John Adams and other founders of the United States feared that under a two-party system in politics the people would end up being polarized and divided. Well, like it or not, that’s what has transpired. And how could it be any other way, given human nature and the truth we Christians profess? Read the gospels, or Revelation, which is as much about division of opinion as any piece of literature could be! The division of mankind is as unavoidable as the dawn. Not only so, but it’s God’s prescription for humanity. Didn’t Jesus say, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword”? (Matthew 10:34).
The U.S. Revolutionary War-itself a fundamental and open division of political opinion-is won, the nation is founded, and the internal political division has set in. What do we do now? I’m not going to say that all on the Right of politics are right and all on the Left are wrong-they aren’t. But it’s a recognized fact that most people with faith vote “right”. So should the half of us on the “right” hand the nation to the half of us on the “left”…on a plate… without comment… and go quietly to the abortionist’s knife and suction pumps? Should we smile sweetly while those who work hard to overthrow all human dignity of marriage and sexuality get their way and our children? Should we take a bow with our hands behind our back while the champions of all that’s ungodly stuff moral anarchy and propaganda down our throats, and trash the man we elected to the once-hallowed office of President? I say NO!
We have the ability to help influence how millions of people are treated; what kind of society we have; whether godly standards are implemented or if immorality will dismantle our families and our homes; whether money will be used wisely or wasted; whether or not the nation and the world is secure and whether or not we have real freedom of speech or a creeping media hegemony, and a belief system attempting to shut down our minds and our way of life. Life is all about politics!
If we fail to engage, the enemies of all that’s right and all that is of God will not. Make no mistake, the ungodly and the anti-Christs of the world are increasingly proactive. Do we then shrink back and hand the nation…the world over to them, for fear of upsetting someone’s feelings? Do we keep pertinent information and the illumination of truth and logic to ourselves while others feed a pack of lies to all around us?
Whose world is it anyway? Didn’t God create, with the intention that mankind would dominate the earth? I’m not talking about a theocracy here, that’s the last thing we need: I’m saying that in a republic or as some call it a “democracy”, for which millions of young men and women have died and still fight to defend, we have as much right to take part in decision making and in influencing thought and opinion as does the abortionist, the socialist, the communist, the atheist, the gay and trans-gender, the Christ-hater and anyone else you can name. More than that, we have a duty to care about how all people are going to be treated in our nation, and about what kind of society our children will grow up in.
Some will say that the Bible doesn’t tell us to get involved in politics, but only be concerned with the spiritual. I don’t see how you can separate the two. Isn’t sexual immorality sin? Then isn’t it a spiritual matter as well as a physical one? So how can we, who have the ability and right to say something, stand back while some in our world promote gross immorality? Didn’t John the Baptist stand up to Herod for his immorality? Isn’t the murder of a man as spiritual as it is physical? So how can abortion, a physical act, not also be a spiritual matter? And how can we stand by silently while it goes on, supported wholeheartedly by one of the political parties?
I know that Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world”, and I know well that it isn’t-and thank the Lord for that. Jesus didn’t run for office or vote. But then, he wasn’t a politician, and there were no votes. There was no democracy, and there were no elections. But Jesus Christ let his opinion be known without reservation. He called the Pharisees-the politicians and bureaucrats of his day, “Whitewashed tombs!” (Matthew 23:27).
On another occasion, when Jesus had spoken very plainly to the Pharisees, the disciples tried to educate the Son of God in political correctness:
Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” (Matthew 15:12).
Hey Jesus! Watch your mouth-you might upset someone! Keep your opinions to yourself! You’re embarrassing us! You’re going to lose us some friends, and boy do we need friends!
To those wanting to let politics be run by the ungodly, I say read about any great person in the Bible and you’ll find someone confronting the ungodly of their day:
Moses confronted Pharaoh;
Daniel confronted Nebuchadnezzar;
David confronted Goliath;
Samuel confronted Saul;
The Baptist confronted Herod;
Elijah confronted Jezebel and Ahab;
Paul confronted Peter.
Painting by Osmar Schindler (1869-1927)
The book of Revelation is as much political as it is spiritual. Those who stand against God will have their own distinct political views-you can be sure of that, as will those they oppose. And don’t the references to “kingdoms” and their leaders refer to some sort of political structure gaining dominance?
There is no reasonable escape from politics. We either disengage and stick our heads in the sand, or we take what opportunity we have to influence as many as we can to turn against the ways of darkness, and the ways of bad logic. One side of the political world is working very hard-through education and all forms of media-to lead as many young people into a one-world, immoral, anti-Christ world as they can. Why should we not do our part to counter them? In fact, how can we not?
For God or for tyranny!
