My faith has brought me to a no-vote this year

I have studied over the past so many months regarding our political system and how I, as a Disciple of Christ, should respond. 

I have found many Christians being somewhat deceived into thinking that a national regeneration will come if we simply get more people registered to vote, elect the right candidate into the office of president or into other roles to pass legislation in line with our so-called “Judeo-Christian heritage.”

Political activism among “Christians” is viewed as this critical juncture for the future of our country.  I have heard that a vote for anyone else but McCain is a vote for Obama.  Yes, in a way that is true according to how our human made 2 party system works.  The way I see it is for a true Disciple of Christ to place any hope in political systems is just plain immature, and I feel just brings a strong disillusion.  As Disciples for Him and for Him only, our confidence must not rest in such human devices, but in the power of the gospel to transform hearts anywhere and anytime.  

Politics inherently involves coercion.  The gospel is spread only by our influence and our witness.  All too often, however, I see the institutional church using political coercion to enable itself.  I do not like having the term Evangelical Christian being used as a political tool.  We are called to be “holy” or separated from the world.  So why do we keep acting as such?

There are two opposing voices I hear calling me to action at this point in time.

The first voice I hear is Satan tempting me to redirect my energy and time to reclaim a nation with something less than the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The other is that of the Christ calling me as His Church to focus my resources to attempt to build communities of biblical faith as testimonies to the world of a better way through Christ.  

Here are some challenging words I found from Larry Crabb:

“In Christian circles, optimism typically is built on the idea that God’s central purpose is to bless us with the kind of life we want or to transform culture into a friendlier environment for Christians . . . Christian leaders tell us that our prayers, activism, and united influence will turn our nation around and usher in a godly society. [They] may be guilty of distracting us from the real call of God. It is our individual lives and our Christian communities that must turn around. We must learn to continue serving Christ when problems come and to draw closer to Christ in the middle of unrelieved suffering. Whatever influence we have on culture must be the product of a deep passion for God, a passion that makes us into attractively different people and keeps us struggling together in community that is imperfectly but genuinely loving.

Social crusading is so much easier than finding God.  Fighting for Christian standards sometimes seems to involve a belligerence that compromises humility, or an aggression that masquerades as courage … Neither social crusading nor solving our problems stirs the kind of self-awareness that lets us know that the real problem is within ourselves … The’ great need of our day will not be met by training more counselors. It will not be met by leaders calling us to join the fight against moral pollution, in our society … [We need] communities of people who care about outsiders and draw those outside into something they’ve never known but have always wanted. Communities of people whose passion for Christ is stronger than their grudges, their competition for recognition, and their jealous feelings… [Who] are so consumed with knowing Christ better that they hang in there through the messiness of community and never give up on themselves or others, because they know that Christ hasn’t given up — and never will.”

I pray that Christians would unite for what matters…CHRIST!

Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized

Tags: Christ, Christianity, discipleship, organic church, Politics, Simple Church

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.