The gospel always calls us to do more than just choose sides.
There are so many issues dividing our country right now—abortion, gay marriage, capital punishment, gun control, universal health insurance, taxes—and in Washington, our legislators are divided right down the middle on everything according to party lines. But this is exactly what the problem is with politics: there are only two sides to everything. Any thinking person knows this can’t be true. There are nuances, subtleties and compromises everywhere, and yet the choice still comes down to one side or the other. Too much is at stake to cross party lines. And with little kindness and civility in the middle, the hope for gentle debate and reaching a more complicated, but equitable consensus is unlikely.
Where do Christians, or more importantly, where does the church fit into all this? Well, unfortunately the church has taken sides along with everyone else and lost its authority to speak into the deeper levels of these issues. The gospel, which values every human being and every human being’s right to freedom, justice and equality has lost its middle ground. While the truth should be speaking into both sides, it is being heard only in one.
But this doesn’t mean you and I can’t be wiser as individuals and act more responsibly with the truth. We need to always go deeper than just choosing sides. This will allow us to reach across the middle and value those who would otherwise be our enemies. We must remember these are real people we are talking about—people who like us, need Jesus. Making an enemy of someone for whom Christ died is not consistent with the message of the gospel.
This may not be able to be accomplished on a large scale but we can make a difference on a smaller personal scale where we live and work. We can reach across and value those on all sides of an issue. We can represent the love of Jesus to everyone. And we can listen and learn even from those with whom we might disagree.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:32-36)
John Fischer The Catch 
After seeing the devisiveness that political involvement can bring to the church this is like a breathe of fresh air. Spoke up and said that what they were doing went against everything I believe as a Christian and have not been back. When hearing Christians say, “I hate Obama.”, something is wrong. There are elements infiltrating our churches and it needs to be stopped and called what it is: EVIL and certainly does not show the love of God.
Amen!
John, do you mind if I post this on our church newsletter?
Go right ahead. It would be nice if you included the website http://www.fischtank.com and encouraged people to sign up for the Catch.
Sorry 4 making this comment sooo long: Yet ohhhh brother John, I cannot thank you enough for this message this morning! What great things and thoughts to start my day, I praise the Lord for such a man as you and this message! I too just love the verses you quoted to back-up today’s devotion… simply becauz as i was reading this, the thought came to my mind a few times, as in wat verses will be used to “back this up” – And sure enough, those where just the perfect verses for me to read, again very simply becauz they hit me like a ton on bricks, thinking why oh why haven’t i ever thought about applying those verses in such a manner – So again my dear brother in the Lord, even though we have had some “diferences” yet you again drew me into a closer relationship w/ our Lord this morning and 4 that, I thank you… 🙂
PS in ending I’ve thought of two more verses that maybe appiled to today’s message: “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and copmasions every man to his brother. Zechariah 7:9 And maybe this too: (so one out of the Old Test. & this one out of the New Test) “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” (James 4: 10-12)
Thanks John for reminding us that the truth is what is important. And we need to get that truth to everyone with whom we live and interact. We need to LIVE the truth on a daily basis so everyone will see Jesus in us.
Off topic for a moment: my baseball team will be playing your baseball team this weekend. Should be some good games. Go Braves!!
Thank you for putting into words the thoughts that I had during our recent Canadian election. We need to be Christ-like in our attitudes toward politicians as well as those we meet face-to-face. How easily we get caught up in the ‘sides’ of an issue instead of looking for the wisdom in each side. How readily we begin to put down the ones on the ‘other side.’ Instead we should learn from each other and choose the highest from both sides or even better, look higher to an even better way.
Thanks for the inspiration you so often give my days.
Amen, Brother John. Maybe this is why Claremont University became Claremont Lincoln University where Jews, Muslims, and Christians study together in their prospective seminaries to become leaders in their faith communities. Could this decision through the generosity of two Methodist be a light in the darkness of the world?
One of the great things about Ronald Reagan was the fact that he was respected and liked by both Republicans and Democrats. I think that speaks to the man’s character, but I also think it can partly be explained by the fact that he started out as a Democrat and ended as a Republican. We’ve made a similar journey, spiritually, in that we all started out as sinners – dead in our sins, as a matter of fact – and Christ has taken us “across the aisle” into life and sanctification. So we should have no problem seeing the other guy’s side because we’ve been there ourselves. I think when we have problems seeing the other person’s side of an argument it’s because we’ve forgotten where we came from. As Paul said, “Christ came into the world to save sinners, of which I am chief.” Paul didn’t forget – let’s not either.
I also need to point out that Paul’s identification as a sinner was present tense. It’s wasn’t just that he’s “been there,” he “is there.” There needs to be an understanding about our sinfulness that is present tense. Otherwise, God’s grace is something of the past. You might cease being a Democrat when you become a Republican, but you never cease being s sinner in need of God’s grace and mercy. An alcoholic never stops being an alcoholic; he just doesn’t drink.
This, along with degradation of women is the reason we left the church. Thank you, John.
I hope you haven’t left the Lord. If you haven’t, there is still a “church” somewhere for you.
i did not have the “warm and fuzzies” reading the Catch as other commentors did. I do think the scripture at the end is very apropos for those in congress/politics (me/us). My son is graduating from college this weekend and i’ve been “brewing” on what how to encourage him. 1Cor 13 kept popping into my mind….faith, hope and love but the greatest is love. My lack of warm and fuzzies while reading is i worry that those of us frustrated by a world “talking love” but clearly demonstrating otherwise forget that love and loving can be hard and stern. I think of Jesus with the Pharisees and at times His followers. Everyone wants the country’s woes fixed as long as it doesn’t effect my bottom line. Our “peace and love” generation didn’t change much. *sorry for the ramble* i’ll end with a quote when humility, personal sacrifice and widom were encouraged….
“It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.” –John Adams, Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1756
Good, and great quote. Thanks. We do need to be careful how we apply Jesus’ harshness towards the Pharisees. Just because he was hard on the Pharisees doesn’t mean we can apply this angry Jesus to anybody we don’t like. The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. He was impatient with them because they had the law and the prophets but they couldn’t see and worse yet, they were keeping everyone else from seeing too. They were the blind leading the blind. They were religious leaders who should have known better. Modern examples of Pharisees are going to be more likely found in churches than in politics or political discussions.
Thanks for the thoughtful words John. I recently ran across an interesting group called Consistent Life (www.consistent-life.org). They seem to be able to make a statement regarding their pro-life stance in a non-partisan way.
This reminded me of Shane Claiborne’s book “Jesus for President”. he autographed my book with something similar to this phrase, “Enough with the donkey and the elephant. My allegiance is with the Lamb!”
i luv this: “… My allegiance is with the Lamb!”” and add an Amen to it.