"How Well Do You Know Your Candidate?"

February 1, AD2012

The Presidential Campaign

How Well Do You Know Your Candidate?

Frank Allnutt

Imagine a court room trial in which the judge asks the accused: “How do you plead?—guilty or not guilty?”

The Accused: “I plead not guilty, your Honor; I’m innocent!”

Judge: “Well, if you say so. Case dismissed. You are free to go.”

As ridiculous as that scenario is, it is happening in the “trials” of the minds of millions of Christians who are deliberating over which candidate to choose for President of the United States in the coming November election. Many already have judged the candidates and are indicating their choices in state primaries and caucuses. I don’t know about you, of course, but I hope you’re not like the above judge.

For a candidate to be a Christian might not be a deciding issue to some Christians, but to many others it is an uncompromising requirement.

So can you know—really know—if a candidate is a Christian?

“Well, he says he’s a Christian,” some might answer, “and that’s good enough for me.”

Is that not every bit as ridiculous as the judge cited above?

What this Christian fails to take into account is that, in vetting a candidate for President, there might be some candidates who regard themselves a Christian, but they are not. And that can be misleading to voters. On the other hand, a candidate might say he is a Christian, knowing full well he is not, but lies about it to deceive Christians to get their votes.

The Bible speaks of several kinds of false Christians.

Jesus said: “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).

A “false Christ,” by definition, is a imposter of Jesus Christ, who attempts to deceive others into believing and following himself, instead of Jesus.

In the letters of the apostle John in the Bible, the writer gives a name to a particular kind of false Christ: “antichrist”:

Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen” (1 John 2:18a. Capitalization and italics are mind to distinguish the end time person of the Antichrist from the many antichrists who will precede him).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world (1 John 4:1-4).

So the Bible warns us about false Christs or antichrists, as well as false prophets (which are false teachers as well as false prognosticators). And because they say they are “the real thing,” gullible Christians believe them. “After all,” such Christians recklessly reason, “if a person says he is a Christian, talks like a Christian, and appears to walk like a Christian, then surely he is a Christian. Besides, I kinda like what he says.”

Jesus warns us against hasty assessment based on superficial appearance and insufficient evidence:

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:15-23).

Think about this:

They call Jesus “Lord.”

They prophesy in the name of Jesus.

They cast out demons.

They perform miracles.

Aren’t those men obviously believers?

Wouldn’t many pastors drool to have such men in their congregations?

Wouldn’t TV evangelists covet getting such guests on their shows?

Christian publishers would be in a bidding war for their books.

Can you imagine one such man entering the race for the U.S. Presidency?

Jesus isn’t fooled by such men. He said they are false prophets; they are lawless (literally godless). And that there will be many of them.

Jesus knew more about those men than the crowds who followed them. Or that many Bible-readers fail to see.

Let’s take a second look at what Jesus said.

False prophets appear as sheep on the outside, but “inwardly are ravenous wolves.” In broader terms, some who profess to be Christians might not be Christians. Which is why Jesus teaches us to look beyond the fruit of their words and works to the tree from which it sprouts. So we are to consider the fruit, but also the fruit’s branch, the branch’s tree, and the tree’s roots. (Paul wrote of the spiritual symbolism of the two trees in Romans 11:16-25).

A false prophet is an unregenerate natural man of Adam’s family tree. A true Christian was once a natural man, but was cut from Adam’s tree and grafted into Christ’s family tree.

Jesus also rebuked the some Pharisees He encountered. The perception of the false prophets was that they could make themselves look good. Jesus stated that false perception as: "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit" (Matthew 12:33. Then He tore into them: "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good reassure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it to the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned" (verses 34-37).

But what if a Christian can see only a person’s fruit but not the branch or the tree or the roots? How can he discern if a person is with Jesus (godly) or against Jesus (ungodly)? (Matthew 12:30).

Well, if could be that they simply need to look and hear more diligently. Or, it could be that the person’s heart is not conditionally “right with God.” If not, it’s no wonder why they don’t see well with the eyes of their heart and cannot hear well with the ears of their heart. It's no wonder they are mislead by lies, deceptions, and fantasies.

You see, if a person’s heart is not right with God, the Bible says such a Christian is fleshly and has a divided heart—a heart that is conditionally and functionally divided by sin, soul part from spirit part. Such a Half-Hearted Christian is self-centered and not Christ-centered. He is out of step with the indwelling Spirit of Christ, and walks a fleshly path that is littered with lies, deceptions, and fantasies.

Now, if a person’s heart is indeed right with God he issaid to be spiritual or wholehearted. His heart’s soul and spirit are functionally united by love (not divided by sin), and is in harmony with the indwelling Spirit of Christ. This Whole-Hearted Christian walks in love and in truth (2 John 4-6), because he walks with God, who is love (1 John 4:8), and with Jesus, who is the truth (John 14:6).

When a person’s heart is right with God, they begin experiencing the reality of the promise of Jesus, that “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). They begin seeing with greater focus and hearing with greater clarity with the eyes and ears of their heart. They also discover a deeper and more satisfying new dimension to their prayer life, and in discerning and doing God’s will.

There is a logistical down side to all of this, and it has to do with you and the campaign for President. Because you probably don’t have the opportunity to really get to know your candidate, you are at a disadvantage to see much beyond his fruit. What about the branch, the tree, and the roots?

Is it wise to go ahead and vote for him anyway?

Maybe you like his views on politics, the economy, or certain “social issues.”

But consider this: If you are uncertain he is truly a Christian, you might run the risk of voting for someone who is a Christian In Name Only (CINO), or a false Christ, or a false prophet, or an antichrist, or (gulp) possibly even the Antichrist.

However, if you are convinced your candidate is a true Christian, then it’s a slam-dunk vote, right?

Well, not exactly. What if your Christian candidate is, or becomes, half-hearted? Potentially, he could do more harm as President than an unbeliever might!

To be continued...
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Recommended reading: The Whole-Hearted Christian, by Frank Allnutt

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. (New American Standard Version of the Bible) unless otherwise indicated. For more information, please see Legal and Acknowledgments.

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