Politics is a messy business.
It just is. I have had so many complaints recently about folks being inundated with political flyers filling up their mailboxes and it is always inevitable when you get close to an election that there is going to be some mudslingin’ going on, whether it be on the television, social media, or even in person.
I have long had a bad taste in my mouth about politics and I really am not sure why. But recently I have delved into thinking about all of it and doing a deeper dive into it, and here is what I have come up with.
First, politics is simply a necessary part of our lives. In this land of the free and home of the brave, we have a system set up where there has to be those out there doing the governing. Local, statewide, and in our nation’s capital there are those brave souls who make the laws, oversee our municipalities, and decide how the vast amounts of tax dollars gets spent.
I think you kinda have to be a brave soul to be a politician. Aside from the possibilities of power and monetary gain, those who seek and hold public office pretty much volunteer to have every inch of their lives scrutinized, researched and submitted to the “keyboard warriors” that populate social media and a vast array of news agencies.
Personally, I think your local hometown newspaper is pretty much the most reliable source for news, while it is hard to determine what is real and fake coming from the big boys of media. I am in no means saying that all the news coming from the big networks is shady, you just have to pick and choose which stories to believe and which to ignore.
Next, as I am always looking to do, you have to ask the Creator of all things what He thinks about politics, and I promise you, it is in the Book.
Jesus Christ Himself had to deal with politics. I mean, Pontius Pilate was for sure a politician.
If you look through the Bible, there is a plethora of references to politics, leaders, and how we should react to all of it. Jesus instructed us to obey our leaders, obey the laws of the land, and more importantly, pray for those who are placed in power. He told us to “render unto Caesar” and He told us to follow the rules (laws) but then He also admonished us to recognize the fact that His laws and His leadership were more important and that our focus and real and unwavering allegiance was to be to His power and His divine leadership.
We are a country divided by political views, and my main thought on that is how contrary it is to the Word of God and what it means to be a Christian.
Before you jump all over me and start blowing up my phone, think about this.
When it comes down to elections, especially the ones for national offices, we see up on the screens a map of our country colored in either red or blue. I doubt very seriously that God ever imagined his people divided by a pair of colors, yet we have set ourselves in a mindset that we are either red or blue… conservative or liberal…or a moderate.
I like to consider myself a moderate, belonging to neither the red or the blue, but rather belonging somewhere in the middle, and here is why.
Matthew 22:39 says, “ You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
It is impossible for me to imagine that those who are so devoted to being either red or blue can do that and still follow what our Father says in Matthew 22. How can we be so divided by political affiliation, say the things we do about the other side, and still love those folks as much as we love ourselves?
Finally, I have to say this. I know a lot of politicians whether they be local city leaders, State of Texas leaders, or those who serve us in D.C. The ones I know and talk to regularly seem to be good people for the most part…hard working, church going, willing to serve their fellow man kind of folks. None are perfect people, because none of us are perfect people.
Maybe, just maybe, we should all think about Matthew 22 when we think about politics and politicians. And maybe, just maybe, when we point our fingers at sin, those fingers should be pointed back at ourselves with the thought that “none are righteous, no not one.”
