It is a familiar request. Can I put out materials in the gathering area so members are informed of the political issues the nation faces and how they should vote? Or can the church please take a stand on this issue - or that issue?
Come election time especially, the pressure can get intense. If a certain candidate were to win the White House certainly the nation will be in dire trouble and the church at risk. If the wrong supreme court nominee gets on the court, liberties - religious and otherwise will suffer. If certain legislation is passed or not passed dire consequences await.
There may be some truth to such assertions although rarely as much truth as they would want us to believe. But, regardless of our personal conviction, political leanings or activism, the church is not about politics or legislation or elections or nominees to the bench - it is about the gospel.
It is Jesus who is the hope of the world, not a political party, nominee or piece of legislation. It is Jesus who can change hearts and it is the gospel of Jesus that can transform society as hearts are transformed.
I care about many things politically. But I have long ago come to conclude that it far more important who is in my house than who is in the White House. Politics come and go but Jesus remains the one hope for humanity across two thousand years and will be so till he returns. Never confuse the power of politics (it is transient and far less powerful than we think) with the power of the gospel (it is permanent and changes hearts and communities).
Oh, and no political party has a corner on the truth. But Jesus is truth.
1 comment:
I like what Helmut Thielicke (following Luther) says about human governments: they are a temporary measure put in place by God to promote peace and order so that the gospel may be preached. On the other hand, the Church is eternal.
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