Politics and Jesus.....They don't mix
All of you who know me
know that I am passionate about politics and the direction which this nation is
headed. However, after listening to pastor Loran Livingston last night, I have
seen the error and folly of my ways. He made a point in his sermon that I apparently
must have missed. When I was saved, Jesus made my life and priorities very
simple. My life was to no longer be dictated by the wicked ways of this world,
but rather to be focused completely on the cross of Jesus Christ. How could I
not realize this? Look at 2 Timothy 2 starting with verse 3:" You
therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one
engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may
please him who enlisted him as a soldier. " Paul tells Timothy
that he must endure the hardship of being a soldier for Jesus Christ. So what
was he saying? Storm the gates of Caesar's palace and demand the government to
give equal rights to all and free healthcare? No. Jesus told us to go
out and spread the gospel to all nations. He told us to help the poor. He
commanded us to look out for the orphans and the widows. Never once did Jesus
demand anything from the government. In fact, I believe about the only thing
Jesus said about government was to render unto Caesar what is Caesars. So how
did I (we) get so off track? I believe it comes from the American philosophy of
intertwining patriotism and Godliness. This is nothing short of blasphemy.
Mixing that which is Holy with that which is profane.
When we choose sides, someone gets left out. If we choose Republicans, then the
Democrats get left out, and vice versa. So when the church chooses one, it
alienates the other. How then can we reach those whom we "left out"
when they feel we have an agenda against them? I have always been a self
admitted homophobe. I think homosexuallity is a nasty, disgusting, abomination
to the Lord. However, if I were to refuse to witness to a homosexual, how
would he or she ever know the love of Christ and be given the chance
to repent? This is to my shame. It's easy to forget to love the sinner, and
hate the sin. God was merciful enough to save me, but yet I look down my nose
at another human being that doesn't suit my taste and think God is not
merciful enough to do the same for them? What hypocrisy! We can never look down
our noses at anyone. I see this now, and I also realize how easy it is to
forget just how nasty and perverse my own sin was before God until He had mercy
on me. You see, the church can not take sides. We as Christians can
not take sides. We have been given an order and our order is to preach the
Word, to preach the cross to a lost and dieing world. We can't afford to get
tangled up in the affairs of this world. We are not of this world. We should
set and keep our minds on Godly things and shun the evil distractions of this
age. I am ashamed to think of all the time I've wasted huffing and puffing over
the way things are going in our culture. I must realize that God did not call
us to save America. God did not call us to raise up conservative politicians.
God did not call us to be in the snare of politics created by the depravity of
man. No, God commissioned us to go out and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To
bring the good news to the ends of the earth so that men could be saved! We
must remember this world and all that is in it is passing away. We will not be
able to save it, but we are able to bring the knowledge of saving grace to
people dead in their sins. I do believe as Christians we must vote and stand against
evil, but not in the way of political activity. We must remember that we are
not of this world. We can never take our eyes off of Christ, for when we do, we
begin to slip and fall. Jesus never promised us life would be easy. We must
train our children up in the truth of the Lord. We must boldly proclaim the
Gospel to all who will hear. Most of all, we must put our faith in the one who
is able to deliver us, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must keep our eyes on the
prize, and continually do the work of our Heavenly Father. We can't afford to
take our eyes away from Jesus even for a moment. Remember, He didn't call us to
rally at TEA parties or to gush and swoon over elected officials. He called us
to be light and salt in a dark and tasteless world. If we forget that Jesus
died for
all...white,black,yellow,red,asian,european,african,american,muslim,buddhist,hindu,tao,jew,straigt,gay
and on....Then we loose that light and our salt becomes tasteless. Jesus said
to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Who is our neighbor? Everyone. How
can we love our neighbor if we hold any preconceived prejudices against him?
We must search out our hearts and put away the garbage instilled by worldly
thinking. This is hard to do, but it can and must be done. So tell me, do
you believe Jesus would be a democrat or a republican? If you were to answer
either or, you need to fall on your face and repent before God of your
carnal spirit. If, however, you see the utter foolishness of such a
question, then you should realize that as a professing Christian, when
you wave your political flags that you are making Jesus appear as one or the
other. Even if it is not your intention, remember the world sees you
as a Christian first, and will always look for ways to condemn you. If
you are seen showing any partiality, then you just destroyed any chance of
being a witness to someone on the other side of the political fence. Remember,
we are children of the the risen King. Our battles are not against
flesh, but powers and principalities of darkness. We are to be a witness
for Jesus. We are residents of the Kingdom of God, and it is for this
Kingdom that we should always be campaigning.
No comments:
Post a Comment