I wasn’t sure I was going to comment about the recent events in our nation. I have started so many blogs about the dissension in our country, but never finished. Felt lost for words.
Where are we?
Who are we?
What I am about to say may make some people unfollow me or angry. But, if it does upset you enough to do that, I would like you to take a minute and question why. If you are offended...does it mean I hit a cord?
Over the past year I have simply watched kind, loving christian people turn their faith into their political party. I may have been guilty of this myself. Politics has gone from something that people can disagree on to something that defines a person.
And before you try to stop me and say “well wait, maybe you don’t understand or know about this,” I have taught government for the past several years. I understand the government and work really hard to know the facts, so that I can teach my students in a completely unbiased fashion. I pride myself on the fact that my students have never been able to figure out my political affiliation.
The past four years have been a whirlwind. I have watched people worship Trump and most recently, others believe Biden is their savior. It has been all or nothing on absolutely everything. Common sense is completely gone. We have decided that the other side is the enemy. We know everything we need to know about you based on your political affiliation. We have drawn a line in the sand.
This may come as an awful big shock to a lot of people but Jesus isn’t a democrat or a republican. He isn’t American at all.
Instead of asking what The Bible says or look at the example of Jesus, we find ourselves deciding our political party is the one Jesus would be a part of. We then blindly follow any of the chaos that is being created without stopping to look, reflect or question. Instead, we justify.
But if you truly sit back and look at what the Bible says and how Jesus lived, you will see neither party has it correct. There simply isn’t a political party that follows 100% Christian beliefs. Jesus is King, but He isn’t a politician.
There are more and more churches that are distorting the gospel to make it be the American dream. It sounds really great to many but it’s really not what the Bible actually says.
God’s riches are of the spirit, not in your pocket book. Many, many times Jesus states that if you are a true follower of His, you will suffer and be persecuted in His name.
Speaking God’s truth often makes people angry. We are living in a word where we have decided that Christian values and beliefs are evil and what was once considered evil is now considered good.
Churches keep splitting and dividing to create a new version of Christianity that meets their wants, desires and perceived needs. But make no mistake, many of these are leading people away from Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t say life is about being happy. Our lives are about service and love in the name of Jesus. He says we will have joy when we have a relationship with Him. Joy is not a temporary state like happy is. Worldly treasures will never truly bring us joy. It will never truly bring us what we long for, a real relationship with our Lord and Savior.
So often we are mesmerized by certain scriptures that sound exactly like what we want to believe. However, we do not know the whole chapter or the full context to fully understand what it means.
If you have spent any time studying Ephesians, you may be familiar with 6:12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Our fellow man is not our enemy. Not everyone on the other side is evil. But don’t get me wrong, evil is completely at play here. We have forgotten who the real enemy is. Satan is loving the chaos. He is smiling with glee over how much we despise each other. The hateful things that we spew, the labels, the division; is all enjoyable for him. Paul tells us that our enemy is not each other, it is Satan.
I urge you to take a step back from the world. Take a step back from political rhetoric. Stay off social media. Stop watching the news. And just spend some time reading the Bible, specifically the gospel. Just start there. Meditate on it day and night, as we are told to do.
Pray. Really, truly pray for God to open your eyes and your heart to His truth. Not the Republican or Democratic truth. Don’t go looking for ideas that fit your beliefs, but instead, look at what is really there.
Many parts of Matthew stand out to me. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Then a little later in the same chapter you find Jesus saying: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
I read these over and over again. I question myself, who am I following? What am I believing? Is it what Jesus teaches? Is it really what is in the Bible? Am I distorting it to fit my own personal beliefs? I know that when this life ends I want Jesus to greet me with open arms and say “well done, good and faithful servant.”
As Christians, It doesn’t stop with simply believing. It is so much more. And it might be hard. And you might lose friends. It might not be popular, but Jesus was never really part of the “popular” crowd.
But at a time such as now, when we are watching our country simply appear as if it’s crumbling, we need now more than ever to focus on Jesus. We were born for such a time as this. So, what do we do? Do we sit back and point fingers and spew hate? Or do we become the change we want to see in our country?
No matter how good of a person you may be, you are still a sinner. And no matter how bad you think that person is, Jesus still loves them. We don’t get to decide who is good and who is bad. Jesus loves us all and we are all sinners. Our sins just look different. Regardless of how you may feel about certain politicians, God loves Trump, God loves Biden, God loves McConnell and Pelosi. God loves us too..
We are called to love our neighbor. But we are also called to speak truth. Speaking truth with love behind it isn’t judging. Judging is putting myself above you and deciding that you are wrong and beneath me. The Bible calls us to lovingly redirect those that are straying from God. But it also reminds us that we are sinners and have a plank in our eye. To me that is a good reminder that while I am trying to help others, I need to be very open to others also redirecting me and helping to keep me in the right direction. I need to be open to self examination and difficult prayers for God to reveal to me my plank.
Imagine what this country would look like if all of us Christians truly started living and loving as Jesus teaches. Imagine the effect of that type of love. We all want to be the Christian that brings people to Jesus and not the one that turns them away.
With the help of our Lord, we may be able to bring healing where there is so much pain. Breach the divide. Put down our weapons. Pick up our Bibles. Stop seeing others as the enemy. Keep the real enemy in sight.
So, I urge you, take some time, stop posting politics. Stop reading the comments. And open your Bible. Open your mind. Open your heart to God. You will be so glad you did.
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