Politics and Being Christian, Part 1

The presidential debate is starting to heat up, and we still have more than a year left to go. Although we have many more months ahead, and many candidates to choose from, I have already chosen my candidate. But before I name my choice, I will, in this post, lay out a few points that I feel we, as Christians, should come to realize.

First, as Christians, there seems to be an unspoken (or sometimes spoken) rule that we must vote Republican, or face being labeled a “baby killer” (I was actually called that last election from some Christians I know.) Or that if you vote something other than Republican, that you then support homosexual marriage. I find this to be very disheartening. We must realize that the EDUCATED Christian voters usually have a few good reasons as to why they vote for who they vote for. Either its because their candidate supports the pro-life cause, or they like their fiscal policy, or maybe they see the urgent need to reform healthcare, and they think their candidate is the one for the job. But the problem lays not in one’s stance of an issue, but in the fact that one will then critize another who votes different from one's own vote. We, as Christians, must realize that all Truth belongs to God. That it is not owned by the Republicans, or the Democrats. It is not owned by the liberals or the conservatives. I think sometimes, we get too enamored to our culture and begin to act and think like it. One way in which we do this is by the tendency for us to think of politics as this or that, black and white. There seems to be no middle ground or compromise. We must come to the realization that when Jesus is fully on display, He won’t fit into any of our boxes. We must look for ways to transcend all the ways that our culture divides us. And to start, that would be to understand that both sides have something to offer, that both sides have a little Jesus in them.

Second, I do not believe it is our tasked duty to legislate our personal beliefs. It seems to me, that when pressed, Jesus had a stand off approach to government. He spoke in ways that went against the notion that He came here to set up an earthly kingdom, but more so one that is spiritual. He prays for His Father’s will to be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. The way he brought about this Kingdom, and we are to do the same, was to show His love to the people, to move in the margins of society. He did not move against Caesar or his government, but moved against the hearts of his followers. He saw that the way you reach people for Him, was not by making Him Caesar, but by making Him a servant; the lowest of lows, not the highest of highs. He spoke not of political revolutions, but of spiritual revolutions. He did not force people to come to Him by laws and decrees, but instead humbled himself, and gave himself, and in that drew a multitude to Him. There is a lot of power in this realization. We can get people to follow Christ by our actions, and by our leading, and not by having to mandate it by the Constitution or legislation. This I see as the call of Christ, to live our lives like Him, so that we reflect Him.

So I say all that to say this: does that mean that we cannot stand up for something we believe in? I am certainly not saying that. Jesus stood up for the poor, the sick, and the destitute, in opposition to the Pharisees and others. Is it wrong, in my opinion, to be pro-life? By no means do I believe that, but what I am saying is that all sides have a little God-originated truth in them, and you must educate yourselves when voting, and decide what is more important to you as first a Christian, and second as an American. Once you have distinguished what are your major issues, and find a candidate who closest fits your stance, then you should feel sure of your choice of a candidate. Again, many masquerade as candidates who hold your same viewpoint, only a few truly believe in what you hold to. This has been demonstrated many times over the past year with many scandals from both sides of the isles.

Anyways, I am just seeking for the Body that realizes that its form is not made from a whole pile of arms, or a whole pile of mouths, but from a great multitude of parts. In this way, the politics of this nation are the same. All sides cling to a particular facet of Truth, and all Truth is from God and should be embraced. So I will post, as part II, in a few days who I support, and why I support that person.

Oh and I love Rembrandt.

UPDATE:

After talking to Adam over this post, I have realized that some of my wording was not perfectly clear. To sum up this entire post, I say this: We need to realize that there are parts of God-ordained truth that both parties cling to. You the Christian voter, needs to decide what is more important to you when voting.