The Pitfalls of Politics

 

The News outlets in The US are consumed with politics. Heck even entertainment and music is laced with political undertones and overtones. Many right wingers use religion, particularly Christianity to plug candidates and causes, invoking that Jesus wants Americans to vote a certain way. In contrast, The left and liberals tend towards humanism and a lack of invoking God, save for in racial circles claiming victimization. The truth is God is being used in US politics like he was during The Crusades, with a Neo Deus Vult (God Wills It). And to me its alarming. The fusion of Christianity and politics is a dangerous rode because it has been done before in Byzantium with Emperors who were tyrants with swords, laws, and crosses (war, judicial reforms like Justinian, and ecclesiastical power) and the Popes who acted like absolute monarchs in late Middle Ages who gathered as much temporal power, that is political and worldly power as they claimed spiritual power, leading to the scandal of antipopes (many popes). The merging of Church and State too deeply is unholy, for Jesus claimed a heavenly kingdom, “Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36). Our Lord’s Kingdom is not restricted to the US or based in Washington D.C., it is in heaven! 

Christ made a distinction, a separation of between the political & judicial and the ecclesiastical (church), “And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at Him.” (Mark 12:17). Here our God makes it clear the things of God are separate from the world, the cesars and the politics of all romes, including the USA. Now some may rebuke and say The First Amendment protects your rights as a Christian. Does it? Is such a document truly the governor of our spiritual liberty? Or is it merely describing what already exists under God and that He alone can truly protect it?  You may say voting helps keep such a sacred rights safe, but then is that not putting Kingdom of Heaven under the power of the temporal world we are told we were pulled out of?, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours,” (John 15:18-20), “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them,” (1 John 2:15), and “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4). 

I understand that voting, legislating via congress, and ruling via judicial reform can protect the unborn, religious liberties, and so forth. I see no paradox in using such measures to try and keep persecution of our Christian freedoms at a minimum, but I take issue with using God, His Name, and People for political campaigns and neo crusades, slapping “God wills it!” on candidates for political office and causes with reckless abandon.  We have to remember The Kingdom of Heaven and the United States are not one and the same, that God’s ways are higher, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts,” (Isaiah 55:9), and that temporal solutions cannot fix spiritual institutions nor circumvent God’s Commands (Matthew 22:36-40, John 13:34-35). The Our Father Payer is “Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done on Earth As It Is In Heaven,” ( Matthew 6:10) not the other way around! The Kingdom of Jesus Christ, of The Holy Trinity, rules over all and above all. It is not to be parleyed or bastardized for political campaigns! When voting, you must seek The Kingdom and God’s Will, not pick a side, or faction and add God’s name for good measure! As if you may decide God anointed this or that on a whim! God may tell you to support what seems foolish and crazy, “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful,” (1 Corinthians 1:27) and “Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools [alt trans we are fools for Christ], but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.” (1 Corinthians 4:10, NLT). Your first allegiance is not to “the flag of the United States of America,”  but to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom of Heaven! You have duo-citizenship, one is a heavenly kingdom “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body,” (Philippians 3:20-21), the other a earthen republic, but if the two are at odds or in conflict, you owe The Kingdom of Heaven your full allegiance, “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment..” (Matthew 22:37-38). You also owe The Kingdom your first allegiance even if it is in harmony with the temporal world. 

Remember that Jesus foretold all nations and their politics will hate us, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me,” (Matthew 24:9), and “the beast was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And beast was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.” (Revelation 13:7). At some point, sooner or later, we will only have one citizenship, one allegiance, that is Jesus and His Kingdom. So why would we mix what will be unmixed by the antichrist/ beast of the sea, and is foretold by Jesus Himself? 

We must be careful merging politics and faith. Because at some point the two will diverge, and politics which is run by corrupt and flawed men will always fall short of the glory of God and His Kingdom. Amen.