Often times, we Christians are seen "rallying the troops" to support or oppose legislation, whether it be regarding homosexuality, abortion, or for some most recently, healthcare. I am not here to debate whether or not this activity should be pursued by Christians; what I am here to do is explain why I believe we have an unhealthy focus on these efforts.
During Jesus’ teachings, he was always focused on the heart of the people. The Pharisees were always his biggest criticism. But why? These people were the most religious folks in the community. They were very involved in protecting Judaism from the smallest social areas to the largest and smallest political aspects. They lived outstandingly moral lives; one example being that they would tithe from their biggest harvests as well as the little herbs they grew (that would be about as extreme as tithing off of the change you find in a parking lot). So, why did Jesus give these seemingly righteous guys such a hard time? It was because their hearts were in the wrong place. As Jesus aptly put it, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (Mat. 23:23).
I believe that much of American Christianity is beginning to look a lot like the Pharisees. We are beginning to treat people outside of the church as if they are the enemy! We act as if Washington is the battleground between the “religious right” and the rest of the world. It is sad to see a Christian feel like they are “doing their part” because they have contacted their senators, their representatives, and the President. Quite frankly, if God is calling you to contact those people, it is only a very small part of what you are supposed to be doing.
Going back to Jesus’ focus on the heart, I am reminded of when he said, “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Mat. 23:26) There is no way we can change this country through legislation. We must understand that the only way to bring change in America is to reach people with God’s love and then let Him change their hearts (the inside of the cup and dish). Fighting a political battle will only be a losing game in the end as the votes of politicians are simply going to be a reflection of the state of the heart of America.
Go to the Old Testament days with me, before the days where Israel and Judah had kings. God gave Moses his law (which is laid out in Exodus through Deuteronomy. The law (since it was given by God) was the most absolutely moral law possible. There was no room for sin, and punishment was severe for disobedience.
Now fast forward several hundred years to the time of the kings. What happened then? The law was still in place, but the hearts of the people changed. Despite the absolutely moral law that God established over the land, the people were extremely immoral (even sacrificing their children to pagan idols).
The purpose of the law was to show mankind just how corrupt we are, and that no matter how hard we try, we can never live up to the immaculate standards of God. Paul writes that the law brings death, but that God’s grace brings us life (Rom. 7:5, 8:2, 1Cor. 15:56). What I’m trying to say is this: The Law never saved anyone, so I’m not sure why we expect it to suddenly work in America.
Jesus in all of his teachings clearly shows us that we are to love one another. By receiving God’s love and passing it on to everyone we meet, then (and only then) will we see any kind of change in America. Without striving to touch the hearts of people, we will only be fighting an uphill battle that will not only result in us losing, but will result in the church being alienated as a hypocritical bunch of ruthless, war mongering, homophobic, hate-filled legalists (much like the Pharisees).
In summary, all of us need to spread His love to everyone we come in contact with as if there is no tomorrow! If you feel God is calling you to political action, then may you go forth with His great blessing on what you are doing; but do not neglect the “important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”
An important note:
In order for us to love one another, we must first be able to freely receive love from God. Most of us have areas in our lives in which we were wounded/betrayed and we have incorporated ungodly beliefs into our thought structure and closed off certain places in our hearts. I would like to challenge you to spend some time with God and do some soul searching. If you’re like me and you don’t walk on water and see Revelations-like visions every time you come out of your prayer closet, then you may not be sure where to start. One book that personally helped me tremendously was Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship by Jack Frost. If you have anything blocking or partially blocking your ability to freely love and receive love from God, you will only get frustrated trying to love people on your own.
A link to the above mentioned book by Jack Frost:
http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Slavery-Sonship-Jack-Frost/dp/0768423856
Absolutely. If anybody has read unChristian, it's the definitive work that shows we've totally botched being the salt and light to a hurting nation.
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of that book prior to your mentioning it, but I'll look into that.
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