Growth

The Religion of Politics

In Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace? the author writes of the personal grace that should resound in the lives of Christians. Over and over again, Yancey demonstrates that grace is the only option when one recognizes that we all suffer from the same condition – sinners, who apart from Christ have no recourse for heaven.

Later in the book, Yancey turns from the personal to the global. And when I write global, I mean quite literally. The author contends that many of today’s international issues have become politically associated with the “religious right”. And that in fighting for the political positions that concern them, many have seasoned the debates not with the personal grace that they’ve experienced, but with the ungrace of differences.

This discussion did not resound with me until I was listening to a sermon by a dear family friend, Ronnie Stevens. In his sermon on John 12:30-41, Pastor Ronnie reminded me that in Christ’s day, many of His contemporaries were expecting a political leader. One of the reasons that many struggled to believe that Jesus could be the Messiah was because He did not establish a political kingdom. The expectation was that God’s Chosen One would establish an unconquerable reign on Earth and Jesus, while He lived here, did not fulfill these worldly expectations.

Today many Christians once again try to make Jesus a political leader. Now, please recognize that as I write this brief treatise there are many things that can not be fully explicated. Many issues that Christians rally against have moral consequences and are misaligned with the Christian faith. But many political issues do not. And by engaging on these debates and attempting to align them with Christian precepts, we do a disservice to both our faith and its Founder. Separately, many issues are not political and yet Christians should be on the front-line of service. Before it was the Hollywood vogue to visit Africa, scores of Christian missionaries were taking care of the sick and dying there. Not yet on the political radar screen, they did it because that’s what their Savior called them to.

During His time Christ resisted all attempts to become a political leader. In our time, let us not try to foist upon Him the same earthly aspirations.

UPDATE – After posting the above, I read the following from Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership. It summarizes nicely what I’ve tried to convey:

Words like ‘right-wing’, ‘reactionary’, ‘conservative,’ ‘liberal,’ and ‘left-wing’ are used to describe people’s opinions, and many discussions then seem more like political battles for power than spiritual searches for truth . . . Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it , our sense of self is caught up in our opinion of a subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative (44, 45-47).

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Relationships

Indepedence Day

Ask any of my friends (and probably most acquaintances) to describe me, and you’ll most likely hear that I’m independent. And although I’ve disagreed with my friends descriptions of me (See “A Blog on Ambition“), in this instance, I concur. I’ve basically lived by myself since I was 20 and I am perfectly content doing things all by my lonesome if it’s something I want to do. The exception would be surfing – doing that independently just seems dangerous (Hint, hint – if someone is up for teaching me, I’m game). Maybe it;s being raised in a military family or maybe it’s just my nature, but for whatever reason, striking out on my own rarely daunts me. My independence has been a source of honor for me as I attempt to eschew the need for anyone or anything.

For awhile now I’ve thought that there was a spiritual side to this too. After all, I figured my independence was a sign of trusting God. And in a way it probably was, but not to the degree that I attributed to it. My attitude was “As long as I have God, I don’t need anything else”. And while that’s true, I think too often it led to the absurd posturing that “God and I had everything under control”. The truth was we didn’t have anything under control. He did. My independence had little to do with that fact. Relying on it was a matter of pride -not trust – and too often it caused me to miss out in the blessings of community. I’ve realized that I wasn’t made to do things on my own and too often, I’ve missed the joys that come from knowing and being known.

In his book, In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen relates that Jesus always sent out His disciples together – never alone. Whether during Christ’s earthly ministry when He sent out the seventy, or later when Paul and Timothy (among others) brought His message to Gentile communities, Christ’s disciples went in pairs. Being together enabled communal prayer, mutual encouragement, and shared burdens. Through their partnership, the disciples were able to better experience Christ’s expressions of love.


Nouwen argues that this practice should still be the case today. In fact, he extends this argument to demonstrate that it is only in dependent communities that we can fully experience one of the greatest joys in the Christian life – forgiveness and reconciliation. Without community, our struggles are our own and the joy of restoration is unshared. Through relationships with others, Christ’s grace is more fully manifest in our lives as we see His love expressed through them. Whether this is through the relationship of a spouse, family member or fellow Christian sojourner, embarking on the journey together provides assurance that we are following the right path. This assurance is only one of the blessings of community, but were it the only, it would surely be worth sacrificing our independence.

Postscript – In recent weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several young men (and one young women) serving in the armed forces. Despite a proud family history of military service, meeting these soldiers has brought me renewed appreciation for the sacrifices they are making. To them – and all members of the armed services here and abroad – thank you for your willingness to protect our freedoms, even at great personal costs.

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