JW October 20, 2020 Joel A. Hess

Politics is My Religion

I do daily devotions through my Facebook feed

I pray the RealClearPolitics and study the New Republic

I proselytize my neighbors with the good news of _______

And talk about the end of America as we know it

Here’s a pamphlet

It gives all our points

Will you join?

Can we count on you?

It all depends on you!

It all depends on this election

Vote

We need to make the world better

We need to pass laws to perfect us

We need the right sort of minister

The right sort of formula

The right dance and sacrificial victim

What happens in November has eternal reverberations

My vote is my righteousness

My social media posting is my prayer

My feigning is my hand raising

Praise Jesus

Amen

Can you feel it?

Are you excited?

If there was no God

No forgiveness

No resurrection

Then today would be all that mattered

And the USA would be my promised Land

And my survival would be my altar

And my politicians my Priests of Midian

And I would be steaming mad about the president

I would be frothing at the mouth angry about Biden

I would hate the other party

And lose sleep about the future

But there is a God

And there is forgiveness for sinners, even misled voters

There is a resurrection where there will finally and only be a perfect heaven and earth and America

There is a King who does what he says

There is a governance that is descending upon us

There is an end that will come whomever is elected

Politics might be my religion

But Jesus is my life

2Comments

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1

John Joseph Flanagan on October 20, 2020 at 6:37 am

It is true that political divisions and tensions are high today, and I do not feel many Christians are wrong to feel it is needful to participate in the process. Of course, the Gospel of salvation is our first calling, but so is the moral direction of this nation. The prophets of old sought to bring their culture back to true worship, and fought against everything from child sacrifice and infanticide to the worship of idols. A major failing of the church in America is the separation idea followed to the extreme, which many denominations use as a handy excuse to avoid mentioning things like abortion and same gender marriage from the pulpits. Well intentioned pastors talk about the religious life, football, funny anecdotes about their own lives, and throw in scripture to support the non involvement of their congregations in social activism. Social activism is not our main calling, but when the church remains quiet about moral issues to avoid controversy, they cease to be a light on a hill. There are too many dead churches in America, and that is why we are seeing more polarization today. There is tension in the pews. People sometimes feel pastors are out of touch with the real world, and years of neglect are showing the fruit of this failure.

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2

John Joseph Flanagan on October 20, 2020 at 10:12 am

I apologize for speaking harshly about pastors, for the blame is mainly on the wider culture, where carnal Christianity is really quite comfortable. Have the world, and have Jesus too, and of course, have Jesus without the cross. The Old Testament lessons of history seldom show a falling away of a believing people without testifying to a lukewarm religious leadership. In my view, religion, politics, and morality are three intertwined elements. Politics influences moral or immoral policies and values, and where religion becomes neutral about morality, evil will always prosper. The political divisions of our country are also moral divisions. It is not merely which form of government we want, where our budgets are prioritized, or whether we want more state control and less Federalism, it is about much more. The stakes are high. Christians need discernment and direction from the church. The church is about the Gospel, but it cannot walk away from the moral direction of the country tied up into the political situation.

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The Jagged Word

Politics is My Religion

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