Humility Over Politics 

2 Chronicles 7:14New International Version (NIV)

" if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

In my current sermon series we are talking about rising above politics. This scripture holds some principles for us in finding our healing. Political parties and our country are broken right now, and contrary to what many believe, there is no man or woman that has the power to heal our land. Sunday, I spent a lot of time speaking about humility. Since then I have begun to wonder about how Jesus dealt with politics. I always thought he avoided politics but in reality he had various political people around him. Politics was a daily reality for him, just like it is for us. Take a look at some of his disciples.   

Simon the Zealot - This is not Simon/Peter but another one of his disciples. If this Simon was the kind of Zealot we believe he was, he was one of the most radical of political people.  The Zealots refused to pay taxes, and wanted war with Rome. His identity was so married to his political ideas that it was part of his name. Jesus definitely was not a war monger, but I wonder how long it took for Simon to let go of his political ideas?

Matthew the Tax Collector  - It is amazing to think that Matthew and Simon could be in the same room. Tax collectors worked for Rome. While the Zealots worked to defeat the system, tax collectors benefited from it. Often they would take extra money from the people, and Rome looked the other way. 

The "Regular Joes" - Peter, James, John and Andrew - These men were fisherman, blue collar, the regular guys. You would think that they were the least political, but we find that not to be true. It was these men who argued about who would be greatest in Christ's kingdom. They could have been thinking, "about time the average guy gets an opportunity". These would be the guys that were tired of the politicians (or rulers). They thought Jesus was going to bring change, and make things better. They misunderstood his mission. 

All of these men were missing one of the most important ingredients for healing: humility. 

Jesus states that the greatest in his kingdom would be the servant of all. So here are my humility questions:

1. Are we willing to relinquish control? Simon wanted to fight for his rights but Jesus wanted him to lay down his life. Matthew had a nice life working for the state, but Christ called him to give it up. Maybe we will have more influence on people when we lay down our lives for them, instead of screaming at them about who to vote for. Can we trust that Christ can bring healing to our lives and our land, as we serve others?

2. Are we willing to admit that our candidate is not the answer? We all should vote and our vote should reflect who we are and what we believe. Candidates, however do not bring healing to our land -  God does. God has chosen his primary vehicle of change on earth to be the church. My candidate did not win in the primaries, but if he did he would not be able to heal our land. Peter, James, John, and Andrew lost their political gamble when Christ died on the cross. They were discouraged and disillusioned. The resurrected Christ however, made them leaders in the church, not through political parties, but through supernatural power. This is where real change comes from. 

James 4:1-3New International Version (NIV)

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

This scriptures from James is sobering when it comes to politics. It shows us that most of what get angry about is not righteousness, but rather our own desires. Are we trying to advance His kingdom, or are we trying to create the America that we want? Carnal means do not accomplish godly ends. 

We once had a newly converted woman attend our church. Her family almost stopped her from coming to church because they though we would make her a Republican! May seem a little funny but I wonder how many people reject the gospel because we have been so affiliated with political parties. The early disciples had a diversity of political opinions and Jesus wasn't interested in changing their parties or their votes. All of them had to learn humility regardless of their political beliefs. Our churches need to have room for a variety of political beliefs. We do not need to unify around temporary political candidates or parties. We unify around Christ, His kingdom and His mission. 

The next president will not heal our land, neither will gender bathroom issues, gay marriage, saying Merry Christmas, or Supreme Court Justices. While these issues are important, it will be our humility, our dependence upon Christ, and the laying down of our lives for the world, that will bring change and healing. I for one, am tired of looking for answers from the next politician when the answer is right in front of us.

 2 Chronicles 7:14

.Blessings!

Your Vote is Your Voice, Not Your Party's

This blog was a response to someone who asked me about my response to Walker's and Cruz's speeches at the RNC convention is 2016. The person who asked me the question asked also about a Ross Perot situation. She implied that people voting for Ross Perot stole the election from George HW Bush. This is a difficult question. I believe however, that voting your conscience is more powerful in the long run than voting your party. Here are 3 illustrations that point to why.

1. Socialist – The socialist political party has been part of our system for decades but no one took them seriously. They were faithful to their third party vote, while they worked their philosophy at the local level (a philosophy I do not believe in). The Democratic Party (DP) saw this and started moving toward this group of voters. Now the DP is pretty much a socialist party. So my first question is, what would have happened if socialist were not so committed to their cause? Would they have changed the DP?

2. African Americans – Many African Americans are concerned over socialist policies from the DP that they feel have ripped apart the African American family. When they stand up against it what happens? They often get ostracized. Why? Because the DP has told the African American community that they have no other place to go. People on the right see this as a gross injustice. Yet the message the GOP is giving to Christians, Conservatives and other groups is the same – “You have nowhere else to go.” This is nothing short of manipulation.

3. Car Dealers – The DP and GOP are private political parties selling a product. The conventions are 4 day infomercials. That is all they are. Would we accept this kind of marketing from a car dealership? If Red car company pointed out to us that while it is true that their cars have killed 10 people, the blue car company has killed a 100 people, would we buy their red car, or would we look for a car from a completely different company, neither the red or the blue? Would it matter how popular the red and the blue car companies were?

While I really respect Walker and others who make statements like this, Walker is a reluctant salesman for a private political party. His best sales line was “We are bad but not as bad as or competition”. This decision however, is way more important than car. It is decision over who will be the leader over the free world. “We are not as bad as the other guys” is just not a good enough argument for me.

Our vote is not always about winning and loosing, its about making our voice heard. When a private political party tells you they are your only choice, and you believe them; they have successfully silenced your voice. As far as Ross Perot, the "product" was seen as weak. People were not happy with George HW so they looked for an alternative. Perot could not have run against Reagan because he was seen as a stronger "product". The responsibility for loosing falls on George HW and GOP, not Ross Perot or the people who voted for him.

I am trying to take my vote prayerfully and seriously. Some people are looking at the red car and saying “this is the best car I’ve ever seen”, others feel “this is the only car I can buy”. I understand both of these positions (the second more than the first). There is nothing in the constitution that stops me from looking for another alternative. Hillary does not get an extra vote if I vote third party. We only have two parties because WE have decided we only have two parties. The country, the GOP and the DP in my view are all broken. We didn’t get here over night, and things will not be solved in this election. The best we can do is pray for direction and vote our conscience. This is my little voice in a sea of voices. Its time for unity around principles, not parties.