Will Mitt Romney win the Presidency?

Ideology versus Pragmatism

 

          As the Republican primary challenge rolls along, there are two "camps" in the party of the GOP. One leans heavily toward Mitt Romney. While they do not believe he is necessarily the most conservative candidate, they believe he can more easily defeat President Obama in the fall, general election. Another camp leans heavily toward either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich. These are the so-called "non-Romney" voters. Because Romney signed into law "Romneycare" and has changed his positions, these voters do not believe Romney is, at heart, a conservative. The former voters seem to be more pragmatic while the latter seem to be more ideological.

 

          Ideology versus pragmatism. Ideological refers to someone who is deeply committed to a set of ideas and will not waver from those principles. Pragmatism refers to the idea that one needs to do what works, what is successful.

 

          I'll leave the political debate aside. There is also an ideology versus pragmatism debate in Christianity. For example, the New Testament clearly teaches that Christ intended His church to be governed by a local body of men called elders (Philippians 1:1). Early in church history, however, Christians came to believe that the local body was too restrictive to handle the onslaught of false doctrine. While their intentions were good, their pragmatic approach led to them rejecting the plan of God. Thus developed church councils and eventually creeds, the Pope, a one-man pastor system, etc. As you can easily see, "pragmatism" did not stop false ideas from spreading.

 

          We must be very careful in spiritual matters when we take the "pragmatic" approach. When the Israelites complained of thirst in the wilderness (Numbers 20:8-13), God told Moses to "speak to the rock." If Moses had been committed to ideology at that point, he would have obeyed God and been blessed. Instead, Moses went the "pragmatic" route. That is, God had early told Moses, in similar circumstances, to hit the rock (Exodus 17). It worked then, perhaps Moses reasoned, it will work now.

 

          But God always has the prerogative to change His command. This time, God told Moses to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses struck the rock as he did before (Numbers 20:11). Moses' pragmatic approach caused him to sin against God. "You have not believed Me," Jehovah told Moses and subsequently, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land for which he had been living for 120 years.

 

          Pragmatism may be acceptable in politics. But when it comes to Christianity, we better be absolutely sure that God has not revealed His specific will in a given matter before we choose the pragmatic route.

 

--Paul Holland