On Politics and Political Positions
As a result of the U.S. healthcare debate and vote, there has been a lot of Jesus follower jumping in on one side or the other of the issue. Although I disagree with Greg Boyd on a number of topics, I believe he captures the heart of what our view towards politics and political positions should be.
The political system will always try to lure us into believing that our particular way of doing politics is the ‘Christian’ way and tempt us into placing our trust in (what we think is) the wisdom and righteousness of our political positions rather than in the power of self-sacrificial love.
When Christians begin to think this way, it inevitably divides the church, since the ambiguity of politics is such that on most issues, good and decent people can and do disagree. If I naively pronounce that my views are the ‘Christian’ views, then your views must be judged to be ‘un-Christian’ if they disagree with me. This is arrogant and naive. It’s also unbiblical. Jesus called both Matthew, a tax collector, and Simon, a Zealot, to be his disciples. Tax collectors and zealots were at opposite sides of the political spectrum in the first century. Yet we don’t read a word in the Gospels about whose views Jesus thought were most correct, for the Kingdom he came to establish is “not of this world” (Jn. 18:36).
Even more importantly, when followers of Jesus get co-opted by the political system it distracts us from the Kingdom work we’re called to do. To the extent that we place our trust in exercising power over others, we stop trusting our mandate to exercise power under others through sacrificial service. Paul warns us not to get too involved in the affairs of the world, including its politics, but to always focus on pleasing our commander (2 Tim. 2:4)…. We who follow Jesus must always remember we belong to a radically different country with a radically different King who offers radically different solutions to the problems of life. We are missionaries in whatever earthly kingdom we happen to find ourselves in. We are citizens of heaven before we’re citizens of any earthly kingdom (Phil. 3:20).
My prayer is that as followers of Jesus our discussion around the healthcare issue or any political dialogue will be tempered by what Mr. Boyd shares.
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Tags: Christians, Greg Boyd, Healthcare Reform, Politics
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:14 am
On Politics and Political Positions, how should we as Jesus followers view the healthcare debate — http://bit.ly/antsEq
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March 22nd, 2010 at 10:37 am
Amen! Very appropriate to post this today Rick.
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:37 am
Fantastic perspective. It put into words what has trouble my heart but I was struggling to express. Thanks.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:09 am
Thanks Linda.
Jeff, good to see you pop on over here and commenting.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:19 am
Rick, I am still resonating with my sister, who was praying and fasting over the weekend because she is so sick of people not telling the whole truth. Until we can get to the place where we are willing to hear the truth from all points of view (instead of the spin from all points of view), we will continue to be able to put people in boxes and label them. And that is, by definition, to not hear the truth.
I mourn for the process I have watched these past months — talk about the quintessential paradox: attempting to lift up one segment of humanity by breaking down and controlling another segment. It grieves me.
We are accountable for how we do what we do … and this has just been ugly.
Thanks for being a light for peace and love, brother.
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
On Politics and Political Positions http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159
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March 22nd, 2010 at 2:50 pm
On Politics and Political Positions from Rick Meigs, the @blindbeggar: http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159
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March 22nd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
How true Peggy. Got me thinking how not telling the whole truth is most often part of the spin of politics which stand in contrast to how we as followers of Jesus should operate.
March 22nd, 2010 at 3:22 pm
…exactly, Rick. Isn’t it the saddest thing when Christians don’t recognize the truth and don’t recognize the spin. Discernment is desperately lacking, this old abbess says!
March 22nd, 2010 at 8:42 pm
If you are serious about politics and a Christ-follower would you please read this? http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159 Some good thoughts.
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March 22nd, 2010 at 10:13 pm
RT: @miccarpenter: On Politics and Political Positions http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159 /// a very good and timely article. You should all …
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:14 pm
RT: @miccarpenter: On Politics and Political Positions http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159 /// a very good & timely article. U should all read
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March 22nd, 2010 at 10:18 pm
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March 23rd, 2010 at 7:30 am
On Politics and Political Positions http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159
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March 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 am
A good view of politics http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159
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March 23rd, 2010 at 11:55 am
[...] March 23, 2010 Kingdom Work. Posted by barryhuffman under Christianity Leave a Comment A few posts back I commented on what the gospel is. Is it the Gospel of Eternal Life after death that seems to be laid out by Paul in Romans? Or is it the Gospel of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God in the here and now? I am strongly moving [more accurate to say - have moved] towards the second definition, but am, and have been for quite some time, wrestling with the idea of ‘Kingdom Work’. “it distracts us from the Kingdom work we’re called to do.” read more [...]
March 24th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
On Politics and Political Positions http://blindbeggar.org/?p=1159
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