It is important for Christians to be active and engaged in politics. The field of politics, like all other fields in this world, is a battleground for souls. It is a place where we can champion Biblical truth. We should be grateful for this freedom we have that so many governments historically and currently have denied to their people. However, the problem lies in when our political party and American citizenship become more ingrained in our identities than our Christian citizenship. It is a problem when we see a person from an opposite political party rather than a person who needs Christ.
Our earthly country will pass away, despite humanity’s best efforts; our eternal home will not.
Let’s consider this passage by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters, written from the perspective of a “senior tempter.” While the events mentioned are different, the challenge and truth in his words still ring true today.
“Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the ‘cause’, in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce in favour of the British war-effort or of Pacifism. The attitude which you want to guard against is that in which temporal affairs are treated primarily as material for obedience. Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours – and the more ‘religious’ (on those terms) the more securely ours.”
It is important as Christians to recognize that the leadership in our party of choice DOES fail. The leadership in our party of choice DOES sin. They are men, and to defend them against accusations without a second thought, without careful, conscientious consideration and even criticism when necessary, is to our downfall as believers. We are called as believers to practice discernment. The Bible praises those who test every voice and opinion, even those that are trusted, against the ultimate authority--the Word of God-- for themselves.
While it can be depressing to see men and nations fail, we are not without great comfort. Through the Bible, God has told us this world’s story; we know how it will end! We know that our salvation, and therefore our hope, is not in politics. It is in Jesus.
Another consequence of Christians making political affiliations their goal rather than as a means to follow God’s will is that our personal conduct does not display the grace, compassion, or self-control that are the fruits of God’s work in our lives, the fruits that outwardly set us apart and make people wonder why we are different. We lose sight of our ultimate goal to win the lost to Christ when our focus is on winning an internet argument for the sake of our own pride or making a joke about the superiority of people in our chosen political party. When Jesus dined with publicans and sinners, he was not "drinking their liberal tears.”
The people we are ridiculing are the people that Jesus commanded us to give the Gospel.
This is not to say we shouldn’t stand up for our beliefs. Our beliefs as Christians will be offensive-- Jesus has already told us that. The Bible should be our ultimate authority, and we should never compromise any of God’s Word to make it more palatable to the lost. But it should be our beliefs that are offensive, not name-calling, derogatory jokes, and poorly considered words spoken in anger. Let's be, as God called the disciples to be, as clever as serpents and harmless as doves. --Anonymous
Our earthly country will pass away, despite humanity’s best efforts; our eternal home will not.
Let’s consider this passage by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters, written from the perspective of a “senior tempter.” While the events mentioned are different, the challenge and truth in his words still ring true today.
“Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the ‘cause’, in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce in favour of the British war-effort or of Pacifism. The attitude which you want to guard against is that in which temporal affairs are treated primarily as material for obedience. Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours – and the more ‘religious’ (on those terms) the more securely ours.”
It is important as Christians to recognize that the leadership in our party of choice DOES fail. The leadership in our party of choice DOES sin. They are men, and to defend them against accusations without a second thought, without careful, conscientious consideration and even criticism when necessary, is to our downfall as believers. We are called as believers to practice discernment. The Bible praises those who test every voice and opinion, even those that are trusted, against the ultimate authority--the Word of God-- for themselves.
While it can be depressing to see men and nations fail, we are not without great comfort. Through the Bible, God has told us this world’s story; we know how it will end! We know that our salvation, and therefore our hope, is not in politics. It is in Jesus.
Another consequence of Christians making political affiliations their goal rather than as a means to follow God’s will is that our personal conduct does not display the grace, compassion, or self-control that are the fruits of God’s work in our lives, the fruits that outwardly set us apart and make people wonder why we are different. We lose sight of our ultimate goal to win the lost to Christ when our focus is on winning an internet argument for the sake of our own pride or making a joke about the superiority of people in our chosen political party. When Jesus dined with publicans and sinners, he was not "drinking their liberal tears.”
The people we are ridiculing are the people that Jesus commanded us to give the Gospel.
This is not to say we shouldn’t stand up for our beliefs. Our beliefs as Christians will be offensive-- Jesus has already told us that. The Bible should be our ultimate authority, and we should never compromise any of God’s Word to make it more palatable to the lost. But it should be our beliefs that are offensive, not name-calling, derogatory jokes, and poorly considered words spoken in anger. Let's be, as God called the disciples to be, as clever as serpents and harmless as doves. --Anonymous