, he is the sole writer of SmartChristian, which has been described as “the Christian Instapundit” (Instapundit is one of the top-ranked blogs in the world).

This month Jackson launched RedBlueChristian, a group blog on politics from a Christian perspective, written by 23 contributors from a broad range of Christian and political viewpoints. One reason I’m mentioning RedBlueChristian now is that Dr. Jackson has invited me to be one of those contributors, and I have agreed.

SMARTCHRISTIAN.COM has been on our blogroll for some time. Check it out and I think you’ll enjoy it. Many of Andy’s posts are just a sentence long, with a link to some gem found elsewhere on the web. Like many of you, I don’t have time to look at several dozen websites a day to keep up with all that is being discussed out there, so I appreciate SmartChristian for pointing me to some of the best information each day. Andy’s main topics include U.S. politics, the Middle East, church and theology, a lot about the emergent church movement (more than I think that “movement” deserves) – and, of course, blogs and blogging.

REDBLUECHRISTIAN.COM was just launched on July 18. Its 23 contributors include:

• Dr. Jackson

• Dr. Scot McKnight, writer of the popular Jesus Creed blog, and professor at North Park University, Chicago

• Dr. John Mark Reynolds, a philosopher at Biola University and one of the most respected Christian bloggers in the blogosphere.

• Joe Carter, writer of The Evangelical Outpost, voted Best Religious Blog in the 2005 Weblog Awards.

Not all of RedBlueChristian’s contributors are profs and pastors – others are in real estate, insurance, communications, anthropology, and one homemaker/homeschool teacher.

Jackson explained the idea behind RBC in his inaugural post:

We believe that our biblical faith should inform our political engagement, and not be artificially separated from it. The purpose of the RedBlueChristian.com is to provide Christian bloggers — whether Conservative RedChristians or Progressive BlueChristians — the same blog space to post, discuss, and debate essential and important issues related to the Kingdom of God and American politics. We desire to promote a healthy biblical approach to politics as opposed to the adversarial “us” vs. “them” stance…

One reason for the timing of the RedBlueChristian launch, says Jackson, is to have the blog in full swing for the 2008 presidential election.

I recommend your perusal of both blogs.