My Politics

“Jesus sure didn’t have much to say about the right to bear arms, but he had a heck of a lot to say about loving our enemies.”

Shane Claiborne wrote this in a blog post in February 2010. I don’t agree with all of Shane’s doctrine, but for some reason this line has replayed in my mind a million times since reading it for the first time.

I don’t talk or write much about my political affiliation—mostly because I have yet to find one I totally agree with. I do believe citizens are responsible to play their part, but honestly I’m very sick of the whole political spectrum. And I’m sad at how many Christians are busy toeing party lines.

I hate how many Christians are skewing Christian doctrine with Republican viewpoints. I’m tired of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity being listened to, read, studied more than the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I’m tired of so many Christians continually pushing that America be a Christian nation. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us to take over our government and force our leaders to preach our doctrine. Christians want that because it would make our lives easier. Of course we want the freedom to worship as we choose, to preach the gospel, and avoid persecution. But I have a hard time finding anywhere in my Bible that says Christians should experience the ease of living in a nation that preaches their doctrine. I realize we use the guise of “If America were really a Christian nation, a whole lot more citizens would become Christians.” We’re shirking our own responsibility of preaching onto the government. 

If all these righteous Christians would just preach to their neighbors and friends, then we would see a whole lot more citizens becoming Christians. But we don’t want that responsibility. We might get laughed at. Maybe even persecuted a little. It’s a whole lot easier to be a Republican than a Christian.

The New Testament was written under some of the worst leaders EVER.  Caligula—demanded deity status; Claudius—expelled the Jews from Rome; Nero—pretty much a bad guy all around; Vespasia—led in the siege of Jerusalem; Titus—destroyed the temple.

And yet Paul never wrote about how to turn Rome into a Christian nation. He talks a lot more about how to endure persecution and how to live a righteous and holy life within a bad government.

A little less Fox News and a little more Bible would do us all some good.