Monday, August 20, 2007

not a citizen of this world

I copied the following post from someone's blog on Xanga (with permission). I personally tend to avoid politics - they mostly don't interest me, and I find them frustrating and frankly, mostly a waste of time, but could never really put my finger on the crux of why I felt that way. When I came across this post, I found it very insightful. I especially resonate with the fact that we, as Christians, must maintain our Kingdom citizenship first and foremost, above and beyond our citizenship of this world. I want to focus on not just 'controlling' sin, but offering freedom from it. I don't know if this will alienate any of my readers, but I must say, I found this post very articulate.


Should Christians Indulge In Dirty Politics?

Billery Clinton

Sure it's funny, but should Christians be involved in the petty mud slinging of American politics?

I swiped the political cartoons from different weblogs. One from a Christian's site, and one from a site where the owner has different beliefs. Can you guess which one came from the Christian's site? Please don't get me wrong I'm not saying that being a Christian means you have to be from one party or the other. For the record I've been a Democrat, then a Republican, and now I'm registered Independent.

I left the Republican party for two reasons. First conservative Christians have gone to far "up the Republican Party" if you follow my drift. During Bush's last campaign Pat Robertson said something along the lines of, "Even if George Bush does something wrong God wouldn't do anything about it." It's been a while since I read what he said, but that's the gist of it. That kind of thinking makes my blood run backwards! The Republican Party is not an expression of God's righteousness in America. God is not a Republican, and Conservative Christians who've got in bed with the Republican Party are not helping the cause of Christ. They are putting forth their own "Family values" agenda. Unfortunately, for Conservative Christians the party of choice isn't going to get them what they want. The Religious Right has blithely gone along hand in hand with the Republican Party without realizing they're being danced around by the Devil himself. And if you're thinking I lean more toward the Democratic Party you'd be dead wrong.

The two main planks near and dear to the Religious Right are abortion, and gay rights. The problem, for Religious Righters, is the heart and power of the Republican Party are typified by Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both leaders are pro-choice, and gay affirming. The Republican Party has hidden it's true stripes very well, and those "Family Values" planks in the Republican party? Those planks are the ones the GOP has put in the eyes of the Religious Right, to blind them to the truth.

And you can't blame the Republican Party. They are what they are. If Christians had been paying attention to something other than their own shallow agenda they would not have been blinded. And yes the Religious Rights's agenda is a shallow, pointless agenda. Are they wrong about abortion and homosexuality being sins? No, they are not wrong, but the way they're going about dealing with those issues is wrong.

Let's say for the sake of argument that the Religious Right got everything they wanted. Let's say that homosexuals, and abortion were shoved back in the closet. What would happen then? Would laws and Constitutional amendments stop gay people from being gay, and would abortions stop? You see Conservative Christians don't have any plan for how to reach and help gay people or abortion people. So the point is not to reach "sinners", but rather to control them. Jesus didn't come to control sin, but to do away with it. The agenda of the Religious Right is like trying to treat a brain tumor with aspirin. You can't cure the problem by merely treating the symptoms.

No amount of political power is going to accomplish God's ends. And Christians are called to do things differently. This nation is becoming more and more polarized every year. And Christians have a responsibility to be above the ugly mud slinging, character assassination, and partisanship the world indulges itself in. While we have a responsibility to be involved in politics, we also have a responsibility to remember we are citizens first and foremost of a kingdom not of this world.

Evil will prevail as long as good people continue to confront the problem with what amounts to merely cosmetic changes. Real change can be achieved though the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit only works with us when we choose to do things God's way, according to His plan and purposes.

That's my 2 cents,

Lonnie

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