The Idol of Trump: Redux

Do you find it curious that Christians get engrossed and upset about politics? 

I do.

Consider:

Christians claim belief in a God who sent His only-begotten Son into the world during the time of a brutal Roman occupation of what is now Israel. 

From this fact, one might deduce that politics and governmental systems aren’t a requirement for God to His thing.

It appears that if God wants to do something in the world, He can do it under the most oppressive, tyrannical regime imaginable. Can’t He? He might even use that brutal regime, unbeknownst to it, to accomplish His very purposes. 

And since there are no red words in the bible that say anything about running for office, or supporting a candidate, or overturning the political system, even the casual reader of the bible might conclude politics is irrelevant when it comes to Jesus’ real mission. 

There’s a passage in the New Testament that does touch on something Jesus cares about: saving the lost.

At one point He tells his followers to lift up their eyes and look at the fields. They are white and ready to be harvested, He says, telling them, ”Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He will send forth laborers into the harvest.”

They must have listened. In the very next passage they are ordained as Apostles and sent out two by two to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. They are to give as freely as they’ve received, being wise as serpents but harmless as doves. He tells them, ”Whoever receives you, receives Me.”

These passages would be sermon material for months. But here’s a thought; these first, real Evangelicals were sent out, not to register voters, not to carry political flags, not to pray to golden idols of failed politicians, but to reach the lost.

In light of Jesus’ stated mission to ”seek and save the lost”, this occurred to me:

Many of the country’s affected by the pre-Covid travel ban imposed by our former President (the guy anointed by today’s misguided, seemingly-biblically-illiterate, Evangelicals and Charismatics as “God’s choice”), do not allow Jesus to be preached as Savior in those lands. It is illegal. It is punishable by imprisonment; sometimes by torture and death. 

Yet, with that ban lifted, the people living in lands where the preaching of the gospel is forbidden will once again be able to come to the United States, where they will have the chance to hear it (or at least some Americanized version of it) on every street corner and on television, radio, and the internet. 

If you are God, and you are actually concerned that the lost hear the Truth, would you not want them to come to a place where they can hear it?

Or would you be too concerned about the political optics of allowing people from Muslim nations in?

Bottom line: Jesus isn’t political and He won’t allow Himself to be co-opted for political purposes. 

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say, wherever the Holy-Spirit-filled people in this country and around the world are, and whoever they may be; you’re not likely to find them on television, or on Twitter. I’m willing to bet they aren’t thinking much about politics, or entangled with political issues. 

I feel confident they’re enjoying communion with God, abiding in His Presence, unmoved by whichever party holds political power. Pretty sure they routinely pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send out laborers into the harvest while there is yet time. 

Note: I realize my viewpoint may offend some readers who identify as Christians. My intention is not to cause you offense, but to raise your awareness. Christians are given explicit instructions in how to act towards political leaders in 1 Timothy 2:1-4:

”I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

I don’t see anything here that indicates so-called Christians should lay hands on an idol of a disgraced former president, utter false prophecies about him either staying in, or reclaiming political power, or get involved in attempts to legislate the social hot-button issues of the day. 

According to the verses above, Christians are to pray for ALL that are in authority. They are to lead quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty. THIS is good and acceptable in the sight of God. He wants to use Christians as the instruments of bringing the knowledge of the truth to the lost that the lost might be saved. That won’t happen if we soil our garments in the murk and muck of politics, especially when we try to append Jesus’s name to our own political actions. He is not a member of either political party, nor the water-carrier for any politician, period.

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