Faith and Politics

FAITH AND POLITICS

There have been times in my life when I was very much involved in politics. That is very much no longer true. Over the last several years, I have attempted to devote my life, and to discipline my life, to try to remove the political lens through which many Americans view everyone, and pray that, in the words of Brandon Heath, God would give me his eyes. Some days are better than others.

As I look at social media somewhat infrequently, I do not often see how vile the commentary between “conservatives” and “liberals” can be. In the recent past, I have noticed that certain persons seem to be very critical of others, usually those who are politically different than they, and I often go their profile page and see that the claim to love Jesus. I once looked at the profile page of one whom I knew to be a pastor of a church and after looking through several months of posts, I saw many that had to do with politics, but none that had to do with Jesus. By the way, he posted numerous times per month during those months.

I sincerely hope to write this post as one who is speaking to those of any part of the political spectrum regarding how we as Christians should engage on the topic. Since many will not read this to the end, the conclusion from scripture is harsh so here is the spoiler. If we cannot communicate with others, and look at our world through a more biblical lens, maybe we do not truly know God.

AM I TRULY A CHRISTIAN

In my understanding of scripture, you become a Christian by coming to the realization, through the calling of God, that you are a sinful person (someone in rebellion to God) who cannot redeem yourself into relationship with God. You must accept the sacrifice of a sinless Jesus on the cross in forgiveness for your sin, which he offers as a free gift (I am well aware that this is a redundancy, but it needs it for emphasis). This gift is not offered out of any obligation of God for anything that you have done, but simply because of his love and mercy toward mankind.

Depending upon your interpretation, and denomination, you may see the Bible as teaching that there is a necessity of baptism for the forgiveness of sin. I was raised in the Baptist denomination which teaches that baptism is the first act of obedience following salvation. Either way, the necessity of baptism as a public profession and demonstration of faith should in no way be diminished.

I Corinthians 13:5 says to “Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as committed believers. Examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit?” (Amplified Bible). I John 2:3-5 tells us “And this is how we know [daily, by experience} that we have come to know him {to understand him and be more deeply acquainted with him], if we habitually keep [focused on his precepts and obey] his commandments [teachings]. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not habitually keep [focused on his precepts and obey] his commandments [teachings], is a liar, and the truth [of the divine word] is not in him. But whoever habitually keeps his word and obeys his precepts [and treasures his message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in him.” (Amplified Bible).

These teachings show that you can truly know whether you are a Christian or not. However, the test is not be whether you prayed a prayer when you were 8 years old asking Jesus to come into your heart. It is whether you actually have a relationship with the living Creator of the Universe – a relationship which invariably will cause a change in your conduct on a day to day basis If you are not changing, then you have lied to yourself about your beliefs. We can claim to believe in Jesus, have faith, but if that does not change the way we live our lives, then we are putting faith in something entirely different from him. The true definition of faith then, is belief to the point of causing action.

Take a look at least weekly at your life, including your interactions with others, your conduct when alone, and your online activity. Try to be objective. If you do not see Jesus involved in an ever greater capacity in all of these, then you will probably not grasp the rest of this lesson. As a teacher, it is within my responsibility to help other Christians to judge themselves. It looks like this: Do not judge others hypocritically. Matthew 7:1. Self- examination first. See above. Know that God is the ultimate judge. James 4:12. Judge with the goal of restoration. Galatians 6:1. Our judgment should be for those who are Christians and not those outside the church. I Corinthians 5:12-13. I pray that what follows stays within this framework.

ENGAGING WITH THE GOVERNMENT AS A CHRISTIAN

In the United States, we experience a type of government that was not even considered by people living in the time of Jesus. Hypothetically, anyone can become an elected member of the governing body of any state or country so long as they are a citizen, have achieved the age requirement of the office sought and have not caused themselves to be otherwise disqualified from office. Any citizen who is not disqualified has the right to vote for these officials, and according to our right to free speech, every person, whether a citizen of this country or another has a right to free speech about our government. Given this type of situation do biblical principles even apply to us today in this context? ABSOLUTELY!!

I Corinthians says simply to glorify God in all that we do. This means God does not allow us to compartmentalize our lives. He wants it all. This includes the way we interact with others in a political context. Romans 13:1 says to obey the laws of the government because God is the one who allowed them to be where they are. This means that whether you claim to be on one side of the political aisle or the other, God has allowed the current government leaders to be in charge. I may not like this at some times rather than others, but I am not God and do not make the decisions.

I would strongly suggest, however, that the command to honor God in all that we do should always be first and foremost in our minds. If we look at the scriptures, we see that Jesus was killed by the governing authorities. Steven was stoned by the governing authorities. Peter and Paul were both killed by the government, as were many of the apostles and others. In Acts 5, Peter was brought before the Sanhedrin Court, the Jewish high court. They told him that he had disobeyed their order by continuing to preach in the name of Jesus. Peter responded that he was required to obey God rather than man. He then shared the Gospel with the high court. Jesus, Peter, Paul and many others refused to let obedience to the governing authorities get in the way of preaching the Gospel, and also refused to follow the commands of any leaders who tried to make them do so. They were never false in following God.

We can never let any obligation to follow the government get in the way of the Gospel. II Timothy 2:14, says that we should “avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good, and [upsets and undermines and] ruins those who listen.” Paul then goes on to tell us to study the scripture so that we will be able to accurately share words of truth, and to avoid irreverent babble and godless chatter leading to ungodliness and spreading like gangrene. In other words, when we engage in arguments that hinder the spread of the Gospel, our words are like a disease. In verse 19 of that same chapter Paul says that God knows those who are his and those who claim the name of the Lord should stand away from wickedness and withdraw from wrongdoing.

WHAT THIS SHOULD LOOK LIKE IN TODAY’S CULTURE

A preacher was recently heard saying that in today’s culture everyone has the same ability to speak to the entire world that only a few had just a few years ago. When we post something on the internet, it has the ability to be read by the entire world regardless of how many or few followers we may have. In the words of Spiderman’s Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility.” When we speak with persons face to face, our words carry a sort of power that sometimes we do not even comprehend. We should do so with wisdom and care. I will try to set out some thoughts that I have had which come from a very long time of considering all of this.

First, our allegiance to our country, and especially any political party, should never come close to overshadowing our allegiance to God. While this may offend some, I am going to say it: the United States is not the people of God. We have a history that is both shameful and exceptional in some of its ways. It is not unpatriotic to be able to admit that. If we are not able to point out and discuss ways that our country and our culture have done wrong in the past, we are unable to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. That is just stupid. Yes, I just said the word “stupid.” It is very appropriate in this circumstance. When you refuse to look at, and learn from your mistakes, you are being stupid, as opposed to ignorant.

Second, your favored political leaders are not without fault and actually do make mistakes and bad decisions. I have often said that if two persons agree with one another all the time, then one of them either has no brain or no spine. There are those in our culture today that would excuse their favored political leader for anything that he or she said or did. This allows our political leaders to define truth for us. The only truth to which Christians should adhere is that set for by God. If you allow your political leaders to define truth for you, you have begun worshiping the political leader instead of God.

The concept of a political leader being bound by the law was a totally new concept in the law of Moses set out by God almost 3500 years ago. This was something that the framers of the US Constitution picked up when they made the government of the US to be composed of three co-equal branches that were subject to one another. Each of the members of these branches takes an oath to support and defend that constitution. If we, as US citizens, allow them to violate that oath, and continue to support that person in that office, we are being false. We are again worshiping the political leader above God.

Third, we should obey scripture above even the law of our country. It is the obligation of everyone who professes to be a Christ follower to obey the commands of God above anything else. Always remember that the Bible teaches that if you are not obeying the commands of God, you are probably not really a Christian, which is an entirely different worry you should have. While this does not necessarily mean that you should advocate for policies which provide for things like the distribution of wealth to others, it does mean that you should never advocate for policies that harm the “least of these.” See Matthew 25:40.

As voters and participants in the US government, we should also be willing and able to educate ourselves regarding the governance and policies of persons in the government, and those running for those positions and support and oppose those persons based upon a determination of whether those persons will uphold their oath and not do harm to the spread of the Gospel. Let me say something here that may sound strange to some. In my mind, this does not mean that I believe you have to agree with this, this does not mean that the person claims to be a Christian or even advocates policies all of which I would agree with. It might mean that this person does not make others say that if that is what a Christian is, I do not want to be one.

Fourth, as a Christian, I will never celebrate the ungodly nor will I conduct myself in person or in my online persona in a way that brings dishonor to the cause of Christ. I have personally seen someone who professes to “love Jesus” who posted a demonstrably false political statement online, and when this was pointed out to them, they said they did not care. I see professing Christians celebrate arrogance and greed and hatred in the name of politics. I have seen persons describe their political “messiah” as the only hope for the county in which they live. Most importantly, I have many times seen the statement that you cannot be a Christian if you do not vote the way that I do. The way to become a Christian has very clearly been set forth earlier in this document. When you are willing to add anything to that, you are putting your politics above God’s commands. ANYTHING.

Finally, when you treat people differently than Jesus did, or differently than the bible teaches us to treat them, you are wrong. As professing Christians, we are to be different than the world. When God called Abraham, and later gave his law to Moses, he was calling a people who were to be set apart, in word and deed, from the rest of the world. As many have said in the past, if I have to tell you that I am a Christ follower, I am probably not doing a very good job of following him. My first job is to love God with all of my being. The second is to love others as I love myself. This means tangibly reaching out to others and providing help and encouragement. Not encouragement of wrong, but encouragement of good. Sharing the Gospel with others and then showing them how to really be a disciple.

My expectation is not that the person to whom I reach out, is all cleaned up and ready to sit on the front pew of the church and stand in the pulpit, but that they just need a bite of the bread of life and a drink of the water that leaves you never being thirsty again. What I have to offer is not all the answers, but a fellow traveler on the journey to see Jesus. In my love I am willing to call them out when they fail and I expect the same in return. In my humility, I am willing to listen because God can use them to speak to me as clearly as he can use me, and maybe more so.

If any part of your expectation for your life is to “own the libs” or to “beat the nazis,” you are probably not a real Christ follower. If your primary topics on social media have to do with politics and supporting the politician of your choice or bashing those whom you are against, you are probably not a real Christ follower. If you are unable to objectively assess criticism of your chosen political party or candidate, or have no criticism of your own for that party or person, you are probably not a real Christ follower.

A wise man once told another, I have known many people in my life who were saved, but not so many who are disciples. Scripture tells us that, while we are unable to assess the position of someone else’s salvation, there should be evidence of that salvation that is visible in their lives, or there may be no salvation. It is my prayer that we would all consider the scriptures as we live in this messed up world and try to be the light that God calls us to be as opposed to the source of confusion and contention that so many of us seem to want to be.