I originally wrote this about 8-12 months ago.  It addresses the Religious Right’s militaristic approach to politics.  In the light of current events, I thought it’d be worth bringing up again.  It is written to Christians, from a fellow Christian.  It is also the tenth chapter in my book, Christian Candor.

Often times, we Christians are seen “rallying the troops” to support or oppose legislation, whether it be regarding homosexuality, abortion, or recently – healthcare. The purpose of this chapter is not to evaluate the importance of any particular legislative issue; however, I do want to explain why I believe we have an unhealthy focus on these efforts.

During His teachings, Jesus focused on the heart. The Pharisees were his biggest target of criticism. But why? These people were the most religious folks in the community. They were very involved in protecting the Jewish way of life in both social and political aspects. They assisted in teaching and interpreting the law of God, and they lived outstandingly moral lives. For example, when tithing they would not only give from their crop harvest, but also from the herbs they grew (that is as extreme as tithing from a quarter 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 stated, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices…but you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Mat. 23:23). There were several other times Jesus criticized them for neglecting justice and mercy.

Much of American Christianity is displaying the same symptoms of these Pharisees. We are treating people outside of the church as if they are the enemy! We act as if Washington DC is the battleground between the “Religious Right” and the rest of the world – as though it is our duty to ensure national morality through legislative action. It is sad to see Christians feel as though they are “doing their part” to change this country because they have contacted their congressmen. If God is calling you to contact those people, it is only a very small part of your greater purpose in this country.

There is no way we can change the heart of Americans 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. Jesus once said, “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Mat. 23:26).

***

Many make the argument that laws set the ‘moral tone’ of a country, and we should therefore make every effort to legislate morality. Though I agree laws can help to set the tone, I do not believe this approach to be very reliable.

Go to the Old Testament days with me, before the days when Israel and Judah had kings. God gave Moses his law, which begins in part in Exodus and is most heavy in Leviticus. 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 many of the sins (and a lot of it is considered controversial by today’s human-rights standards).

Now fast forward a few 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 Law never saved anyone back then, so I am unsure why we expect it to suddenly work in America.

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. The size of the Religious Right in America is shrinking as more and more young Americans are leaving or avoiding an extreme conservative approach. The religious community cannot count on forcing its legislative will upon America through sheer volume much longer (if at all anymore). While some find this loss of control to be terrifying, I believe the church can come out stronger because of it.

***

Jesus in all of his teachings clearly shows us that we are to love one another. If we want to see change in America, we must start with truly loving and caring for those inside and outside of the church. Without striving to touch the hearts of people, we will only be fighting an uphill battle that will not only result in us losing politically, but will result in the church being alienated as a hypocritical bunch of ruthless, war mongering, homophobic, hate-filled legalists (much like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time).

Americans are tired of the church forcing its will upon them, which is part of the reason behind the backlash against the Religious Right. Even if the religious community had its way and pushed every law through that it wants, we would still see no change in the hearts of Americans. Only a revelation of God’s love and grace can save America. Is that not what has saved each of us already in the Shepherd’s Flock? Now we each have the exciting opportunity to share His love with others as we go about our business each day.

If you feel God is calling you to political action, then may you go forth with His great blessing on what you are doing; I am certainly not trying to cause political apathy in the church. I believe that the church should vote, and we should be involved in politics; though our decisions should be informed and our allegiance should be to God and not to any particular political party. We must not neglect the “more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”

***

A brief, but important side 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 and/or betrayed and as a result, we have incorporated ungodly beliefs into our thought structure and closed off certain places in our hearts. This wounding often results in us feeling as though we must strive to please God and make Him happy.

I would like to challenge you to spend some time with God and do some soul searching. If you are like me and you are unable to walk on water or 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 inhibiting your ability to freely love and receive love from God, you will only get frustrated trying to love people on your own strength.

Last 5 posts by jeremy

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