Every so often an uprising occurs in the church. It's even embraced by some in the pulpit, preached on long and loud, and ends up dividing people rather than uniting them. It makes followers of Christ into confrontational, obnoxious, one-issue and two-dimensional laughingstocks in the eyes of the world.
It's the idea that there needs to be more Christians in positions of authority, power, government, school boards, etc. That Christians can influence the steering course of a nation by writing to their congressmen, judges, members of Parliament and protesting about anything from homelessness to prostitution to abortion.
It's all based on a lie. The lie is that we can use the world's methods to usher in the kingdom of God. The lie is that it is up to us to DO something.
The fact is, there is nowhere in the Bible that says that God's people should seek positions of power, that they should organize protests or petitions against this issue or that issue, that they should support this political party or that one. In fact, Paul the apostle lived in a world where wrong was touted as right, where the leaders of the empire were involved in all kinds of depravity and they persecuted Christians with a fanaticism that bordered on insanity. Yet, he wrote to the people in the churches that he started ... to pray for kings and all who were in authority, to obey the laws of the land, to live peacefully with all people, so that nobody would have a reason to point a finger at Christians and make them a laughingstock.
Paul was, as far as I can tell, apolitical. He supported NO political platform. His only calling in life was not political but spiritual.
His focus was a transformation that started on the inside, in the human heart. If you will, it was a universal grassroots movement with an individual focus. It is true that Paul stood before kings and finally before Caesar himself. But his message was not that the despotism, or slavery, or prostitution, or persecution of Christians would stop. No, his message was what it always was: the gospel to apply to an individual life, no matter whether his audience was Felix the governor or a Roman guard whose name nobody even knows. There was no politico-Christian movement to make Christianity the state religion (we all know how horribly things turned out when it WAS made the state religion!)
There was no interest among the followers of Jesus to infiltrate the higher echelons of Roman political structure and make a fundamental moral change in the direction of the empire. Believers were told to be good citizens. They were encouraged to live blamelessly so that nobody would have occasion to question their integrity or to have ammunition against the gospel by their conduct.
There's a lot to be said for that kind of an approach. Especially in today's society.
When I hear about a Christian wanting to get involved in politics or in some sort of campaign that is for or against this or that political issue or viewpoint, I become very nervous. Frankly, I fear for that person because it seems to me that the focus has shifted from letting God be God to taking up that position him or herself, and at the very least - quite possibly - that there's been the loss of some struggle inside against the lust of the flesh or the eyes ... and especially the pride of life.
I'm not against Christians supporting one party or the other as long as that support is a private matter. But when a Christian throws his or her hat into the political ring, politics being a dirty game, I find myself wondering just how long that person will retain his or her high moral standards before having to compromise beliefs and convictions just to stay in that position of power. Power corrupts - as the saying goes. and the more power one has, the more affected one is by the political machine. One person who was in a position of power told me from personal experience - about 8 years ago - that the higher one goes in government, the more grey there is. The secret, this person said, is reaching a level of influence where you can still stomach the compromises you have to make.
I'd rather not have to deal with any amount of nausea - thank you.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, and was questioned about His kingdom, He said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight."
Hello.....
It's the idea that there needs to be more Christians in positions of authority, power, government, school boards, etc. That Christians can influence the steering course of a nation by writing to their congressmen, judges, members of Parliament and protesting about anything from homelessness to prostitution to abortion.
It's all based on a lie. The lie is that we can use the world's methods to usher in the kingdom of God. The lie is that it is up to us to DO something.
Paul was, as far as I can tell, apolitical. He supported NO political platform. His only calling in life was not political but spiritual.
His focus was a transformation that started on the inside, in the human heart. If you will, it was a universal grassroots movement with an individual focus. It is true that Paul stood before kings and finally before Caesar himself. But his message was not that the despotism, or slavery, or prostitution, or persecution of Christians would stop. No, his message was what it always was: the gospel to apply to an individual life, no matter whether his audience was Felix the governor or a Roman guard whose name nobody even knows. There was no politico-Christian movement to make Christianity the state religion (we all know how horribly things turned out when it WAS made the state religion!)
There was no interest among the followers of Jesus to infiltrate the higher echelons of Roman political structure and make a fundamental moral change in the direction of the empire. Believers were told to be good citizens. They were encouraged to live blamelessly so that nobody would have occasion to question their integrity or to have ammunition against the gospel by their conduct.
There's a lot to be said for that kind of an approach. Especially in today's society.
When I hear about a Christian wanting to get involved in politics or in some sort of campaign that is for or against this or that political issue or viewpoint, I become very nervous. Frankly, I fear for that person because it seems to me that the focus has shifted from letting God be God to taking up that position him or herself, and at the very least - quite possibly - that there's been the loss of some struggle inside against the lust of the flesh or the eyes ... and especially the pride of life.
I'm not against Christians supporting one party or the other as long as that support is a private matter. But when a Christian throws his or her hat into the political ring, politics being a dirty game, I find myself wondering just how long that person will retain his or her high moral standards before having to compromise beliefs and convictions just to stay in that position of power. Power corrupts - as the saying goes. and the more power one has, the more affected one is by the political machine. One person who was in a position of power told me from personal experience - about 8 years ago - that the higher one goes in government, the more grey there is. The secret, this person said, is reaching a level of influence where you can still stomach the compromises you have to make.
I'd rather not have to deal with any amount of nausea - thank you.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, and was questioned about His kingdom, He said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight."
Hello.....
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