I try to avoid posts like this, but I feel a little fiesty and a little judgemental (Even though I'm truly trying not to be the latter).
The American Government is a Godless institution that has made itself God.
"Once Abolish The God And The Government Becomes The God"
- G.K. Chesterton
Its an Idol. One that promises provision, safety and security by faith in it when our faith should be in God.
The whole method of being elected as head of it and then being successful as head of it is reduced to verbal sleight-of-hands, straight up lies, deception, tell-em-what-they-want-to-hear, and who can come up with the best smear ads.
Government is the EXACT example of humans taking things into their own hands.
Our Government does NOT seek to Glorify God, in fact, our government has done everything to keep God out.
And they have. And it is Godless.
So when this Godless institution does things like wage wars to provide safety for us and justice for them, they do it in their own name and not in the name of the Lord.
So when you kill in your own name, you are a murderer.
Some vote for a candidate because of the tax cuts, economic plans, and social security issues that they will implement. Really? So if candidate X gets elected and your taxes go up, God won't be able to provide everything you need? Or perhaps just everything you want? Of course! You MUST vote! If your Taxes arent cut, or heaven forbid, raised, then your quality of life will go down! You'll have to actually trust God because you'll have less money to put your faith in! So Vote Vote Vote!!!!!
Some vote for a candidate because of his plan to legislate morality. And of Course EVERY time you make it illegal to do something, people immediately repent of it. Like those homosexuals and people who abort babies. Making it illegal always softens their hearts and never hardens them more. It truly solves the problem. Thats why I'm proposing that we illegalize anger, lust, heresy, alcoholism, pride, cussing, cheating, apathy and masturbating. This way, all those people who did these things before can now become Christians. Thats why Jesus came, to tell people to either quit it, or he'd just make it illegal. Ya know, to bind people to the law.
Some vote for a candidate because of the way he is going to help the poor and needy. Instead of helping people themselves, they elect a candidate who will do it best for them. Let the institution take care of it. This way, people have their needs met by an institution who doesn't give glory to God. Now they can focus on more important things like having their taxes cut so they can have more stuff and stopping two guys from having sex. (I will say, it is better an institution does good than no good done at all, its the institution behind it that I question . . .)
Some vote because everyone says that they should. Or because everyone does.
So I wonder, when Jesus says in John 18 that his, "Kingdom is not of this world" meaning that our kingdom is not of this world either, that we try to exercise our convictions by supporting something that is anti-kingdom. While it may have glimpses of our kingdom, or try to potray itself as our kingdom, it is very much not our kingdom. So why would we be involved in something that is anti-God in its actions, systems, and beliefs instead to seeking to bring the true kingdom to earth?
Jesus didn't try to accomplish things through the politics of his day, so why do we? Jesus wasn't anti-politics, and neither am I, he just focused on the TRUE kingdom and not a fractured, sinful, fallen attempt of humans taking things into their own hands.
So why so much energy into something that is not Gods Kingdom?
I'm not perfect. Even when addressing the roots of the issues I have against the government I fall horribly short and end up hypocritical. I apologize for the sarcasm . . . it is sometimes the best expression.
Above all, I do believe that pursuing politics is a step in the wrong direction. Both Democrat and Republican, while they may steal our lingo, say nothing and do nothing about our true Kingdom.
See my friend Gregg for more.
This below is up to you to decide if this helps or hurts my point . . .
1 comments:
Hmm...lots of food for thought. It's nice to hear from you--parallels things I'm trying to sort out.
I think I understand a lot of what you were saying (perhaps I'll have to see your face to fully track with you).
You said you weren't anti-political. However, based off your post, it definitely seems like you could be anti-political
--that or you just don't know how to reconcile the teachings of Jesus with modern day politics.
Am I just reading it wrong? However, who can really reconcile all of it? Christians have struggled with those same questions for centuries...
Personally, I get hung up on the godless part. The godless part (meaning immoral/doesn't recognize god) seems like your whole basis for steering clear of politics. Yes, the system is totally broken. But everything is broken. Everything. Every person, every institution made up of people, everything.
I'm not convinced that
brokenness/godlessness means that we disengaged from politics. If we disengaged everytime we encountered depravity/self-focus/self-protection/etc.,
we wouldn't be able to live! We'd have to move to a hut in the woods or something and even that wouldn't work.
To recap:
Are politics the answer? No.
Are they big-time flawed? A big fat yes.
Do we continue to engage with the messiness that is this world? I would say so. We don't have to be best friends with politics
but maybe we could still exchange a hello every once and awhile.
As far as celebrity plugs, no thanks.
We should dialogue--I'd be interested to hear more.
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