Jesus 08

As we head full-steam into this election season, my soul and mind are bracing for a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts. I am fully prepared to hear things that will anger me in the discourse that will accompany the next few months. I know that my heart will be saddened to see candidates, pundits, and average Joes all try to to win the official endorsement of Jesus for their own November aspirations. And I am ready for the blunt force impact of the American tradition that is the gross prostitution of the name of Christ for politcal gain.

It started months ago but gained momentum yesterday thanks to James Dobson.

As November gets closer, this type of talk will only get worse as Republicans try to tighten their age-old grip on the “Jesus vote” and convince immature Christians that all good believers vote the way of the elephant. Even in my right-wing days, this never made sense to me. How can a party that so firmly promotes war, celebrates wealth, and willingly abandons the alien and poor, have the nerve to place a claim on Christ? The teachings of Jesus and the platform of the Republican party could not be more opposite. In the same way, the DNC has been on the wrong side of Christ words as well, allowing for babies to be mutilated for the sake of personal comfort and freedom.

But as I listen to the radio propagandists and read the comments of the hate-filled in the next few months, I need to remember that my feelings are both expected and healthy.

When Jesus walked earth, people weren’t amazed at his take on the issues of the day. They weren’t impressed with his solutions to the problems of the state. They were excited because he was bringing new issues to the table, issues that transcended the tradition and laws at the time and ushered in a whole new way to see the world they lived in. As Christians living 2000 years later, we live in the same dichotomy. We argue, struggle, get confused, uneasy, and as a knee-jerk throw our support behind a candidate, because there is no fit for us.

But our issues were presented on a mountainside in first century Israel, not from a podium somewhere in modern America. Our lives aren’t lived in fear of economic collapse, terrorism, or inadequate health care because we have nothing to fear at all. Our political stance is not summed up by words such as conservative, liberal, or progressive but instead by words like: peacemaker, compassionate, and servants to all.

As a Christian, the political arena is America is a tool to further a greater Kingdom, not a hill upon which we die. Going forward, it will do my soul good to remember that while I was born in America and thank God for the blessed life I live, I am ultimately a citizen of that greater Kingdom. I pledge allegiance only to it, and I worship only one King. Everything else either helps or gets in the way of the work my King has commanded me to do and when I vote in November, it will be for the candidate who will make my job on earth easier.