Yeah...I know...one of the two things you're never supposed to discuss with people. But since the other one is religion and that's the prevailing theme of this blog, I thought I'd dive in!
In Reversed Thunder, one of Eugene Peterson's chapters is entitled "The Last Word on Politics". It's an interesting perspective on politics according to the Kingdom of God.
"The political metaphor of kingdom invites misunderstanding because all the politics that we know require the exercise of power, either through the manipulation of force (militarism) or the manipulation of words (propaganda), and usually both. We quite naturally assumed that if there is a Kingdom of God there will also be coercion by God, and will not be hesitant in exercising some of it ourselves, either verbally or physically, on his behalf."
Ouch!
"Two temptations exert a powerful pull on the Christian community. One is to retain the political dimensions of the gospel and to take up the usual political means, namely, force. Instead of riding that silly donkey, Jesus should have charged into Jerusalem on a stallion and let a few heads roll. The other is to give up the political and have a nice little fellowship--cultivate a faith that more or less abandons the world of government, economics, culture, and society, and settle for saving a few souls."
I confess...I primarily fall into the latter of these two categories. But I know a whole lot of people that fall into the first...those who think if we just get the right man in the right office, the U.S. will turn toward God, He will bless our nation and all will be well.
Don't get me wrong, this is a nice hope and I'm the first to admit I'd love to be blessed (usually that means financial blessing when people are talking about our nation) and I would be thrilled for us to all live in peace. But I guess I'm just naive enough to believe that God doesn't need a specific person to complete His purposes.
Now I know in the eyes of many I'm being very rebellious suggesting such a thing. There may even be some who would suggest that I'm either unpatriotic or not a committed Christian. All I can say is that I know in my heart neither could be farther from the truth!
If you've been reading recently, you'll know that I've been working as a tax preparer this winter and spring. One of the questions I hate to ask is: "Would you like to designate $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?" Nine out of ten times it evokes comments about our President, Congress, or how we'd all just be better off without any of them. Trust me...I've heard it all this year. And the funny thing is, these clients of mine sound an awful lot like many of the Christians I know...or Christian organizations that have political agendas at least. I'm pretty sure as evidenced by other parts of the conversations I'm having, 90% of the people that make these political comments would not call themselves Jesus followers.
And here's the question I keep coming back to and the one I want you to ask yourself: At what point along the way did we buy into this lie that this world is our home?
I'm talking to Christians here...Bible-believing, faith-seeking, God-loving, Holy Spirit-filled, Jesus followers. Yes...we are called to further the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. But we're also told over and over again that this world belongs to the Enemy of our souls. God's Kingdom on earth, as Gregory Boyd puts it in Is God to Blame?, is more like a pushing back...sometimes inch by inch...against the gates of hell. And Jesus even told us that the gates of Hades couldn't withstand the power of Jesus the Messiah. (see Matthew 16:16-18)
So I'm not advocating a total abandonment of politics. I do believe that Jesus taught us to pray "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." (KJV) (see Matthew 6:9-13) I believe it's entirely appropriate to be involved in our local communities. We should pray for our leaders--national, state and local. I also believe that if so led, Jesus followers should pursue public service, even politics, in any capacity that God requires.
But my prayer for all of us is that we simply don't ever lose sight of Whom we serve, the hope that we have in Him and His call to love all...even if their politics happen to be different from ours!
In Reversed Thunder, one of Eugene Peterson's chapters is entitled "The Last Word on Politics". It's an interesting perspective on politics according to the Kingdom of God.
"The political metaphor of kingdom invites misunderstanding because all the politics that we know require the exercise of power, either through the manipulation of force (militarism) or the manipulation of words (propaganda), and usually both. We quite naturally assumed that if there is a Kingdom of God there will also be coercion by God, and will not be hesitant in exercising some of it ourselves, either verbally or physically, on his behalf."
Ouch!
"Two temptations exert a powerful pull on the Christian community. One is to retain the political dimensions of the gospel and to take up the usual political means, namely, force. Instead of riding that silly donkey, Jesus should have charged into Jerusalem on a stallion and let a few heads roll. The other is to give up the political and have a nice little fellowship--cultivate a faith that more or less abandons the world of government, economics, culture, and society, and settle for saving a few souls."
I confess...I primarily fall into the latter of these two categories. But I know a whole lot of people that fall into the first...those who think if we just get the right man in the right office, the U.S. will turn toward God, He will bless our nation and all will be well.
Don't get me wrong, this is a nice hope and I'm the first to admit I'd love to be blessed (usually that means financial blessing when people are talking about our nation) and I would be thrilled for us to all live in peace. But I guess I'm just naive enough to believe that God doesn't need a specific person to complete His purposes.
Now I know in the eyes of many I'm being very rebellious suggesting such a thing. There may even be some who would suggest that I'm either unpatriotic or not a committed Christian. All I can say is that I know in my heart neither could be farther from the truth!
If you've been reading recently, you'll know that I've been working as a tax preparer this winter and spring. One of the questions I hate to ask is: "Would you like to designate $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?" Nine out of ten times it evokes comments about our President, Congress, or how we'd all just be better off without any of them. Trust me...I've heard it all this year. And the funny thing is, these clients of mine sound an awful lot like many of the Christians I know...or Christian organizations that have political agendas at least. I'm pretty sure as evidenced by other parts of the conversations I'm having, 90% of the people that make these political comments would not call themselves Jesus followers.
And here's the question I keep coming back to and the one I want you to ask yourself: At what point along the way did we buy into this lie that this world is our home?
I'm talking to Christians here...Bible-believing, faith-seeking, God-loving, Holy Spirit-filled, Jesus followers. Yes...we are called to further the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. But we're also told over and over again that this world belongs to the Enemy of our souls. God's Kingdom on earth, as Gregory Boyd puts it in Is God to Blame?, is more like a pushing back...sometimes inch by inch...against the gates of hell. And Jesus even told us that the gates of Hades couldn't withstand the power of Jesus the Messiah. (see Matthew 16:16-18)
So I'm not advocating a total abandonment of politics. I do believe that Jesus taught us to pray "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." (KJV) (see Matthew 6:9-13) I believe it's entirely appropriate to be involved in our local communities. We should pray for our leaders--national, state and local. I also believe that if so led, Jesus followers should pursue public service, even politics, in any capacity that God requires.
But my prayer for all of us is that we simply don't ever lose sight of Whom we serve, the hope that we have in Him and His call to love all...even if their politics happen to be different from ours!
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