At this rate, 2020 is becoming a criticism-filled year for Christians. The predominantly pro-life group has become infamous for being willing to let your grandmother die in order to save the economy. These same Christians are the ones coming under heavy scrutiny for abandoning all safety measures regarding the Coronavirus, returning to church and acting like hugging and shaking hands carries no added risk to the lives of others.
But 2020 isn’t content to give us just one major shake up. With the easily-avoided death of George Floyd, many in America have had enough. There has been a great call for change in not only how blacks are treated, but also how accountable police officers are for their actions. Whether it’s the murder of a woman when police raided the wrong house or realizing that many states in America allow officers to rape an 18-year-old girl in their custody with little consequence, discussions not centered around the pandemic are focused on human rights and the potential corruption of power.
And in the middle of all of this, Christ’s representatives are faced with a decision. We live in a country where our entire identity is summed up by an R or D. The media we consume (and share), the laws we vote on, and the people we side with tend to center around one of those political affiliations.
This is a problem. When something happens in the world, everyone’s response to it is predictable. If we know someone’s political party, we know how they’ll react to anything the president does. Their response to handling Coronavirus or the current protests, and especially what they share on social media, are typical to everyone else of their party. The discussions (and arguments) they take part in are never a surprise because everything they do is in line with Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, or their pride in being none-of-the-above.
Do people see Christ or your politics?
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. (Proverbs 17:15)
That predictability is fine for the rest of the world. We should never be surprised when someone still living in their sin finds their identity in who they are politically, and thus align all their beliefs with what’s said on MSNBC or Fox News. After all, they don’t have Christ to redeem who they are, what they value, and how they view truth. The world needs to find meaning and purpose, and in America that’s easily done through our political identity.
Christians are different. How we view truth isn’t based on cultural context, what’s popular, or what our political affiliation dictates we believe. Truth is based purely on what God has revealed to us in the Bible.
Yet so many Christians find themselves compromising the truth of God in favor of whatever their political party stands for.
Today, they share things that praise violence against certain groups, whether the police or protestors. They post constant praise or criticism of President Trump, even though they did the exact opposite with former President Obama. If they are fighting to defend the lives of the unborn, there’s a good chance they’re also promoting policies and beliefs that lead to the suffering and death of innocent people in other countries (or even their own). Alternatively, they fight for a woman’s right to kill her child while simultaneously fighting for the basic human rights of people outside the womb.
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12)
The world sees this hypocrisy. They love the contradiction because it justifies their unbelief in Jesus Christ. They absolutely slander us as evildoers, yet it rarely has anything to do with deeds that are motivated by our faithfulness to Jesus Christ. Instead, even those who are enemies of God inherently understand that the teachings of Christ don’t line up with a single political party.
Jesus isn’t a Democrat or Republican. He’s God.
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
No political party in all of world history has aligned itself with the truth of God. The closest we’ve ever come was Old Testament Israel, yet even they rarely glorified God in their practices. When Christ came, His purpose had nothing to do with human affairs. The Jews wanted Him to establish an earthly kingdom, but He had something more important in His purpose.
Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
Christ was born into a particular family, religion, and political system, yet not once do we see Him adopt that as His identity. He loved His mother, yet reminds us His truth will divide families. He followed Jewish law and custom, but only as far as it honored the truth of God. He respected the Roman law, but only if it agreed with the higher truth of God’s holiness.
Christ was a visitor to a foreign country. He respected what was happening around Him, yet it didn’t define or distract Him. His citizenship, like ours, was in Heaven. And that’s where His loyalty always found itself.
I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (John 17:14-18)
As Christ’s followers, He sends us into the world to continue what He called us to. We aren’t called to turn the world Christian through political policy but through the overwhelming conviction of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be in the world without being a part of it, just as He was.
We aren’t here to fight for a political party. We’re here to fight for the glory of God. The reality is that a political party will never fight for that, nor will it allow us to. They may have policies that agree with aspects of God’s character, but they are destined to be flawed because they represent human reasoning and desires.
As Christians, we should be involved in politics as we’re able. If we’re called to value human life and dignity, we should take advantage of a political system that allows us to promote that. The freedom to vote is one way God allows us to bless the world with His grace.
The problem comes when we diminish the value of human life based on what the human leaders and news sources of our party tell us to believe. The unborn and the foreigner are both equally valuable in the eyes of God, yet a person’s political stance will determine which they’ll protect. A police officer and protestor deserve equal respect, yet our affiliation dictates which group has their humanity stripped from them so we can view them as the enemy.
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)
Compromising the truth of the Bible to fit our political beliefs doesn’t glorify God. It doesn’t focus on our identity in Christ. It makes us just like the rest of the world that is so willing to compromise what is good and right in order to fit in with a group.
Be more than your politics
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Christ lived in a world that hated Him. That hostility wasn’t because He represented a political party, but because He represented God. Living in submission and obedience to the holy God of the universe will naturally put us at odds with a world system that has spent 6,000+ years hating Him.
Democrat policy doesn’t seek to honor God.
Republican policy doesn’t seek to honor God.
Yes, we can be part of a political party. We can believe our political party most often represents the truth of God. But the Bible, above all, must the be the decider on what’s right, what’s true, and what’s worth being hated for.
Who we are is defined by what we believe. We don’t find our identity in our political party. We find our identity in Christ.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
Stop thinking and acting like the rest of the world. Stop being hated for your political beliefs or social media feed. Make Democrats and Republicans hate you because you stand by Jesus Christ, not a political party.
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