Politics

June 30, 2016 0 By Mirm

I am not sure that this post will convey what I want it to but I will give it a shot. I am so tired of the political drama of this election. It is bad enough that the candidates are not choices I feel I can endorse as a follower of Christ, but the rants and nonsense that are being put out there on social media by others is super annoying at best and actually does not change my mind at all. I understand that everything they post is meant to be promoting values that honor God. The problem is that many people have come to associate being a follower of Jesus with a certain political ideology. This is non biblical nonsense attached to Jesus!

I think that the Bible is pretty clear in Romans 13 that God ordains governments. They are designed to promote justice for all, promote peace and order in society and they are accountable to Him. Public servants play a role in God’s plan to bless the world and bring glory to Himself. Jesus lived under a corrupt government system and paid taxes. I do not believe that Jesus would be a republican or a democrat. He sides with himself. When Joshua asks the angel of the Lord, “Are you for us or are you for our adversaries?”, the Lord responds, “Neither.” (Josh. 5: 13-15). As a Christ-follower, I think that my beliefs should impact my voting as a citizen of this country. Paul encourages us to pray for those in authority over us. However, I think my stance is to be primarily for the gospel and not for a partisan political stance; we are to never forget that God’s primary means of dealing with the world’s problems is NOT political power, but is leading people to a right relationship with Him. Further, I am convinced that the lack of respect for those in authority and those who come to differing opinions than I hold, is ungodly. Unless a human system is fully centered on God (and what human system is?!), Jesus will have things to affirm and critique about it, including the political right and the political left.

So, telling me that Donald Trump is a believer is NOT a reason that I would vote for him. It is not enough. Jimmy Carter is a christian and yet a good president he did not make. I do not go to a doctor just because he is a Christian; rather, I go to a doctor because I trust her skills in her field. Asking me to accept the bullying and to ignore the bigoted comments does not increase the chance that I would vote for anyone. Even if you can separate Jesus from politics, many others do not! Just point people to Jesus and stop trying to insult people who come to different political decisions than you hold. Politics is polarizing enough without attaching Jesus to your agenda.