It’s Always About Jesus
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
I Corinthians 2:1-2
When I was a young pastor, I became friends with an associate pastor of the “mega-church” in our town. This church had several pastors on staff so they would switch off being “on call” when someone called with questions. He picked up a call and the person on the other end asked, “I really want to attend your church but I’m not sure I would be welcome. Would it be okay if I attended because I am a (fill in a political party)?” That particular church was heavily involved in politics holding rallies, promoting the national Christian political action committee, and had politicians from one of the parties speak during their evening services, especially during campaigning season.
Over the years I have been asked why I don’t bring up politics from the pulpit? I will never shy away from speaking biblical truth no matter how unpopular it may be in the culture. I will speak plainly and unequivocally about what the Bible says about marriage, homosexuality, abortion, and a host of other clearly biblical topics but I will not talk about personalities or politicians or instruct people on who they should vote for. I trust that if people are thinking biblically about these issues and have deeply held Christian convictions, it will be self-evident what they should do in the voting booth.
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the unaffiliated all need Jesus. We are all sinners in need of salvation. The goal of the church is not to convince people to vote a certain way, it is to introduce them to the person of Jesus Christ. We could win the battle but lose the war. If we focus on politics, we might be persuasive enough to convince others to vote the “right” way but if they don’t turn from their sins and trust in Jesus they are just as lost on the day of Judgment as those who vote for the “other party.” The Gospel message is bigger than any political discussion and is the only message given to the church to see people’s hearts and lives changed. Further, if a person turns from his sin and places his faith in Christ, he has the indwelling Holy Spirit living in him and is coming under the power of God’s word to inform his decisions. True, lasting transformation does not come from Washington DC or Harrisburg, true transformation comes when a person is transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.
I heard Tony Evans say, “Jesus does not ride on the back of an elephant or a donkey.” I think he is right. Satan wants us to get distracted and focus on things other than the gospel. His endgame is larger than seeing our culture corrupted, that is only a means to his end. His goal is to see people not turn to Jesus in repentant faith and find themselves in a Christless eternity in hell separated from the presence of God. When we start focusing on other messages other than the gospel as a church, I think Satan laughs at us because he knows that no other message that gives eternal life. If Satan thought moralism would lead more people to hell, he would promote that in our culture.
As individual Christians we have a responsibility to be good citizens and vote in a way that will promote righteousness and prohibit evil. As individual Christian we may want to inform and persuade others to also support politicians who hold to biblical principles. As a church we have a message that is far larger and more important than a political message, our message is the Gospel.
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
I John 5:11-13
