- Pray for your country's leaders. Pray for your enemies.
- Befriend a homosexual, or someone else hated by the GOP and the religious right.
After years of endorsing only Republican candidates, the Christian Coalition was put to shame in 1999 when its tax-exempt status was taken away by the IRS. Christians can no longer deny that the Church has crossed the line beyond proper political involvement.
As if the Church did not have enough of an image problem, it is attaching itself to the reputation of politics and to the Republican Party's image.
The words politics and politician have negative connotations for most Americans. "How do you know when a politician is lying?" the joke goes, "When his lips are moving!" Politicians are known for their dishonesty, their scandals, and their willingness to stop at nothing to maintain their power.
The Republican party is also seen as in a negative light to many Americans. Often words like racist, elitist, sexist, homophobic, fascist, and war-monger have been used to describe the party's conservative, pro-military stance. The Republican party's affiliation with groups like the National Rifle Association is also well-known. So why then, is the Church getting mixed up with all of this?
We have blurred the line between the Church and the Republican Party. We have become "unequally yoked" with a secular organization that has a secular agenda. The GOP is not a Christian party, and its aims are political and earthly - not spiritual. Furthermore, how compatible is the GOP's philosophy with biblical teachings such as, "But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full", or "He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed"?
The Church needs to understand that by associating with the Republican Party, we are in effect, sending many non-Republicans to hell. The Church needs to be a nonpartisan Church. But if church leaders want to continue endorsing Republican candidates, they should at least have the integrity to change their tax status.
"The mission of the Christian Coalition is simple," says Pat Robertson. It is "to mobilize Christians - one precinct at a time, one community at a time - until once again we are the head and not the tail, and at the top rather than the bottom of our political system." Robertson predicts that "the Christian Coalition will be the most powerful political force in America by the end of this decade." And, "We have enough votes to run this country...and when the people say, 'We've had enough,' we're going to take over!"
Pat Robertson, and other political Christians, are fighting for a Christian America. Most people in the Middle East do not distinguish between politics, religion and culture - to them, they are all united. If they turn their back on Islam, it is seen as a rejection of their country and their culture as well. But in the West, almost everyone can agree that they are quite distinct. Americans, if anyone, should see that a Christian America is an illusion. Not everyone in America can be a Christian. It is not a birthright. Unless we can expect every American to act like a Christian, we should not be giving the world the false impression that America is a Christian country.
Pat Robertson thinks Christians should be in power, and that they should be the head, and not the tail. But if you look in the New Testament, you will not find God calling on Christians to amass political power. Instead, you will read, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (I Cor 2:2), and, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Col 3:2). And in Zechariah 4:6, it reads, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit." Despite the fact that the early church lived in a fully pagan culture and government, the Bible never speaks of Christians trying to take political power or protest against the government. Quite the contrary- the Bible tells us to be witnesses by being subject to authority, by paying our taxes, and honoring and praying for our leaders.
History should also teach the Church not to seek political power. Once Christianity was declared the Roman Empire's state religion in 392, the Church gradually turned into a highly-structured, dominating organization led by oftentimes corrupt popes, who at one point were more powerful than kings. The Church went from being persecuted to being the persecutor. The Roman Catholic Church's corruption eventually led to the Protestant Reformation.
Even Messiah did not come to take political power as many of the Jews had hoped, but he came to be a spiritual leader, who in the end, was killed by the government and by organized religion. He came to establish a spiritual kingdom, of which we are citizens. Let's not confuse our citizenship.
A politicized faith not only blurs our priorities, but weakens our loyalties." -John Seal
Christians in support of a Christian America want little more than to legislate morality, and create a Christian paradise. But even if we succeeded in making external, superficial changes to our society through the use of deceit, intimidation and legal action, we are left with nothing more than a hell-bound society with good morals. And in this way, we perpetuate the idea that Christianity is just another moral system. Why would we want to waste any of our energy on that?The Church's mission is evangelism, not a country led by Christians. We have set aside the eternal message of the cross, in order to pursue the temporal goal of politics.
It is wrong for Christians to expect unconverted people to act like Christians. If we want to see our country change on the outside, we must change it from the inside out. If we want to "take back our culture back", we must do it through the life-changing power of God through Messiah. If evangelism is the Great Commission, and it can change lives and eventually countries, then evangelism should be our only goal. Politics is world reform. What we need is Church reform, until we have a Church that is obeying the Great Commission.
When Christian leaders start talking about taking power, creating a Christian country, and defeating the homosexuals, feminists and liberals, people get scared and defensive. Christianity is already historically seen as an oppressive, imperialistic force. We are once again trying to become the establishment, and the status-quo. If we try to impose our values on the world, then we become the enemy, instead of the loving, compassionate friend.
We can see this happening in history. After Christianity became the official Roman religion, "Persecution did not end, but its target had shifted from Christians to pagans, Jews, and Christians with unorthodox views. Unlike the polytheistic religions of the Roman world, Christianity possessed an exclusive attitude toward truth; such an outlook often led Christians to view nonbelievers as enemies of God deserving of punishment."
People like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell have made inappropriate public comments against other religions, and other groups. The Southern Baptist Convention demanded a boycott of Disney. A Christian organization even rented airplanes to fly anti-gay banners over Disneyland on "Gay Days". These people and organizations are pushing people away from Y'shua, and they are going in the opposite spirit of Y'shua.
Y'shua is the sinner's friend. Christianity is for the poor, the oppressed, the enslaved. It is for sinners and outcasts. That is why so many people were attracted to it in its early days. We are supposed to love homosexuals and Muslims, not fight against them.
Instead of complaining and battling for power when we are persecuted, we should "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great" (Matt 5:12). We should also "pray for those who persecute" us (Matt 5:44).
There are also many benefits of being persecuted. Persecution strengthens our determination and our faith. Persecution wins us new converts, who are awed by the extraordinary courage of those who die for their faith. When we are persecuted, we attract the persecuted. I was surprised to hear that many Mormon and Jewish groups collaborate and support each other because of their common history of persecution. It is a shame that Christians were not the ones that had been persecuted, but rather it was the Christians who persecuted Mormons.
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