Politics and Jesus Christ

Am I really going to tackle this? Gonna give it a shot!

I remember a couple of years ago, when the 2008 Presidential election was going, the pastor of our church had a unifying sermon on was Jesus a liberal or a conservative. At the time, I was still drinking daily and in pretty fair quantities. Truth be told, I was getting pretty primed up in my drinking on a daily basis. But I was totally sober for church on Sunday morning, so I was okay, right? So I'm sure that I was extremely attentive and absorbed the sermon very well and remember the whole lesson.

Not so much. I was physically sober on Sunday mornings, usually thinking about the beer I was going to have with lunch when we got home. I did mostly pay attention to the sermons, but I can't say I absorbed as much as I should have.

Back to the subject at hand, what was our conclusion from the sermon? Is Jesus a liberal or a conservative? The answer I remember was you can't fit Jesus into a box of politics. His message of love and peace with his attitude of equality towards gentiles and Jews, His directions of charity and giving, caring for the sick, reaching out to the people on the fringes of society. These are all very clear messages that today would be considered in the domain of the politically liberal group. (I can argue that, and I'd be happy to, but that isn't what I'm doing today.) Then you consider that in just the 4 Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Money is referenced no less than 32 times. I checked using a keyword search in Bible Gateway. Business is mentioned several times, taxes is used several times, and not in negative light. This is clearly a conservative point of view by popular modern standards.

The point is that there are many things that support a view that Jesus simply doesn't fit in a box that we want to put Him into. Our desire, our need to be right and to prove (there's that proving thing again) that we're right and they are wrong makes us want to put Jesus in a box and take only what supports our point of view from His teachings.

Jesus is bigger than that, and if we understand that, and operate from that standpoint, then we can reach across the aile as it were and be one people, under God. Note that I don't say one nation. This is bigger than our one nation of the United States of America. This is the entire Christian world. The U.S.A. is far from the most Christian country in the world, or the most tolerant of Christians. But that just shows how important it is for us to reach out to the other side in love and respect.

We must remember that we but stewards of this world, left in charge of it with God taking joy in all we do with it. All we build, create, innovate. These are things God loves and takes pleasure in. Not the wanton destruction of it, not wasting the resources He has so graciously given us. Note these are both concepts of liberal (green) and conservative (business, manufacturing).

All this being said, where do I stand? If you know me, it's quite clear that I'm...wait a minute, I'm the husband of a severely disabled wife, with a 7 year old boy and I depend on certain services from the state and federal government just to get by from day to day. Things I need to be able to go to work, Adult Day Health services, Home Health care services. On the other hand, I don't believe in handouts, there are several services that I don't take advantage of because of my pride, but also because I believe I should take care of my own, support my family. I don't use assistance for before and after school care for my son, nor do I use the free or reduced lunch at school for him. I believe in giving to those with less than I have, the food bank, the local mission or soup kitchen. I believe that if you need the help, there is someone out there ready and happy to help.

So, how do you choose where you stand politically as a Christian? You pray, you refer to your bible. You realize that to be more Christ-like, you can't be just a Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, small or big business. We are a blend of all these things, and it takes all these things for the Christian world to move forward. In my church alone, I know people who work with undocumented aliens, helping their children get health care, and business owners who have clear goals of growth and management strategies.

I've tried to pick in the past, most recently finding myself in the Tea Party attitude (again, if you want to debate this, I'm game, but not here). But I also realize that to tie myself to one group, one set of attitudes will ultimately pull me away from the most important group and set of attitudes that I am a part of.