Following Christ out of politics

Oh, how we want Jesus Christ to pick a political side!

That’s what the people in his day wanted, too. They wanted to know if he was on their political side.

But he wouldn’t pick a side. He wouldn’t join them.

So they beat him. Then they killed him.

If Jesus’s first miracle was turning water into wine, his last miracle was turning political enemies into friends.

The Pharisees and Sadducees buried the hatchet so they could hack Jesus down together.

Herod and Pilate, bitter political rivals who hated each other, “became friends” just so they could put Jesus to death.

I wonder: If political enemies turned into political allies to get rid of the Christ back then, why are Democrats and Republicans not getting together to get rid of the church of Christ today?

If we Christians are like our namesake Christ, why aren’t BLM and MAGA getting together to protest against us? Why aren’t Antifa and Oath Keepers joining forces to drag us out of our churches?

Maybe political people these days understand us. They didn’t understand Jesus Christ. He didn’t look like anyone they saw before. He didn’t do what normal people do. He didn’t think the way normal people think. They tried every way they knew, but couldn’t find a way to move him or trigger him. They couldn’t get him a side.

What about us Christians today? Do political people today think they know what makes us tick? Are we much different from everyone else around us? Do we fit right in with the politics of the day?

Worse: What if political people look at us Christians and think: “Those are my people. I can count on them to do whatever I need them to do for me. All I have to say is ‘abortion’ or ‘Black Lives Matter’ or ‘gay agenda’ or ‘marriage equality’ or ‘social justice’ or ‘white supremacy’ and they’ll eat out of my hand. They’ll attack, burn, cancel, kill, lie, slander, and steal. They believe I’m on their side, so they’ll give me all of their power as long as I give a little back to them.”

The truth is, if Christians in America would be anything like our namesake, not one politician in this country could feel at ease with us.

When Christians live as their namesake Christ, they scare the hell out of those who have power or want power.

Why? Because we conspire against them?

No. Because we are out of their control. We do not join their agendas. We do not participate in their pursuit of power. We turn down the perks and power they offer us.

Most of all, we do not make their enemies our enemies.

As followers of our namesake Christ, we make enemies of no one.

A politician insists that, even if we are not his friends, that we at least make his enemies our enemies, too.

But followers of the Christ will not do this. We cannot do this and be followers of our Christ.

Christians do not receive their agenda, their platform, their policy ideas from politicians. God does not send politicians to lead and save his church. He sent a Christ whose leadership and protection is enough for all people, all places, and all times.

What is our Christ’s agenda?

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Gospel of Luke 4:18-19).

What is our Christ’s platform?

Go and tell John [the Baptist] what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them (Gospel of Luke 7:22).

What are our Christ’s policies?

Go read the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5 - 7.

On the first day of my freshman political science class at Michigan Christian College, the professor made us write down the “Iron Rule of Politics”: Power. Politics is about getting more power. Always.

While politicians look for people whose power they can siphon for themselves, the Christ goes searching for powerless people to whom he can give everything he has–even his own life. The Christ looks for people who are poor, pushed out, and put down. He pours his power into them rather than take what little power they have for himself.

This is why it takes faith to be a Christian. To be Christian is to believe that giving up power is so much more powerful than trying to get it.

The greatest display of power in human history–the resurrection of Jesus Christ–only came when Jesus became powerless before the politicians.

When I look at Christians in America these days, I wonder if we stopped believing in that kind of power. I wonder if we stopped believing in the agenda and the policies of our namesake Christ. I wonder if we stopped believing that our namesake Christ is enough for us.

Politicians are going to do what politicians do. They’re going to kick sand at each other. They’re going to try to get us to join them in kicking sand or at least cheer them on while they do it.

But if we Christians want to be true to our namesake Christ, we need to leave the politicians alone in their sandbox.

Instead, we need to turn back to the power that makes and remakes all life on Earth. The power that raises the dead. The power that is so sure that it is most at home among the powerless.

If we Christians can leave politics to truly follow our namesake Christ, maybe we will also be worthy to suffer as he did.

Grace and peace.