Liberal vs. Conservative: How Should Your Christian Values Influence Your Vote? | S6 E28

Mary Alessi [00:00:00]:
The world has gotten worse. Here's my question. Has it gotten worse because it's just gotten worse, Or has it gotten worse because we've abandoned absolute truth?

Steve Alessi [00:00:21]:
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the family business with the Alessis. I'm Steve Alessi, and today, I'm with my precious wife, Mary Alessi.

Mary Alessi [00:00:32]:
Yes. Good to be here.

Steve Alessi [00:00:34]:
Yes. Yes. Now we like to get together. We usually talk about family things because family is everybody's business. Right. So but we also take a minute, Mary, when we're together. For not talking about family, we'd like to talk about other things that are more in the culture, in the community, what's going on in society. And we we try to touch those things.

Steve Alessi [00:00:53]:
And on Sunday, we're not always able to do it. So another thing that we like to think about our, family podcast, family business podcast, is that we talk about things here that we don't get to talk about on Sunday.

Mary Alessi [00:01:06]:
That's right.

Steve Alessi [00:01:06]:
And one of those things, because it's such a hot topic, that big button topic,

Mary Alessi [00:01:14]:
right?

Steve Alessi [00:01:14]:
That is politics.

Mary Alessi [00:01:16]:
Yeah. So

Steve Alessi [00:01:17]:
what we're trying to also do is get out of our church and into people's daily lives with our podcast.

Mary Alessi [00:01:22]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:01:23]:
So we're asking on our podcast. The are asking. We've we've started saying the first question more or less was what's gonna sway your politics. Right? Your politics in the sense that who you that's who you're gonna be voting for. Right. It's gonna determine that. We found out that most of it is stuff that has to do with what's going on in the real world. So Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:01:44]:
On a daily basis, these society issues. So then we said, alright. Well, which one of those are really going to weigh in on your decision Yeah. To vote for your next president. So as we're looking through all of this, something occurred to me, and this is where I want our podcast to go today. And I guess I'm gonna play to what would be the majority of, some of our listeners.

Mary Alessi [00:02:14]:
Yeah. That's good.

Steve Alessi [00:02:14]:
And that is that we're we're talking about do does, Christian values, are they really playing a part in how people vote today?

Mary Alessi [00:02:29]:
Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:02:31]:
If they're not, it's okay. Right? If it they're not in the sense that if if you're not really looking at principles that are found in the Bible, that would be important to you. If you're not using those principles to gauge your choice, then just call it what it is. Because here's the issue. We have some people in our society today that are saying, I may and it's a label. Right? Right. And and we're buying into the label because it's a war on with words these days.

Mary Alessi [00:03:07]:
That's all it is.

Steve Alessi [00:03:09]:
We're called either conservative Christians or liberal Christians, or today, it's progressives.

Mary Alessi [00:03:18]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:03:20]:
And Christian nationalists.

Mary Alessi [00:03:21]:
That's it.

Steve Alessi [00:03:22]:
Alright.

Mary Alessi [00:03:23]:
Mhmm.

Steve Alessi [00:03:23]:
And what it seems to be is, I see the big divide between the progressive and the Christian nationalists. I see that divide. I don't necessarily see the divide between people who say I'm a conservative Christian or I'm a liberal Christian. And that probably is the one that they they had to get away from because there's a lot of people that call themselves a Christian in our country

Mary Alessi [00:03:49]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:03:50]:
But don't necessarily embrace Christian values. Right? Sure. So the whole thing about I'm a conservative Christian or I'm a liberal liberal Christian, it's as though we're putting level of degrees Yeah. On one's Christianity. Exactly.

Mary Alessi [00:04:07]:
You're less of a Christian or you're more of a Christian.

Steve Alessi [00:04:10]:
But but people don't even realize that.

Mary Alessi [00:04:12]:
No. They don't.

Steve Alessi [00:04:13]:
But that's what we're saying. That's right. That's that's the black and white issue here that

Mary Alessi [00:04:17]:
Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:04:17]:
If you're gonna say I'm a conservative Christian or I'm a liberal Christian, here's my question. Who determines Right. Those level of degrees? So how liberal can you be as a Christian and still call yourself a Christian?

Mary Alessi [00:04:32]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:04:33]:
Because there's a scripture verse that you would be challenged by in the bible. If you're saying that I can be one way or the other

Mary Alessi [00:04:43]:
Yeah. I

Steve Alessi [00:04:43]:
can and still call myself a Christian. I can be more conservative, which is more close to embracing the Christian values as opposed to being a liberal who is loosely embracing the Christian values. Right?

Mary Alessi [00:04:59]:
Mhmm.

Steve Alessi [00:04:59]:
Because the the verse that you're gonna be challenged by, if that's what you're doing, is where Jesus makes this declaration that, listen. You're either hot or you're cold, and I wish you were 1 or the other Right. Because I can't stomach. My palate cannot handle the lukewarm. Right. The one that's in between. And he actually says, I I can't stomach that, so I spew you out of my mouth.

Mary Alessi [00:05:30]:
That's what the word says.

Steve Alessi [00:05:31]:
So the palate of even our nation right now, there are those who are calling themselves Christians. We we've gotta make sure that when it selves Christians, we we've got to make sure that when it comes to being a Christian, how do we allow Christian values to totally influence our choice for who's gonna run our country in politics?

Mary Alessi [00:05:52]:
Right. It's definitely a difficult place we find ourselves in, and the world is so desperate right now to put labels on us and to divide us, and we feel that more than we've ever felt it in our lifetime. And we know that historically, the battle between politics and Christianity has always raged, always even in Jesus' time. And finding that to think critically as Christians and finding our political views. We've said for so long, we've heard a lot of pastors and preachers and people in on the extreme right say, you can't be a Christian and vote this way.

Steve Alessi [00:06:31]:
Right.

Mary Alessi [00:06:32]:
But yet there are people that vote that way and say, but I am a Christian.

Steve Alessi [00:06:35]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:06:36]:
And I think what you're saying, correct me if I'm wrong, is let's think from this perspective. This is the one area if you're a Christian, but you are more liberal and progressive, which means you are more leaning when you think about the LGBTQ community, it influences your vote. You think about abortion, it influences your vote. You think about illegal immigration, and your perspective is women should have a right to choose. People should have a right to love who they love. It's none of my business. They can do what they wanna do. So that makes me more left leaning, but I am a Christian.

Mary Alessi [00:07:14]:
Well, then I would say, and I think this is what we're saying here today, if you line those thoughts up and those beliefs with God's word, you're gonna have a lot of contradiction there. So don't even say that as a Christian, your Christian values influence your vote. Just completely take that off.

Steve Alessi [00:07:35]:
Take it off.

Mary Alessi [00:07:35]:
Take it out of the out of the messaging and the narrative. Don't be defensive of of I'm a liberal Christian. No. Just say I'm a liberal, and this is the one area of my life

Steve Alessi [00:07:46]:
Yep.

Mary Alessi [00:07:47]:
That Christian principles don't influence me because I look at it from a different perspective. Now here's here's what I wanna make sure people our listeners know. We aren't here judge and jury saying what's right and what's wrong. What we're trying to do in this podcast is to get all of our listeners as well as us to think from a critical perspective. Does that ring true for you?

Steve Alessi [00:08:05]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:08:06]:
Does that make sense? One of the biggest fights we had over the Super Bowl, Steve, was during the campaign, the he gets us campaign. Man, it set the Christian world on fire. The arguments for days

Steve Alessi [00:08:22]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:08:23]:
About that campaign from the Christians, the podcasts were it was it just never stopped.

Steve Alessi [00:08:28]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:08:29]:
Because of the way he gets us, this is a perfect example. They're portraying progressivism as Christianity.

Steve Alessi [00:08:37]:
Yeah. Sadly, I I think I get where this, that campaign I get where they're coming from and what they're trying to do. And, the sad part of that is they can't even try to do it today without there being such infighting amongst those who call themselves Christian.

Mary Alessi [00:08:55]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:08:56]:
Okay?

Mary Alessi [00:08:56]:
Yeah. Because

Steve Alessi [00:08:57]:
the Christian world is the one who got all upset about what message that was trying to portray. I think, ultimately, those that were behind it, these billionaires that were trying to say, let's use our resources to introduce Jesus to a society, They did so in a way that that was leaning more towards a more liberal Very progressive. Progressive Yes. Mindset because society is there. Right. Society is there. So they're having to go there. So good or bad, I don't know.

Steve Alessi [00:09:29]:
Well All I'm saying is that that it's sad because I think they were miss so much was misread about it. It could've it it it did something special. It got the word out. Hopefully, it accomplished its goal, but there's such confusion in our society about what a real Christian is that

Mary Alessi [00:09:47]:
See, I would say it made that confusion worse. Because if you go back and look at that, and it's everything that you're saying today, it is exact I mean, for me right now, even in this podcast booth, it is making complete sense. Like, I feel like I'm getting your revelation that you had this morning when we were on the way. Because the truth of the matter is you can't have Christianity without Christ. You cannot have Christ without we were all sinned. He was crucified to relieve that sin off of us, but we were still all sinners. And you cannot have a campaign about Christ where the depiction is you have sin in your life, but you're not a sinner.

Steve Alessi [00:10:25]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:10:26]:
And that's where the confusion comes.

Steve Alessi [00:10:28]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:10:28]:
Take the take the pressure and the all the light and the shame away from your sin.

Steve Alessi [00:10:35]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:10:36]:
No. So that's why we have this trickle down effect with the next generation thinking Jesus was just a hippie who wore sandals and didn't really care about your sin. Yeah. No. You don't even know the Bible. Mhmm. You don't even know the essence of the crucifixion and the death, hell, and the grave. I mean, we can get deeper into that, but the truth is when that is your what do we call it? That is your worldview Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:11:02]:
But it's not a biblical worldview

Steve Alessi [00:11:04]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:11:04]:
And you call yourself a Christian, there's a lot of confusion there, Steve.

Steve Alessi [00:11:08]:
No. And you're you're this is a sweet spot for you

Mary Alessi [00:11:11]:
Yes.

Steve Alessi [00:11:11]:
For us. This is where we we live. This is where we do our business when it comes to trying to educate our church family with biblical principles.

Mary Alessi [00:11:19]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:11:19]:
Because we know those biblical principles help them establish a better life. And, Mary, so does everybody else. That's right. They that's why they need to put labels on this. So, look, I I grabbed my phone here, and I wasn't, texting. I promise.

Mary Alessi [00:11:33]:
Well, I thought you were for a second. I was like, where

Steve Alessi [00:11:35]:
are you going? Interrupt you. Here's here's what conservative means. It's traditional in style or manner. Traditional in style or manner. It's relating to characteristics of a conservative Jew or Judaism. Alright? Having the power or tendency to conserve or preserve. So when we're calling someone or labeling them a conservative Christian, the reason they're a conservative Christian is because they are trying to conserve the biblical values that were put in place all those years ago.

Mary Alessi [00:12:19]:
Yes.

Steve Alessi [00:12:20]:
We're holding on to those.

Mary Alessi [00:12:21]:
Preserving them.

Steve Alessi [00:12:22]:
We know that they provide

Mary Alessi [00:12:25]:
Yes.

Steve Alessi [00:12:25]:
The best results for living.

Mary Alessi [00:12:27]:
That's right.

Steve Alessi [00:12:28]:
We're not changing up the recipe. We're gonna conserve it. The liberal is one who is open minded or tolerant, especially free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etcetera. So get that. They're not embracing Right. The conservative or early values that the conservative wants to hold on to. They're not conserving the old biblical values. They are changing the values up as they go.

Mary Alessi [00:13:11]:
The tail wags the dog. Yeah. The dog wags the tail. The tail wags the dog. Whatever it is.

Steve Alessi [00:13:15]:
Tail wags the dog. Yeah. They're they're changing it as they go. They they want to progress, so they they think in progression or in their liberal views that they could wink at certain biblical commands. Wink at it means they can look at it and say, hey. That was good for them, but that doesn't really apply for now. And you could take that in every area right now of social issues in politics. You could take that liberal view, and I wanna be so careful here.

Steve Alessi [00:13:50]:
You gotta hit some of these, you know, but, you know, abortion's going to be a major, social issue at play in this. Absolutely. Or or at least the parties are gonna make it.

Mary Alessi [00:14:01]:
Because it's not abortion. It's A woman's right to choose. Right to choose.

Steve Alessi [00:14:04]:
Yeah. So that's going to be a a hot Mhmm. Topic that that is gonna be addressed. Okay. So the conservative Christian says, I go to what the Bible has to say about what abortion really is, which is the taking of a life. And I'm gonna hold on to biblical values that say that every life is special, and God has a plan for every life even before they were ever in the womb. So it's not a matter of trying to determine when that cell becomes a living organism and becomes a child. Right.

Steve Alessi [00:14:44]:
But the liberal approach to that is saying, but that was good for the perfect scenario. But

Mary Alessi [00:14:54]:
The world has changed. It's worse.

Steve Alessi [00:14:56]:
World has changed. It's a different day. Women, they have a right over their own body and all those things that go into it. And they're gonna bring up those issues, like society has now changed what ultimately the plan of God was that was established in his word. That's all changed. So they start to do something called, like, cherry picking. Right. They pick and choose what biblical values they want to embrace, but then the ones that they don't wanna embrace, they discard, so it's not going to, sway the way they view their politics.

Mary Alessi [00:15:33]:
Well, I think it goes back to what you said in the beginning. It's the different degrees of Christianity.

Steve Alessi [00:15:39]:
Hit that for a minute.

Mary Alessi [00:15:40]:
Because so

Steve Alessi [00:15:41]:
Are there any degrees?

Mary Alessi [00:15:42]:
No. There's not. Not according to if you're talking about scripture being preserved as it is. If you don't look at the Bible progressively, the world is worse, that means we have to change the Bible. We don't change communion. Communion hasn't changed. We continue on our our traditions of what the word tells us to do. So when you put on that hat from the part of the Bible that you don't want to change because it works for you, that that's another way to think.

Mary Alessi [00:16:09]:
But when you say I'm a Christian and I have I, obviously, I have daughters, and we've hit that issue, and we've talked about it when they were going through the seasons before they were married and the potential of getting pregnant before they were married. What would we do? What position would we hold? Would would that sway preserving what we believe the word says? That was a tough one to get through, but we value Mhmm. Life regardless of the condition of man, regardless the condition of the world, and regardless the condition of our daughters. Life is precious.

Steve Alessi [00:16:48]:
Okay. So take that another step with those young girls of ours. We encourage them to be virgins, to refrain

Mary Alessi [00:16:56]:
From that.

Steve Alessi [00:16:57]:
From premarital sex

Mary Alessi [00:16:58]:
Exactly. In any form. Exactly. So that's why did we do that?

Steve Alessi [00:17:03]:
Why why did we do that? Because right then, you know, if we say that even saying it, Mary, makes you think, wow, we're so old fashioned. Yeah. But yet, are we old fashioned? Society wants to make us old fashioned. The people that wanna put labels on us

Mary Alessi [00:17:19]:
And tell us that that's impossible to Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:17:21]:
Yeah. Don't do that to your kids.

Mary Alessi [00:17:23]:
Impossible. They can't

Steve Alessi [00:17:24]:
because here's where the liberal viewpoint comes in. They need to you know, it's like they need to test drive the car before they buy it.

Mary Alessi [00:17:33]:
Oh, yeah. That's what people believe.

Steve Alessi [00:17:34]:
They that they believe that about marriage. What marriage who is bracing marriage today? They embrace living together. And even those that call themselves Christian, they're we have it here, and we can't, you know, make somebody feel bad about it, but you gotta get your thought around that. That's a very liberal viewpoint that I can live together as a Christian and not be married. That's a liberal mindset that you bring into your Christian values. But wait a minute. What do you do with the scripture verse that says that sex outside of marriage is is is wrong? It's it's a sin. Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:18:16]:
Now here's why we taught our kids early on That that's the best way to do it. That you hold your your your keep that virginity in place. We told them that it would be a gift that they're gonna give their spouse. That's one thing that world can't take away from you. You gotta hold on to that. And that's a gift that you're gonna give your spouse. We told them that. Because we also knew that when you come to that marital bed and it's undefiled, You have no mental comparison, no pictures that you gotta be struggling with of the way somebody treated you in the past.

Steve Alessi [00:18:49]:
This is the first thing that you and this spouse of yours are able to share together. It's precious. You grow in it. You you you embrace it. You you work on it. It's something that is the 2 of you. We wanted that to be their their immediate because we knew in the future, it was gonna play out so much better for them and their marital relationship. It wasn't just about now

Mary Alessi [00:19:14]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:19:14]:
In the moment. The heated passions. Are you kidding me? Those heated passions can start to flare up, and those things start to take over. It's hard to control that. We understand it. And yet we're asking our girls and our son that before they got married, listen, don't get so romantically involved with your spouse that you allow it to take you there. With your girlfriend or girlfriend. Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:19:39]:
Yeah. With your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Mary Alessi [00:19:41]:
Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:19:41]:
You know, save it for when you really do know what love is about so that you can bring it. Because we knew that in the future it was gonna play out. That's where biblical values really start to show themselves. That's why we say, be careful with this liberal mindset Yes. And labeling yourself a liberal Christian. Embrace the conservative values. Right. Embrace the values.

Steve Alessi [00:20:07]:
Don't put a level level of, well, I'll take the cons the the good ones, but throw out the ones that I don't agree with that are too bad, that don't line up with me. Don't do that Right. Because now you've put leveling degrees on your Christian values, and that doesn't work out in the long run.

Mary Alessi [00:20:23]:
And but but but, Steve, let's be honest here. The world has gotten worse. You're not being realistic.

Steve Alessi [00:20:32]:
Yep. Yep. I gotcha.

Mary Alessi [00:20:35]:
Know what people face out there.

Steve Alessi [00:20:37]:
Mhmm. Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:20:39]:
It's a dark, dark world. You're in a bubble.

Steve Alessi [00:20:41]:
Dark world.

Mary Alessi [00:20:41]:
You're in a bubble. Yes. You just happen to be married.

Steve Alessi [00:20:45]:
Yep.

Mary Alessi [00:20:46]:
You and pastor Mary just have it all together. Yeah. And you don't understand. You are a tiny margin in a tiny margin compared to the rest of the world. And you you have to have more understanding and grace for people who have had to go through these things.

Steve Alessi [00:20:58]:
Yes.

Mary Alessi [00:20:59]:
And I'm not being facetious at all. These are things that we talk about all the time and quite frankly process, pray about, and really analyze because that's true. The world has gotten worse. Here's my question. Has it gotten worse because it's just gotten worse, or has it gotten worse because we've abandoned absolute truth?

Steve Alessi [00:21:20]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:21:21]:
And we continue to abandon absolute truth. And I'm just gonna go on the record and say that he gets his campaign has been horrible.

Steve Alessi [00:21:28]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:21:29]:
I don't I don't find any honestly, I understand. You're you'd nobody needs Jesus excuse me. Let me say this right. Jesus doesn't need anybody to present him to a lost and dying world. He can do that all by himself. Thank you very much. And to have a campaign that say that says, he gets us. Just that makes my skin go.

Mary Alessi [00:21:54]:
He gets us. He made us.

Steve Alessi [00:21:59]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:22:00]:
Let's just keep dumbing this thing down. Let's just keep believing that lie. The world is worse. So you got me started.

Steve Alessi [00:22:07]:
You're getting blotchy.

Mary Alessi [00:22:08]:
I because it's such a lie from the pit of hell, and we've, we've not only accepted the lie, we've adapted to the lie. And now the world looks like the lie. Then you're strangle held, because a new word, you're in a stranglehold with that lie. And then people that are saying, we're gonna hold on to the truth and go back to the original plan in the original system. Yes. It's hard. Yes. There are going to be people that feel like, man, I I blew it.

Mary Alessi [00:22:39]:
You know, going back to virginity for a second Mhmm. And staying a virgin till you're married, nobody should feel guilty that they taught their kids to do that, nor should they feel guilty that they held that watermark for their lives. You should be proud of yourself, and don't let anybody make you feel ashamed. You know why? Because you've made society a better place.

Steve Alessi [00:22:59]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:23:00]:
You weren't a burden on society. You didn't cause chaos to society, nor to yourself, because there's 2 things that will never happen if you stay a virgin. You'll never ever, ever have to have a baby out of wedlock, nor will you ever have to have an abortion.

Steve Alessi [00:23:13]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:23:14]:
Oh, and there's one more thing. You'll never have a STD. Mhmm. Those things will never happen. You're making society a better place. Why do people we're talking about Christians. Yeah. Wanna make other Christians who say, I am embracing an absolute truth, the Word of God.

Mary Alessi [00:23:32]:
I'm not changing it. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, the world is the most enticing place ever. Yes, it would be easy to say, you know what? I'm going to lower my standards because you're right. It's easier to be a progressive Christian.

Steve Alessi [00:23:47]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:23:48]:
It's just easier.

Steve Alessi [00:23:49]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:23:49]:
Not on the back end, it's not. No.

Steve Alessi [00:23:50]:
It's not. No. It's not.

Mary Alessi [00:23:52]:
Because you're you're gonna have some fruit. You do not want it the bitterness of that fruit

Steve Alessi [00:23:57]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:23:58]:
Is not it you're not gonna like the taste of it. So just say and this is this was the the whole revelation in this today. Go ahead and say, I'm going to vote because this is the only time this really comes up.

Steve Alessi [00:24:13]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:24:14]:
As a non Christian, although I am 1, and and be hot or be cold.

Steve Alessi [00:24:22]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:24:23]:
Make a decision. And you know what? Steve and Mary, you're right. I love the Lord. I'm a Christian, but when it comes to voting, I don't apply Christian values because it gets way too down into the weeds for me.

Steve Alessi [00:24:38]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:24:38]:
And I just I just choose to not apply Christian values to my vote.

Steve Alessi [00:24:43]:
Yep.

Mary Alessi [00:24:43]:
At least say that.

Steve Alessi [00:24:44]:
Yeah. And and that's okay.

Mary Alessi [00:24:46]:
And that's okay.

Steve Alessi [00:24:47]:
There's that now I don't I'm not sure the country is gonna be better if we go with anti Christian. Because here's the other part of it, Mary. How many of those liberal Christian views in this gonna stir it up with somebody's gonna offend somebody? How many of those liberal views are actually anti Christian views? Because if you watered down if you watered down something

Mary Alessi [00:25:07]:
Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:25:08]:
Enough, then it no longer has its original taste. We were at hanging out with our guys the other night, our big counseling group, and our counseling group has grown to 20 8, 29 guys Monday night. We had a great time. And one of the brothers that we went to his house, he did a huge it was one of those big paella bowls, pots. And he put he had shrimp in there, He had calamari in there, and he had some other sauce. And he said to me he says, there's no water in this. It's all wine.

Mary Alessi [00:25:38]:
Lordy, Lord.

Steve Alessi [00:25:39]:
He cooked that whole stuff in wine, and it was delicious. Right? Well, if you start adding water to that recipe that has just been pure wine, You start putting water in there, it starts breaking that thing down. And now when it breaks it down, it doesn't have the same results. It doesn't have the same taste.

Mary Alessi [00:25:56]:
So true.

Steve Alessi [00:25:57]:
So is it, like, in in our Christian values, the liberal views that start to water down what is the the the gospel, the the the truth that God gave us to show us this is going to produce a better life for you, kind of life I have planned for you.

Mary Alessi [00:26:15]:
That's right.

Steve Alessi [00:26:15]:
If you start tearing those things down, pulling out truths, and inserting non biblical truths, then is it really pro God? Is it pro Christian? Or is it anti Christian?

Mary Alessi [00:26:30]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:26:30]:
And I believe the trick of the enemy is to try to get in there and make everything that is God anti God.

Mary Alessi [00:26:38]:
Right. Absolutely. Because the word says that there's only one way to the father Mhmm. And that's through Jesus. Yeah. So let's mess with that verse.

Steve Alessi [00:26:46]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:26:46]:
There's many ways to God. Is there? No. Okay. So you can't cherry pick that one

Steve Alessi [00:26:53]:
Mhmm.

Mary Alessi [00:26:54]:
And then decide this one you can modify. Mhmm. You know, we started a beautiful garden. And what you're talking about, watering down the recipe, it all grew. It was beautiful. And And then I'm looking at it. I'm like, well, what do I how do I cut this? How do I keep this going for the next season? What's the longevity of life for this thing? I don't wanna walk out here and eat everything, and then I've got nothing. Well, there is a way that you harvest so that you preserve for the next season.

Steve Alessi [00:27:23]:
Mhmm. And

Mary Alessi [00:27:23]:
if I just went out there with my shears and I started hacking at it and letting the sunshine be the sunshine and the water be the no. I have to make sure I am approaching that from a preservation perspective so that it can last for a long, long time. Now thank God we have grocery stores, but the truth of the matter is when it comes to life issues, you can't afford to change the recipe and water down truth. You can do it, and we're seeing a world where Christians are doing it. But what we see as pastors, and after so many years, how many of them come back waving the white flag of surrender going, I was wrong.

Steve Alessi [00:28:04]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:28:04]:
I was wrong. Yeah. I blew it. Well, thank God, He forgives.

Steve Alessi [00:28:08]:
Yeah. He does.

Mary Alessi [00:28:09]:
And we can pick up right where we left off. But the challenge is right now, whether you're young or whether you're old, if you're battling the thought of watering down the truth of the word Yeah. You're not gonna like where that gets you.

Steve Alessi [00:28:24]:
Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:28:24]:
The taste will not be the same.

Steve Alessi [00:28:26]:
Well, babe, I wanna make sure we can say something here. People are voting, for a number of reasons. I think the majority of it comes down to, our comfort in our own lives, which really comes down to the economy. It does. It's the economy. And they've said that for years. It's the economy, stupid. Stay focused.

Steve Alessi [00:28:48]:
Is your life better off now under this particular, political party, than it was when it was under another political party. Because both political parties have different views of how they take care of society, especially the way they run the the the the country

Mary Alessi [00:29:05]:
The country. Yeah.

Steve Alessi [00:29:05]:
Financially. Right? So it comes down to that most of the time. And I would say, be open. Be honest about that. And if that's really what you are voting for, because some businessmen and women, they're like, you know, this next president, if there's a political party change, it's gonna affect my bottom line of my business and taxation and so forth where I'm at at my my place in life financially. Well, be honest with it. Yeah. That's cool.

Steve Alessi [00:29:32]:
Don't make it about Christian values then.

Mary Alessi [00:29:35]:
Right.

Steve Alessi [00:29:36]:
Vote and and let people know what you're voting for, why you're voting for it. At the same time, if you disagree, if you call yourself a Christian and you choose to be more liberal in your mindset, which is going to embrace a political party that is more progressive, that is liberal.

Mary Alessi [00:29:56]:
That is anti God.

Steve Alessi [00:29:57]:
Okay? Yeah. That is anti God. Yep. And you call yourself a Christian, then don't get mad at Christians who are saying, but I choose to vote my Christian values.

Mary Alessi [00:30:06]:
Yeah. Absolutely.

Steve Alessi [00:30:08]:
Because even if those Christian values step on your toes and you call yourself a liberal Christian, that's kinda like on you. Right. So don't get upset with them for voting their Christian values. Right. Just be very open and honest.

Mary Alessi [00:30:28]:
And objective. Yes.

Steve Alessi [00:30:30]:
It's okay.

Mary Alessi [00:30:30]:
That's right.

Steve Alessi [00:30:31]:
I want to vote this way because it affects my my purse, my my my bank account.

Mary Alessi [00:30:37]:
That's right.

Steve Alessi [00:30:38]:
And that's alright that you do that. Just don't get upset at those who choose to vote for with some other motivation that is a Christian. So Right. We we we wanna end this by saying there really is no conservative Christian or no liberal Christian. No. It's either Christian or not. Yeah. Right? Yes.

Steve Alessi [00:31:00]:
And you have to go and pray if you call yourself a Christian. You have to pray. God, how do you and your word have me vote for this next, leader of the free world? How do you want me to vote?

Mary Alessi [00:31:17]:
And let's not fall prey to the divisiveness of this culture Mhmm. And give ourselves an opportunity to have good, objective, nonemotional conversations with people on both sides and walk away with a sense of I am more mature, and I and I have a little bit more of a level of understanding that politics rarely moves the needle. And I'm not gonna be divisive with people in my family, people that I love over politics. That won't be the thing that divides me. And if we're honest enough with ourselves, we can be honest with each other and pick a side that's not republican or democrat. Pick the side of what are your values. Are they biblical or are they not?

Steve Alessi [00:32:05]:
Yeah. And I would say to some that would call themselves more conservative Christians. If you're a Christian, forget the conservative part. But if you would be labeled as a conservative Christian, then be careful how you treat the non Christian that's out there. Because someone who calls themselves a Christian That's right. Shouldn't be behaving in certain ways that is just so aggressive, so judgmental

Mary Alessi [00:32:33]:
That's right.

Steve Alessi [00:32:34]:
So accusatory. You know? You you've gotta find some some peace and understanding and grace and love, because people are voting for all sorts of reasons. And and may I also say, make sure your lifestyle is backing up what you are are, in a sense, preaching Right. To the other party. Yeah. Because you can't sit there and say, well, we need a strong government. We gotta be careful that we're not, we don't want the government trying to control us, but we want them to be strong. Meanwhile, you're living in section 8 housing.

Mary Alessi [00:33:06]:
Right. It's true.

Steve Alessi [00:33:08]:
Well, you're getting all the benefits Right. Because you're not willing to go out and get whatever of a job, and you can't find that. So you're willing to let the government take care of you in some areas, but you wanna be, no. Don't let the government get so big. And that's some of our conservative Christians that are

Mary Alessi [00:33:25]:
out there. Yes.

Steve Alessi [00:33:25]:
So we've gotta be so careful. And and we don't have the answer to it. We don't. What we're trying to do is say, today, we want to throw some information out there. How do you process it? How do you think about it? Find what works for you. Make sure it's right as it works for you because it should be if you're a Christian influenced a 100% by God and his word.

Mary Alessi [00:33:50]:
Yes. Makes sense? Makes total sense.

Steve Alessi [00:33:52]:
Gosh. I hope we did a good job Yeah.

Mary Alessi [00:33:53]:
Or not.

Steve Alessi [00:33:54]:
Stirring it up.

Mary Alessi [00:33:55]:
Gonna get a lot of negative or none. No feedback at all. I mean, we're gonna see. We're gonna see.

Steve Alessi [00:34:01]:
Alright. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the family business with Steve and Mary Alessi, who probably ticked you off today. Maybe. Thanks for joining us.

Mary Alessi [00:34:10]:
We hope not.

Chris Alessi [00:34:11]:
You've just enjoyed another episode of the family business podcast with the Alessis, and we can't thank you enough for being a part of our podience today. Now that you've learned more about us, here's how you can join in in the family business. First, make sure you're following our podcast right now, and download this episode so you can hear it at any time. 2nd, think of someone you know that might need or enjoy this episode and share it with them. You'll be helping them and helping us to spread the word about the family business. 3rd, go to alessefamilybusiness.com and tap the ask the Alessis button. This is really cool. You could use it to record a voicemail comment or question, and we can add your voice to our conversations.

Chris Alessi [00:34:52]:
Finally, while you're on our page, tap the reviews tab, and you'll see a link to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. We love reading your reviews, and we might even share them on the show. Thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you next time at the family business with the Alessis, because family is everybody's business.