Hello everyone! I want to start today’s blog with a few Bible verses:
Joshua 5:13-14; Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man (Jesus or perhaps an archangel) was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.”
Mark 12:14-17; They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? “Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.
Please read those again. What is the overarching theme? If you guessed that God is not on any man’s particular political side you are correct. God (and his angels) are on the side of what He absolutely knows to be right. He did not send Jesus to Earth to take sides either as you see in Mark 12. Jesus does not and never will take sides. He had multiple opportunities in scripture to take sides and go with the cultural flow throughout the New Testament and he did not (e.g. the discussion of taxes, His discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well, His allowance of women in his company, His disregard for the religious right and the left of his time, etc.) Over and over again he does not take sides, he does what is right in the sight of Father God. You will also notice in New Testament scripture he did not speak against Caesar yet He was completely free of any worry about the Roman Empire. He used the Roman Empire to accomplish his purposes. If He could do that then, what forms or systems of government can he use today to accomplish his purposes? The answer: all of them. Why? His ways and thoughts are higher than politics and man’s ways (Isaiah 55:9). His ways and thoughts are higher and greater than any evil that has ever arrived on the scene. He even used the governments of Communist Russia and Nazi Germany to accomplish his purpose, right under their noses. Evil is not that clever. I can assure you He does not take sides with either of them. I can also assure you he does not take sides with the Republicans or the Democrats. Why? If He had determined to be a political figure, he would have been a political figure in the New Testament and overthrew the Roman Empire. Instead, he used the Roman Empire to ensure the greatest act of love that was ever accomplished on the whole planet and the whole universe – his death on the cross and resurrection so we could know him! I am glad He chose His Father’s heart over man’s way!
Do you see why He can’t and won’t take sides? First, He doesn’t have to, He is God who became man. Second, He was here long before our political parties were (Genesis 1:1). Third, the politics, wrath, war and anger of mankind does not and will never work His righteousness (James 1:20). Jesus is not and will never be a member of the Republican nor Democratic parties. They can’t manipulate nor highjack him into doing so, no matter how hard they are trying in this country right now. We have “religious” leaders attempting to do the same thing right now just as they did in His time. They are missing His heart completely. You will miss His heart if you try to fit him into a political box of any kind. He won’t fit into it anyway. He won’t fit into a cultural box either – that was tried by the religious leaders of His day as well. His heart will continue to challenge the cultural norms of our society and the church. He will continue to challenge our political boundary lines. Why? He doesn’t need either to accomplish His purposes. The God of the universe can accomplish His purposes with or without the USA, the donkey, the elephant, and the American dream! Whatever gave us any idea otherwise other than our own pride?
This is a wakeup call to the church in America! You are not a political arm or organization. You do not need the approval of the Republican or Democratic parties. You are the hands and feet of the one Who doesn’t need politics to accomplish His purposes. We must guard against politics seeping into the heart of the church. Politics does not always line up with God’s heart and it is not always for good and right – I give the Nazis as your examples there. They once touted themselves as Christian, yet they were far from it. Church, beware of those who mix the gospel with right or left wing politics – they are wolves in sheep’s clothing who will devour you the first chance they get. Church, we are not on the Trump train, the Pelosi train nor the Washington DC train. We are on God’s train. His train prevails above all the others – you can count on that. His train will still be running when their trains are dead on the tracks. Never lose sight of Who your Savior is or you just may fall for anything.
Jesus does not take any side but His side. I choose His side above all others.
With eyes wide open, Elizabeth