Did you ever not really want do it, the right thing, the pressing thing, the needed thing that is? That for which you were born, for which the sovereignty and providence of God had placed you there and then (and here and now)? That which makes you have to decide between what is good for you and what is good for others, between playing it safe and risky, between comfortable and suffering, between carefree and weighty responsibility, between your will and God’s will?Often we talk about politics and politicians in ways that depicts the whole thing as them versus us. We freely express our disapproval, our disappointment, our frustration with “them,” the Washington establishment, the president, Congress, the courts, the EPA, FDA, DHS, …, and often very justifiably so. We bemoan the partisanship, the corruption, the fiscal irresponsibility and waste, the disconnectedness, the shortsightedness, double speak, the lack of morality, and … We want more honesty, more integrity, more selflessness, more restraint, and more wisdom from those politicians, judges, and officials. We wish for more caring for what is good for all for the long term rather than what is good for just some, and worse, what is merely good to staying in power. We want treasured values to be upheld, not undermined, or for sale to the highest bidder, or prostituted to garner ratings and votes. Those people in Washington D.C. and Sacramento need to get it together!Like many of you I received my absentee ballot this past week, it is reminder that you and I have political responsibility beyond opining and complaining. We have a responsibility to participate, to embrace our part, to practice the very integrity, selflessness, discipline, foresight, caring, and wisdom we have judged our politicians and leaders lack.Politics, power, and influence always walk together. You combine the power of a large group if small, seemingly insignificant, people and their influence grows as well. They might even become a movement that changes the political landscape. One person embracing God’s will, taking up the responsibility the power and influence granted to him/her can make a huge difference in a family, community, a nation, in this world (e.g. Joseph, Genesis 37-50). The fact that the two candidates, one of whom will most likely be the next US president, are deeply flawed, rate low on the truth telling index, do not have a track record that inspires trust, and are dogged by corruption and scandal is also a reflection and indictment of the politicians at the most grassroots level, the voters, you and me. In the 2012 presidential election less than 55% of the total electorate voted, more than half of evangelical Christians abdicated their responsibility to vote. These are staggering statistics testifying of political and spiritual irresponsibility and disengagement.The two highest values in the universe are loving God and loving people, caring about cares about and caring for others like we care about ourselves (Mark 12:29-31). Both of these values will lead you and me to service, serving God, serving others, serving our nation, serving the world. Those values will call us to do things we don’t really want to do, things that stand in the way of self-serving, self-indulgence, self-seeking, and the like. Those values will compel us to be engaged, to embrace every responsibility, every opportunity to influence our world to the glory of God.Mordecai posed a rhetorical question to his niece Esther, the queen of Persia, who hesitated to become politically involved, “Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14 (NIV). Of course she was! Just like God has placed you and me into this time with power and influence to affect lives and politics for the glory of God. And so we must chose both at the ballot box and in the daily voting of our lives.To God be all glory. Love you, Pastor Hans
Christians and Politics
Did you watch or listen to Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump square off in the first presidential debate of 2016? Of course that is not the only debate, the media supporting either side has been debating all along and so has the politically engaged general public in various forums ranging from social media to personal conversations. Some decide to stay completely out of the fray of politics and in doing so make a political statement in itself. The reality is it is impossible to be apolitical.The Bible, God’s written word, certainly is not apolitical. The Exodus of the ancient Israelites out of Egypt is not just a spiritual movement; it is also a political one. Joshua and the conquest of Canaan is a political event. The period of the judges is a study in the difficulties of self-governance as well as the how spiritual matters and politics are interlinked. The beginning chapters of Samuel is an object lesson of the rejection of God in politics, abandoning personal responsibility in politics and entrusting it to someone else, and how disgruntlement in the present can cause a majority to make foolish decisions. The book Esther is all about individual responsibility in current politics and the providence of God being inseparable from the politics of the day and history as a whole. Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah do not just give historical facts and teach spiritual lessons, but they are manuals as to good, godly, and great governmental leadership vs. evil, self-serving, and godless leadership. None of prophets stayed out of politics, in fact it is their involvement that brought them ridicule, abuse, imprisonment, and death. Jesus’ birth brought on political paranoia, his life and teaching threatened the existing powers, and the leaders of his day were utterly confounded by him. The apostles and early church not only propagated the Gospel of personal salvation but also profoundly affected their culture. The Epistles deal not just with doctrine and personal conduct but also how Christians are to function public. Revelation leaves no doubt that not just individuals fall under the sovereignty and judgment of God but also the nations. To pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is a political prayer, it yearns for, seeks the rule of God over all the earth.So how are Christians supposed to engage in politics?
- Through prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
- In accordance with the commands, principles, and values of the Word of God, the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 119:160)
- By engaging with the world instead of withdrawing from it and merely judging it. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 2 Corinthians 2:12; 1 John 4:17)
- By humbly yielding whatever influence God assigns to each one of us. (Esther 4:14; Acts 13:36; Numbers 12:3)
- For the good of others. (Galatians 6:9-10; Titus 1:1-2&8)
- With kindness, compassion, and sacrifice. (Matthew 5:1-16)
- With restraint, patience, and perseverance. (Galatians 5:22-23; 6:9-10)
- With Faith, hoping in and relying on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 13:13; Colossians 1:27-28)
- To the glory of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 4:11)
To God be all glory. Love you Pastor Hans.
Understanding Freedom
Ah to be free! To call your own shots, make your own decisions, to be unrestrained. Being able to say what you want, believe what you want, and do what you want. To have no interference, no guilt, no fears, completely unencumbered, and have no taxes without representation.None of the countries I have visited or lived in has a greater and more openly expressed love for liberty than the USA. There is more talk of, pride in, and public homage to freedom here in the US than anywhere I am aware of. On the 4th of July the entire nation stops to celebrate national freedom. In a two year cycle the walk to the ballot box is also a celebration of political freedom. Turn on your television, your radio, your computer and you find a continual celebration of the freedom of speech, of expression, and of the press. Google religious institutions in your area and you are looking at a poster of religious freedom. The fierce public debates over gun control, abortion, gender issues, etc. highlight freedom in the sense that they are both possible and permitted. On Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Marin Luther King Day, and Labor Day we contemplate the cost of freedom. Yes, this is a freedom loving nation which has had tremendous impact regarding liberty around the world. I am grateful that God has allowed me to live here, to raise my family here, to call this my home.I am also concerned. About dismally low election turnouts, about people being more informed about the Kardashians, Lady Gaga, or their favorite sports teams than being politically informed and engaged, about declining civic involvement, the almost total secularization of education, and most of all the popular notion that real freedom can only be found in the absence of God, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” Psalm 2:1-4 (ESV).Freedom is above anything else a spiritual issue, and understanding “real” liberty as something that lies outside of an inseparable relationship with the divine (“Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, …”) is both our greatest fallacy and demise regarding it. A mistake our founding Fathers did not make.The command, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31) deals with both liberty, responsibility, and accountability. Liberty, because genuine love for my neighbor will cause me to restrict my liberty, will define my liberty not only in terms of what I will and can do but also in terms of what I will not and cannot do. Responsibility, because I can love my neighbor as myself and am not merely admonished but commanded to take responsibility for my neighbor’s welfare. Accountability, because both my liberty and my ability to love and care are divine endowments and as such God has right to judge my exercise, my use or abuse of them.This command to love our neighbor exists in conjunction to, is not meant to be separated from, the greatest commandments of them all, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” Mark 12:30 (ESV). Together these two commandments provide both the best instruction and greatest check and balance on freedom. Divorce one from the other and human depravity will guarantee the perversion of, suppression of, and abuse of liberty. Liberty centered around “me” and “us” will guarantee its descent and demise. Liberty centered around Almighty God and others will guarantee its ascent to incredible heights of blessing.“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord (Jesus Christ) is, there is freedom” 2 Corinthians 3:17 (ESV, parenthesis mine).To God be all glory. Happy 4th of July, Pastor Hans