Question: Where do (where should) politics and faith find common ground?
Here’s the thing. Christian faith tells us we were created specifically for the purpose of living in community – community with God and community with one another. The idea of politics (at least in the founding documents of these United States) is to organize society in such a way that all people have the freedom to enjoy the inalienable right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The beauty of Christianity is that Jesus stands as God’s invitation to enjoy this sense of community in a new and living way. Jesus offers a love based understanding of what it means to live in response to our identity as God’s children. Our choice is to either take the Lord up on his gracious invitation or to pass on by.
Our Responsibility:
This means that when our politics goes out of its way to deny both the initiatives of Jesus and the stated foundation of our existence as the USA, then my calling – my responsibility as a follower of Jesus – is to reaffirm what is both in common and essential to our identity as distinctively Christian Americans.
America is more than a great idea, it is an ongoing experiment. And, like all good experiments, the methodology must remain consistent throughout the life of the study. If you want the experiment to be over, no longer rooted in the ideals that made us a beacon of hope and promise for the world, then be honest about it and say so.
God may not be an American, but the beating heart of both Christianity and the intentions that founded this country share an understanding that all human beings are created equal. And, further, it is because we were imagined, designed and created by God that all persons have been endowed with these essential rights.
I am hugely in favor of the separation of church and state. What Jesus-followers must speak out against, however, is those who claim allegiance to Jesus yet dishonor both the heart of the Gospel and the commitment to welcome and compassion that have done so much to make this nation great.
Peace, and I mean that for everyone – DEREK
This is really good. I struggle sometimes to find that line between being a follower of Jesus and participating in politics because even though i am walking in love when i discuss it, there are those who don’t understand how to while maintaining an objective opinion. I think so much of what America was founded on aligns itself with the Bible, and because we have tried being independant on everything and remove God out of almost everything, I think we are now seeing the consequences of those actions. I mean even how we treat our President and some of his own actions are living proof of that. Anyways, good post!
Thank you! I agree it is so important to think, pray, and be self-critical in this process. We all have so much to learn. Blessings- Derek
Derek – as always, I so appreciate your skills and your perspective. Immigration has become such a complex and difficult topic for us, mostly because of the sheer volume of migrants, but further complicated by the safety concerns (we cannot forget the lessons from 9/11). We seem to have swung the pendulum from being too lax to being inhumane in the our treatment of the world’s tired, oppressed, etc. As is almost always the case, the government isn’t capable of creating a viable solution for these problems – we need more non-government interests to come together, join together, and come up with meaningful solutions that ensure our safety, while dealing with the huge numbers humanely that seek a new life, a new opportunity in this unique experiement. I wish I knew what that looked like; I’m sure that there are people out there that have a better idea of it than I, or the government. We need an immigration “think tank”, of sorts. We need something, and we need God’s wisdom to be invited! Thanks, again!