TiL- Christians and Politics

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But I'm just thankful to be with you. And I'm going to try to have a good conversation tonight about Christians and politics and how we should view that and where our perspective is now, what should our perspective be.

We want to see a positive move forward, but we've yet to really see that. We've seen some ebbs and flows, ups and downs, but mainly we're concerned with the downgrade that we continuously see year after year, election cycle after election cycle.

We see more and more downgrade morally, ethically, just in every arena that we would love to see movement in the right direction. We see it seems like a downgrade. I want to turn my comments on here. So looking forward to any comments and conversations that we can have together.

Christians and Politics: Why the Church Should Engage

So let's begin. Let's dive right into it. This political thing. Should Christians be involved in politics? Boom. Church symbol. I think you're giving yourself away. I have an admin who is leaving a comment and it shows up as Truth and Love Network.

So I know it's one of my admins. But with the icons there, I think I know who is watching and who's giving us a fist bump and a church sign. So my opinion, my opinion is yes, Christians should be involved in politics.

And we're going to talk about that tonight. And brother, if you want to jump online, I can send you the link. Just let me know and you can join in the conversation. I'd love to have you on if you're available.

So where are we? So we're all in this together right now and this year and this time. We are the result. We are the, not the conclusion, but result is a good word. We're the result of those that have come before us.

Those that have taught us, those that have led us, those who have influenced us in how to think, what to look at. And that question right there, I'm sure comes from part of that indoctrination, that teaching, that leading that we've had.

But should Christians be involved in politics? And I see that question, you know, arising in us, stemming from this idea that we are, we are in a dualistic society. You have the kingdom of Christ and then you have this, this world that we live in.

And there are two different, two different things. And we've got to keep them separate. But as we've been learning about, learning from scripture, learning from eschatology in times and digging into all those scriptures, it seems to be coming together that we shouldn't have this dualistic mindset about us, about, you know, being focused on only one area.

I think God loves his creation. We're going to look at scripture here in just a few minutes, but we're going to see that he does more than just love his creation. There's so much more involved in him just loving his creation and the fact that we should be involved in it and be involved.

And politics is just one, one small aspect of his creation. But, but yeah, I think Christians should be involved in politics and that's kind of where we're headed tonight. Where are we in our thinking?

We're in our thinking. Let me post this up for those who didn't see it. There's the question. So I guess I'm going to come from a personal experience, personal perspective when it comes to politics and how I've viewed things, where I come from in my thinking.

So you think about, you think about candidates. You think about elected officials. You think about moral issues, stances that we take, issues that we are involved in, that we care about. We think about those things and I think about my perspective on those things.

And, you know, when it comes to politicians, when it comes to elected officials and me making a decision, I know that part of my family, well, all of my family that I can recall is, has always been really serious about electing the right person.

But I know that one of my, one side of my family in particular really got involved at least amongst us where we, where we researched and we had a list of the candidates and we had it marked out who we believe had the best views.

We wanted to make a wise and well-informed decision on who we voted for politically. And so when it comes to politics, you know, that was pretty much where we left it. We did the, we do, we did the best that we can as far as making that right decision on voting for the right candidate and doing our research and making the comparison between the candidates.

And of course, we, it seemed to always line up with one party. So the party played a factor in how we voted because we believe one party over another seemed to more consistently stand with the, with the values and views that we held.

There we go, brother. Yeah, like I said, if you want to jump on, just let me know. I know you've, you probably had a busy day preaching the word and enjoying your family and ministering to the church.

Love you, brother, and I appreciate you and appreciate what you do. So yeah, and there, once we've done that, which is a good thing, and I felt like it's always been a good thing, what we did, making our decision for that political candidate, that was pretty much it.

We felt like or we feel like we have done our duty. We have performed it to the best of our ability and that's it. And it's a similar case when it comes to those moral issues, those issues that we feel like are important to our society, those issues that those candidates run on.

So what's our relationship with those issues, with those views, with those bills that are in Senate, are in Congress that the judges are examining and making calls on? What's our relationship with those?

Our relationship, the relationship with those views and those issues seems to stop with our voting. And you're probably, you probably live in a similar experience that I do, where I, let's use abortion for an example.

So I feel strongly about the issue of abortion. So I want to vote for a candidate who holds similar values and viewpoints on that issue that I do. So I voted for that person because of the way they think, believing that when they take public office, they are going to fight for that issue.

And so I'm voting for those viewpoints as well, for those moral issues. I'm voting for those issues when I'm casting my ballot for that particular candidate. And so what's my relationship then with those issues, those views, those moral views?

It seems to kind of stop with that vote that I made for that political candidate because I can't really see much else that I can do politically except make the correct decision when it comes to voting.

And I'm sure that I'm not the only one in that position. I couldn't see any other options, any other directions to go other than making that critical, critical decision. And it's made out so often, actually every election cycle, it's made out like this is the most important election that has ever been.

If we don't make the right decision in this election, it's over. It's done. The world is going to collapse in on itself because this election this year, even though we said it last time, this one in particular is the most important that there ever was.

We say that every time. And they are important and our votes are important. But we feel like that's all we can do. So we put all our effort, some of us, into doing that. Some people put very little effort into who they vote for.

They lean toward a certain political party, take no interest in understanding who the candidates are. They just vote one ticket. And it doesn't matter who's running as long as they're red or blue. It doesn't matter.

And so you've got a lot of different perspectives, a lot of different approaches to being involved in politics. Even those who hold to a pessimistic eschatology, those who hold to the dualistic worldview that we live in, I would say even those Christians, to a degree, at some point, feel like voting is important because it affects them immediately.

It affects them in the here and now. And so there's that dualistic worldview that I'm talking about. It affects them, but it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the kingdom. So that's what I want to talk about tonight, how it affects the kingdom.

From the Christian perspective, when I'm voting, I want to vote, and it's interesting how we've come to this point where we believe that one party is synonymous with Christianity. Or one party or a candidate or being conservative, conservative politically, is synonymous with Christianity.

When that's not the case, and that's not true. It's not synonymous with one political party, with certain views that we have, or, and I can't remember the word that I just used. But Christianity is not synonymous.

And we need to think about how that's not synonymous from a Christian perspective. And it could be, or conservatism. Conservatism and a certain political party, we believe is synonymous with Christianity.

They go hand in hand, they align, they're holding hands when it's simply not the case. In fact, I do not believe that we would be seeing the continuous downgrade, the continuous moral failure across the board.

I believe that we wouldn't be where we are today if that were the case, if this certain political party was synonymous with Christianity, if being a conservative politically was synonymous with Christianity.

Because there are a lot of people who are conservative that are not Christian. There are people who can hold conservative values and not be Christian. There are people who live lifestyles that I believe will be contrary to the Bible, to Christianity, that are still conservative.

And I can think of people that are like that, that I'm aware of, that are living in lifestyles that we would consider not biblical, not Christian, but hold conservative values and vote for that conservative party.

And so we can't say that one certain party or being a conservative is synonymous with Christianity. We just can't say that. There's even those candidates that we work so hard to research and vote for.

And one of the parts of the litmus test that we look for is a possible profession of faith, a belief in Jesus. But what happens where we see, what we see in our world, what we see in our political society is those that we voted for, that we put in office, that have won from our side, that claim profession of faith in Christ, that claim to be Christian, do their politics where they are from a, how can I word this, from a non, not a very bold stance on the word of God or Christianity.

If you've spoken to somebody who's a professing Christian that we've voted, that's an elected official that we voted in office, you will often hear in that conversation, and I'm in no way judging the sincerity of their faith, the genuineness of their faith, that they're a believer, that they love Christ.

That part of it, I'm not speaking to, I'm not judging that part of it, not judging their heart on the matter. I'm simply looking at the conversations that I've had, looking at the evidence, looking at the downgrade in society where you have people that we voted for because part of our litmus test was that they be Christian or hold Christian values, so we get them in office and they get in office and we see in our society this moral downgrade, ethical downgrade in politics, in our society.

So where's the rub in all that? Well, instead of standing on the word of God, proclaiming Christ, being God glorifying, and being bold in that stand, they unfortunately play politics just like the rest.

You offer to them bills, legislation that are God glorifying, that are God glorifying, that are Christ honoring. You offer those bills to them and they will say, we just can't get the support for that, I can't put my name on it, I can't push that agenda, it just won't have any traction, it won't get anywhere because it won't have enough support, it's just gonna fall dead on the floor.

Should that be the pursuit of a Christian who is setting their minds on things above and not on things of this earth? If we have bills that are Christ honoring, Christ exalting, God glorifying, and they may not gain traction, they may not be popular, you may get blackballed, you may get eight-balled, whatever the term you wanna use, you may lose some of your clout, your positions.

Who are we trusting in? Are we trusting in our own wisdom? Are we trusting in our political prowess, our political schemes, political strategy? What are we placing our faith and trust in when we deny those bills and we go along with political strategy?

We are in the circumstance that we're in now. When those folks that we put into office profess Christianity, profess Christ, not judging their genuineness of their faith, not judging their sincerity, those that I've spoken with, I love dearly and I appreciate them a whole lot, but it's the political game that I wish we wouldn't play.

Instead of standing boldly despite the circumstances, because Christ said that here on this earth, there are gonna be trials, tribulations, and troubles. They hated me first, Christ said, so they're going to hate you.

And so if our eyes are set on things above, but in the political game, our eyes are not taken. Hey, Nancy, thank you for joining me. I really appreciate it. It's good to hear from you again. If our eyes are set on things above, then we're gonna stand boldly despite the circumstances.

And then those that we put in office that proclaim Christ, I'm sure they feel alone, that they won't have the support. So that probably plays a factor into their decision making. And so that brings us to where we are today in the downgrade, the moral ethical downgrade of politics in our society, because we vote in and we vote in, we vote in and nothing ever changes in the positive, Christ honoring direction that we want it to go.

In fact, it goes the other direction because we play politics. Hope you're doing well, Nancy. Hope you guys are doing really well. Bless you for stopping by and watching. Thank you for the comments. So, yeah.

The Moral Majority and Pragmatic Politics

So what's the answer? Let me discuss one more thing. We thought we had the answer as Christians, or at least some Christians thought they had the answer. If you're old enough or if you're a student of politics history, you may remember this name, this organization name.

They were called the Moral Majority. That was around, it said it began around 1979 and then it dissolved in the 1980s. It was founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University. You know, a great man of the faith.

He built the largest Christian university that there is in Lynchburg, Virginia. And so he did a lot of great things for Christ, but his strategy was to bring us together as Christians and be involved politically.

But it was through the Moral Majority. So in my perspective, in how I've seen it, what was the downfall in that? Why did they begin in 1979 to dissolve in the late 80s and they didn't achieve what they wanted to achieve and maybe they did in some circumstances, but it wasn't sustainable.

And that's why they had to dissolve. So what was the problem? In my opinion, instead of pursuing and being involved in politics according to Christ, it was according to the political strategy that we've created.

So the Moral Majority was just like any other group that tries to politically persuade a candidate. And how did we try to politically persuade a candidate? We would tell them, we have the numbers. Let us support you.

Let us help you get an office because we have the numbers and then carry our agenda. And because we have the numbers, we have the money. We'll support you. And so we were just like any other group or organization that tries to persuade political candidates with numbers and money.

They weren't focused necessarily on the candidate themselves, but just that the candidate, they wanted a candidate that could win. So it was all about pragmatism. They wanted a candidate that could win and they wanted to get that candidate.

They wanted to support that candidate and they wanted that candidate to support them and they did it with numbers and with money. And so it's just the very same political game, political scheme that they all use.

And they didn't focus on the faith necessarily. Now, I'm sure most of them would profess Christianity, but a lot of times I'm sure it was for political gain because the more majority had the majority.

They had a lot of numbers and they had a lot of money. And so professing Christ would be easy if you're politically minded because you're going to get a lot of support. You're going to get a lot of money and numbers and money talk.

In all areas of life and especially politics, numbers and money talk and that's what they had. But the reason it wasn't sustainable, the reason it didn't last was because we didn't focus on the candidate themselves being genuine, having a God-glorifying, Christ-exalting mindset in that office.

So that's why I believe we are where we are today. We're looking for, we play pragmatism, looking for the candidate that wins, that mostly aligns with our values. And if they say they're a Christian, that's a bonus.

But even if they don't behave always like a Christian, as long as they claim a little bit of Christianity, as long as they can win and they support some of our agenda, we have come so far in what we will support and who we will vote for just because we're so scared of opposition.

And we forget who is on our side. We forget who we've surrendered to. We forget who is the real king and the real ruler and the real creator. Of all things, when we're so scared of the other side, we'll vote for anybody on the other side.

Can you see that? Does that make sense? Am I kind of accurate in my understanding of my perception of what's going on? To me, that seems to be the case. That we vote pragmatically and our candidates are less and less and less claiming Christ because of our failure, because of the political game and strategy that we played for so long.

We put our own selves in this situation to where they don't even have to claim Christ anymore to win votes, as long as they have a few of our values in place. And still yet, it's mostly just talk, just to get elected.

That's the political game that we're in. That's the political playing field. And we see the results, the ethical and moral downgrade and failure all around us. So what's the solution? How can Christians be involved in politics and be involved in the right way, in the correct way, in the biblical way?

Christ Has Authority Over All Things

So we've got to change our perspective. We've got to change our mindset. And how we think about things before we will begin to make correct decisions in our voting, in our pursuit of politics ourselves.

So where do we go? We've got to go to God's word to get a proper perspective on things. And where I wanted to start is in Colossians chapter 1. We're going to look at two passages tonight. First one is Colossians chapter 1.

We're going to start in verse 13 and let me read it to you. For he, Jesus, rescued us from the domain of darkness. So that's kind of, in my opinion, that's, of course, the scripture speaking of, that's where we were apart from Christ.

Because of sin, we were in the domain of darkness, headed to hell. We were children of wrath, children of the Satan, of the devil. That's where we were. But that's kind of where we are politically. That's how we vote.

We're in that domain of darkness. And I don't want to make too much of a stretch there.

So I apologize.

He has transferred or rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. So now we're in a different kingdom, under a different ruler. Do you see that? Do you see where he's going?

So we were submissive under the constraint of Satan, the influence of Satan in his domain, in his realm. But now we've been transferred into a different kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. That simply means the one who has preeminence over all things. He holds the highest office, highest place of authority. This is getting really good.

Verse 16, For by him, Jesus, and I think I said Jesus in verse 13, for he rescued us, God rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. So I misspoke.

My apologies.

But in verse 16,. For by him, Jesus, all things were created. By Jesus, all things that were created. And I have to draw pictures in my mind. So I draw a circle and I put everything that was created in that circle and Jesus is outside that circle.

So everything in that circle, everything that was created, it was created by Jesus, both in the heavens, the visible places, in the heavens and on the earth, both realms, both places, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

Even, even the people or the supernatural in either realm that are in places of authority. He created them. All things have been created through him and not just through him, not just by him, but it says for him.

He is before all things and in him all things hold together. And that goes, we're speaking about politics tonight and this goes back to our, our fear of that one political side, that one political party.

And so therefore it causes us to, to compromise on our, our views on our candidate. It causes us to compromise and become pragmatic in our voting, in our politics because we have such a fear of one side holding office, one side getting in, that we forget that he, Jesus, is before all things and in him all things hold together.

So what should happen to that fear? He is also the head of the body, the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him and through him to reconcile all things.

Did you hear that? All things. Not just man, not just souls. It says all things, reconcile all things to himself, having made peace that the blood was crossed through him, I say, whether things on earth or in heaven.

So we're speaking of both realms and in both realms, it's all about Jesus. Everything was created by him, through him and for him and in him all things are held together. He is the preeminent above all those things.

He has authority above all those things in heaven and on earth, above all authorities in heaven and on earth and he is reconciling all things to himself, all things. Isn't this a powerful passage that should speak to how we think and how we how we digest, think through, contemplate, proceed.

It should affect our behavior, our actions when it comes to politics. We live in a dualistic mindset.

Where.

Christianity and the world, Christianity and politics, Christianity and this, they're two separate things and so we need to be, we need to go to church. We need to evangelize. We need to do missions but politics is for politicians.

Being a doctor is for being doctors. Insurance is for people who sell insurance. We think we live in two different worlds but Colossians chapter 1 says that he created all things by him, through him and for him and in him all things hold together and he's above all those things and he's reconciling all things to himself.

Not just souls through evangelism and missions and gospel presentations.

And.

And reconciling churches and believers but he's reconciling all things to himself. How can that not speak to our our work in politics, our view in politics and how we vote and how we pursue ourselves.

In politics.

I think it speaks heavily.

And greatly.

To how we should think and process and behave when it comes to politics. Now, if you flip over to Colossians, I'm going to stay in Colossians. I know I said two passages but we're going to look at one more in Colossians.

Some people might have a question. You talk about we we shouldn't view the world, view our circumstances dualistically in two parts. One has no bearing on the other because Jesus or Paul says here in Colossians in chapter 3 starting in verse 1, therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above.

So and I've been saying that seek the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God that place of authority that we've already talked about. Now, here's the key verse. Here's where some people may have questions.

Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 set your mind on things above not on things that are on the earth.

So.

They'll say see there. There's that dualistic mindset that we need to have. We need to just keep our eyes on things above keep our eyes on spiritual things on evangelism on discipleship on sanctification and justification and your spiritual growth and the local church.

Those are the things that we need to focus on. That's what Jesus says. That's what Paul is telling us set our minds on things on things above not the things that are on the earth. So how would I answer that question?

I think Paul himself answers that question because in verse 17 if you read all through and you get the verse 17, I think Paul answers that question from the perspective that I'm coming from from the interpretation that I'm coming from.

So.

While we're here on this earth, we're doing stuff, right? We're doing things. What are we doing? Paul says whatever you do does that include just spiritual things just church things just fellowship things just evangelism things just missions things.

No, Paul says whatever you do in word or in deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks through him to God the Father. So I think that is what Paul is talking about when he says keep or set your mind on things above and not on things that are on the earth.

So while you're here on this earth whatever you're doing if you're setting your mind on things above the things that you are doing you're doing them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks through him to God the Father.

I think that's what it means to set your mind on things above while you're living and doing and breathing here on this earth is doing them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that makes sense.

And so that would include that would include politics. So we're approaching we're beginning now to approach politics from a different perspective from the perspective of Christ.

So.

We've got.

We've got political offices. We've got political booths where we make our decisions where we vote for a candidate. We've got candidates. We've got elections. We've got laws. We've got legislation. We've got judges.

We have sheriffs. We have all these elected officials all these electable positions laws, legislation, bills judges all this this whole arena every aspect of politics that are in that arena. We're going in that direction.

And we're going in that direction of politics with a different mindset now. We're going into that direction of politics with the mindset of Colossians chapter 1 and chapter 3 verse 2 that Jesus created it all.

It's by him through him and for him and he's over it all and he's reconciling all things to himself. So we're removing ourselves we're removing that perspective that we just need to stay in this bubble of being spiritual that only singing hymns and sermon and going to church and evangelism those are the only spiritual things that there are and I need to stay in that bubble of spiritual things when Jesus is reconciling all things and whatever we do we do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and so that encompasses that makes everything to have a spiritual aspect that puts all things underneath Jesus Christ in submission to him.

Does that change your perspective? Does that begin to change how you approach politics how you view politics coming at it as if it is something that is underneath the authority of Christ that he's created that he is reconciling to himself.

That's what we want to do. We want to change our perspective. And so let's go to our our last passage that we want to look at. This passage is a very popular passage and we've used it a lot here on this podcast especially when it comes to evangelism and missions.

The.

The command that Christ has given us his disciples and one of the clear things from his word that we should be doing Matthew chapter 28 and is labeled the Great Commission.

And so.

With our dualistic mindset that we need to stay in the spiritual bubble we take this verse and interpret it within that spiritual bubble and so it only has this spiritual churchy.

Interpretation.

That is only about missions and evangelism. But if we remember Colossians and I'm sorry to repeat it, but it's so good to remember that Jesus created all things.

There.

They're created by him through him and for him. He's above all things. He's preeminent. He has authority over all things and he's reconciling all things to himself and here in Matthew chapter 28 he is commanding us to be a part of that be a part of that reconciliation.

So listen to Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 19 and 20 from that perspective now taking ourselves out of that narrow interpretation of just you know, being about spirituality about evangelism about discipleship about sanctification discipleship and moving it into where it encompasses not just those things but all things.

All right.

So we're Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 19 and 20. Listen to it from that perspective and Jesus came up spoke to them saying all authority. This is going to sound familiar. All authority has been given to me.

In heaven.

And on earth go therefore and make disciples.

Of.

Of who of what Jesus says go make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and lo I'm with you always even to the end of the age.

So.

Here it is. Jesus has authority over all of his creation.

In heaven.

And on earth. And so this part of reconciling all things to himself. He has now brought us into that agenda of reconciling all things to himself. And so Jesus is very specific here. He's very clear here of what that mission is is to go and make disciples.

Of.

All nations nations.

And.

As we've been in our spiritual bubble we've narrowed that interpretation of nations to mean well, he's speaking Jesus speaking of the individual people in that nation. And yes, there are individuals in that nation but he wants us to baptize the nations.

That's huge. That's a huge paint stroke. He's painting with a broad brush and I don't think it just encompasses the souls of the individuals within that nation. He says baptize the nations baptize them into the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Yes, baptize with water by immersion, I would say individuals when they profess faith in Christ when they repent of their sins their faith and trust in Jesus Christ but also bring into submission. Baptized into politics baptized into your medical practice.

Your.

Whatever your job is your insurance salesman your custodian work.

Your.

Secretary work.

Your.

Marketing work.

Your.

Security work whatever your job is we are to baptize it into the name of Jesus the Father Son the Holy Spirit. The nations encompasses all those things and especially the governing authorities. So how do we do that?

How do we how do we baptize the nations? How do we baptize politics in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit? It means that we we've got to be sending genuine believers into that field. So what's our identity first?

First and foremost, what's our identity? Our identity is in Christ, right? So I'm not I'm not a doctor first that happens to be a Christian. I'm not a teacher that happens to be a Christian. I'm not a insurance salesman.

Custodian.

A preacher whatever job that you have whatever jobs out there. You're not that job first that happens to be a Christian. Our identity first and foremost is a Christian. And so it's okay to teach our children.