Christians and Politics

Moses had been on the mountain far too long. He was probably dead. Sure, he led the nation of Israel out of Egypt, but he went up to meet with God.

He was a goner.

No one saw God face to face and lived. The nation needed a god, someone to guide, lead, and direct the nation. If Moses was gone, then who would guide the Hebrews? They needed someone they could see, feel, sense. So, they tell Moses’ right-hand man, Aaron,

“Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron knew this wasn’t right. Just 12 chapters earlier, God was clear about His hatred for idols. But he caved. The pressure was too great. He collects gold from the people, and before you know it, a calf is crafted, and the people exclaim,  

“These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

A leader gone to meet with God, a people looking for leadership, and a leader crumbling under all the pressure, leads to a nation attributing acts of God to their former earrings and bracelets.

Humanity is designed to worship. Worship is simply defined as “to show reverence and adoration.” Regardless of whether you would wear the label “religious” or not, you worship. Be it sports, be it your kids, spouse, or Whole Foods; you worship.

We all do.

We all show reverence and adoration for something.

Our Designer designed us as worshippers. More specifically, He designed us to be worshippers of the one true God, Yahweh. Yet, as is frequently seen throughout the annals of history, we tend to begin to worship created things rather than the Creator. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism so brilliantly puts it, “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” But the human heart is often wooed by things other than God. Idolatry is conceived when our affections are misdirected at anything other than God. Good things can become idols rather quickly.

Things that have noble purposes can become tools of the enemy to quench first-love fire if we aren’t careful.

In today’s world, it’s not stone statues, figurines carved out of wood, or calves made of gold that steal our worship, that steal our affection and devotion. It’s our smartphones, it's our kids' sports, it's good things made the wrong priority.

Good things make bad gods.

I love the book of 1 John. John was one of Jesus’ closest friends; he nicknamed himself the “disciple Jesus loved.” John is writing to a Church that has started to drift into heretical teaching, manifesting in poor treatment of their brothers and sisters in the church. 

This particular book mentions “God is love” and urges the Church to “walk in the light as He is in the light.”

The ending of the book has always seemed jarring to me. John is expounding on the importance of turning from sin and living the life God has called us to. He speaks of overcoming the world and believing in the Son and lovingly confronting those who claim Christ yet continue to walk in sin. Then, the last verse of the book seems to come out of left field.

21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

(1 John 5:21, NIV)

He goes from talking about sin, keeping others accountable, and reminding each other of Jesus’ victory on the cross, and then randomly, keep yourselves from idols? Seems strange.

Yet, when slowing down and closely examining the heart of the matter, it’s idols that deter us from living the life God would have for us. It’s things, sometimes subtle things, that steal our affections, our time, our priorities. Ultimately, if not handled, our love for God grows cold. The Apostle John, closing out his letter, saved the most important issue for last. Idolatry.

Idolatry has always been the thorn in the side of the people of God. Read through the Old Testament and you will quickly see God’s people abandoning their covenant with their Creator for an idol made of human hands. They worshipped gods who seemingly promised protection, wealth, prosperity, and a litany of other human pain points.

Today, it may not be Baal or Dagon, or the calf made of gold, but it may be a donkey or an elephant.

Red or blue.

Republican or Democrat.

Attributing the works of God to something created.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable trend among Christians whose hope and vision for the future are closely tied to their preferred political party holding positions of power. It seems that 21st-century golden calves are often draped in red or blue.

Now, as followers of Christ, we are to do our part to vote for justice, vote biblically, do justly, and pray for the welfare of our cities. Yet, our hope is not in the kingdoms of this world. Our hope or lack thereof is not tethered to any political pundit; our lives are tethered to the Word made Flesh. 

If I were to ask any one person what Jesus primarily came to do, there would be a litany of answers. Some may say to make a way for peace between man and God, which is a good answer. Others might say to demonstrate that God loves the world, another good answer. Yet, neither of those highlights what Jesus talked about the most. There is one theme we get over, and over and over from Jesus.

Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Jesus came declaring that humanity needs to turn from sin and recognize the rule and reign of God. The advent of Jesus inaugurated, ushered in the rule and reign of the Almighty God.

Yet, there seems to be a paradox in Scripture. If the Kingdom of God is here, why all the mess and the brokenness and the hunger and the war?

What’s up with that?

The simple yet complex answer is this: The kingdom of God is now, and the Kingdom of God is not yet.

A Bible college professor gave a brilliant explanation for this conundrum. Imagine there is a king who rules a region. Yet, within that region, there is a band of rebels who set up their own “sovereign reign.” There is a kingdom within a kingdom. The king can wipe out that band of rebels at any moment, but chooses patience. There will be a day when the king reestablishes his sovereign reign, but in the meantime, he longs for the rebels to return home.

This is Earth.

Our job as followers of Jesus is to live as an outpost, pleading with and inviting as many “rebels” as possible to return to submission to the rule and reign of Jesus. To invite people to turn from their rebellion and “pledge their allegiance” to the one true King, Jesus.

We live in a broken, fallen world; we are salt and light. Our mission statement is simple: “on earth as it is in heaven”. To love like Jesus, to give like Jesus, to be like Jesus in the midst of pain and suffering. This means we vote biblically; we do all we can to limit human suffering.

Yet, as is the case with much of doctrine, truths are held in tension.

We do all we can practically, but we do not depend on any political power to bring heaven to earth. Our hope is not in men; it is in Jesus, the King. We refuse to allow our hearts to slip into idolatry by the elevation of political pundits; our hope and faith do not hang on the establishment of a political institution. We live to see a Kingdom established, its rule and reign realized by as many as possible. Let’s not allow a golden calf to be created in our hearts; Jesus alone deserves our worship.  As the Apostle John would say, let’s keep our hearts from idols.