It has been my practice not to invest much of my public communication to the world of politics. Frankly, it is an unworthy steward of my time, thoughts, energies and words. Not to sound cavalier, but I have a much higher calling than to dedicate myself to the sad world of American politics. This present season, however, contains the impeachment hearings which will result in a no-holds-barred spectacle of foolish contention in Washington D.C. Because of this new wrinkle, I thought I might address our political issues from a 10,000 foot view.
“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.” – Psalm 60:11
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” – Psalm 146:3
“Give us aid against the foe, for the help of man is worthless.” – Psalm 108:12
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.” – Psalm 118:9
Scripture is clear on the matter of the hollowness of placing our confidence in human ability. We all understand that occasions will arise during our lives wherein no human aid will suffice. Nobody can rescue us. No friend nor loved one can reverse whatever it is that is overwhelming us. There are times when there is not a single Homo sapiens who can defend or protect us from the threatening force coming against us. Life is often a stern-faced teacher that instructs us firmly about these realities. There are also generational shifts that occur during our lifetimes. We are in the midst of a massive cultural and generational shift right now in America. These changes are impacting every sector of our society from politics to education, from entertainment to business, and from the realm of family to ever-changing religious issues. Humanly speaking, the feathers have been released into the wind and there will be no human ability to place them back in the bag from which they flew. These days, all of this contention, change and combustion seems to be landing most heavily in the political world. That is why all eyes have been and still are fixed on our nation’s capitol. People are actually expecting some semblance of reason, order or truth to emit from Washington D.C.
What we are actually getting from there is a constant ooze of undefined sludge. Or maybe you have not noticed.
I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am an independent voter who leans heavily conservative on nearly every issue. I am unapologetically pro-life, and I will never have to answer to the Almighty for why I cast a vote for any candidate whose platform included the lessening or removal of legal protections for the unborn. This is the vital, vote-determining issue for me in politics. That is why I will vote for Donald Trump if he is able to run in 2020. I am not a fan of President Trump, but every candidate running against him (no matter who it is) will work hard to make it easier to exterminate babies who cannot in any way defend their lives in the womb (or immediately outside of the womb if one of the more radical opponents of the President happens to win). Do I think Mr. Trump is an awesome President? No. Is he an embarrassment at times? Yes. Do I believe there is any merit to the blind loyalties that many Christians espouse in promoting him as being godly or Christian? Uhm, not hardly. Yet, it is the Christian’s civic responsibility to vote, and I only have one vote of my own to cast. The Democratic candidates all appear to be somewhere on the spectrum between being mild lunatics to living completely averse to objective truth. Personalities aside, both sides of the political aisle in Washington D.C. have zero objective hope to offer the conservative Christian voter. Yet, I keep hearing Christians (among all the other sectors of the American voters) pumping out fear, anger, outrage and good old fashioned hate as they express their political persuasions.
In the end, we are all still left with only one vote each. Why not prayerfully make up your mind about how you will vote in the next twelve months, and then reroute all your mental energy, verbal releases, emotional investments and strong opinions toward things that actually hold everlasting value? Now, I don’t give that advice to non-believers. All their hopes might as well rest in the here-and-now anyway. They do not have the expectation to think upon anything beyond our temporary lives on earth. But Christians? How did we end up locking any measure of hope into what is the most absurd, Spirit-void, irrational and truthless federal representation in the history of the republic? Leonard Ravenhill’s famous words fit perfectly with what I am observing right now among believers who are frantically clinging to American politics as their sole life preserver that they hope to keep them afloat. Ravenhill soberly said in years gone by, “Many of us are hunting mice – while lions devour the land.”
I am convinced that America’s only hope is true, sustained Holy Spirit revival. I actually believe this can be entrusted to the Church. I believe we can properly and honorably steward revival when it comes. There can be wide scale repentance and consequent soul salvations in the midst of our decaying culture. The advance of the Gospel can radically shift our nation’s values back to a righteousness that befits a country as graced as these United States of America have been. The Kingdom fruit of love, joy, peace and kindness can replace the toxic atmosphere of classism, racism, violence, immorality and greed. The babies who are currently in our nursery at our church could actually live in a world of hope by the time they enter middle school. The poor can be helped. The hungry and helpless can be fed and sheltered. The vulnerable can be valiantly protected. The neglected can become the cherished. The addict can be delivered. Because of the power inherent in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all of what I have described and immeasurably more can actually become a reality. This is the standing offer of God to His people if we want it.
But some Christians do not believe that at all. It seems like a fairytale to them. They believe more greatly in what politics can bring them. They are living with a higher functional confidence in man than they have in God. How do I know? Because the communication of the mouth reveals the contents of the heart. Too many of us turn our eyes to the Republicans and Democrats with the expectation of rescue, and say to them repeatedly, “Save us from the other side of the aisle. We are trusting to you. Our hopes are in you to preserve what we cherish or to provide what we have never been given. Apart from you, we feel that we have no hope!” Then we put on our Sunday clothes, drive to the church house and sing with spiritually off-key hearts, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand!” Our songs are nowhere close to being true to what is exposed to be pulsing in our hearts.
My dear Christian brothers and sisters: I plead with you to get yourself in the presence of King Jesus and ask Him to reveal to you where your heart’s laser is presently aimed. In what are you truly hoping? I understand with you that politics have some very intense practical ramifications. I am not saying that politics do not matter. But I am definitely saying that they matter far too greatly to many Christians who are benumbed to the reality that politics have become their primary religious altar. What I am also saying is that you will still end up with only one vote, no matter how much of yourself you give to politics over the next year. All of our social media posts, protests and proclamations are not changing anyone’s minds. It is the height of ignorance to believe that our online voices will somehow shake the system. Do you not realize that most everyone’s minds are made up already? We are not truly speaking to bring change. We are arguing, debating and venting…and we are making no difference while the same marauding lions continue to devour the land. Our hearts have gone after the constantly squeaking political mice and we have not caught any of them.
The God of eternity has declared that to place our hopes in humans is folly. It is not debatable. It is everlasting truth from the highest Governmental Throne in existence. Perhaps we should bow before that throne a little longer in the next twelve months, lest we waste an entire year leading up to an election grasping at scurrying mice while the paw of the lion is reaching for us.
I definitely identify with your post concerning politics. In fact, I could not vote for Trump or Hillary last election because they both made my stomach churn and I couldn’t get clear direction from the Lord. So, I only voted in my local elections. I would like to know how you interpret the scripture about us (Christians) being citizens of another realm and only ambassadors here on earth. I know in the human realm, as an ambassador to another country, you get extra privileges but (I believe) you do not get to vote. This has concerned me as a child of the kingdom….will there come a time, or is it already time…to abstain from the affairs of this world that are so tainted by the enemy? I respect your thoughts on this – if you have time. I do understand if you don’t. Thank you!
Marie, thanks for commenting for your first time. You pose valid questions. It may be unpopular, but I definitely foresee a time when I could opt out of the entire national/state voting process simply because no candidate could make it through the gate of my Spirit-directed conscience. For me, as I mention in the blog, that decisive issue is abortion. I have made an internal commitment never to vote for a candidate that is pro-abortion. With the direction things are heading in our nation, this scenario is not a stretch of the imagination. As for your questions about the tension between heavenly citizenship and a national citizenship on earth, that will be a good topic for a full blog that I may try to tackle in 2020. Thanks for responding!
Thank you for responding, Pastor! I also could never vote for anyone who is pro-abortion. I look forward to your blog on our heavenly citizenship!
We are in agreement as to which Kingdom trumps (pun intended) the other. That said, the demise of America will not just be one Party winning and the other losing. Think Venezuela. Think Hong Kong. Over 300 million people in bloody chaos. Many say it could never happen here. Many are wrong and it’s the bloody chaos that I want to see stopped. I will likely escape it through death but my children whom I love will not. The thought of you, Amy, Alicia, Landon, your sisters et al suffering the horrors of Communism is just horrible. Hundreds of millions have been murdered by Communist governments. This is why I wrote my initial comment.
I want to make a generationally shaped comment. I fully agree with you, Jeff, that true revival is our only real hope. That said, my 74 year old eyes see that the lion’s paw of Communism has dug it’s claws into the Democrat party. This has huge implications for lives far younger than I. Should these Communists gain full control of our government, the America that we’ve known will disappear irretrievably. It will no longer be the land of the free. It will be the land of the controlled and oppressed. Stopping this from becoming everyone’s new reality is worth fighting for. We should not think what we are seeing in Washington is merely politics as usual. What we are seeing is an all out attack on our lives and, most importantly, on the lives of your children and on my grandchildren and great grandchildren. That attack is worth resisting. At least this old man sees it that way.
Clearly, as I said in the blog post, there are definitive practical ramifications in our politics. My point is not that we should not care and remain politically engaged. My point is that the weight of the Kingdom is our fullest hope and the lesser weight of politics seems to be disproportionately elevated in the emotions, words and actions of many believers. The amount of energy and distraction that is being hijacked by the political chaos in the lives of Christians exposes the reality that many believers place far more functional trust in government than God. The United States of America has an eventual expiration date. It’s a temporary kingdom. It is the greatest on earth at this time, but it is inferior to the Kingdom that holds our primary citizenship. The USA will not go on forever. Maybe it’s expiration date is in my generation. Maybe it’s my children or grandchildren’s. My identity and hope doesn’t diminish at all if that moment occurs in my life. It might actually lead to the greatest revival that this nation has ever seen if the current system implodes. The great reality is that no political philosophy/agenda offers permanent hope. It is not an issue of me or anyone who agrees with me being fatalistic. It’s theologically accurate to affirm that politics are an unworthy place for our confidence. We fulfill our civic responsibility in submission to the requirements of our Kingdom loyalties. We are commanded to honor those in authority as being established in their positions by God for His sovereign purposes (Romans 13:7; 1 Peter 2:17). We are commanded to walk in love, grace, kindness, forgiveness and truth. We are commanded to pray for our enemies. We are commanded to do all things without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14). We are commanded to live in faith and not fear. The list goes on and on about how Christians are to conduct themselves in a culture that is opposed to our faith in King Jesus. What I am seeing is a clear compromise (if not a wholesale abandonment) of Christian virtues on the altar of political ideologies. Capitalism, socialism or communism…all of it perishes. Christians are not theoretical citizens of a different realm – our citizenship is ACTUAL, with everlasting ramifications. I can work positively within the faulty political system while disallowing it from negatively working inside of me. None of this is easy for us. I’m merely submitting that Christians need to think hard about the state of our own hearts as it pertains to politics. When our political grievances are more real to us than our Gospel joys, we have erred. We need to ensure that American politics do not occupy more space in our hearts and minds than they should.