So many ideologies today. So many ideological wars today. Conservative right, liberal left, BLM, critical race theory, republican, democrat, LGBTQ, and so many more. I just don’t feel at home in a group, party, or worldly clique. My thoughts with this blog is to point out that Christians should not be lumped in with the conservative right and that Christians should not feel they must be identified with the conservative right.
First, let us define what this blog means by Christian. For Biblical purposes being a Christian is defined best in Romans 8, also referred to as the Golden chain and St John 3. In Romans 8 scripture teaches that God foreknew the believer, God called the believer, God justified the believer, God sanctifies the believer, and God will glorify the believer. Notice, God is monergistic in the salvation process. That is God is the author and finisher of faith. In St John 3, the distinguishing factor in being a believer is that one is born again. It is a supernatural birth, placement, and faith. Man does not produce this of himself for he cannot.
Therefore, not everyone that labels themselves as Christian are, really, a Christian. If God calls, justifies, sanctifies etc., then one is a Christian. So in short, not everyone that identifies as Christian are really Christians. There is no full-proof way a person can externally identify a Christian. Sure, the Christian may have a certain worldview, certain character, fruits, but there is no definite way a Christian can be identified. They are a spiritual people whose kingdom is not of this world, whose King is not of this world. They are exiles, pilgrims passing through a strange land.
Why does this matter?
This is my fear. These types of Christians (the ones mentioned above) are being associated with the right wing conservatives. When, in fact, they are not right wing conservatives. There may be some similarities but it ends there. A cat has four legs and teeth, so does a dog, but they are very different.
Let me give an example.
Jesus, his true followers (disciples) were mislabeled as well. They were labeled sinners by the Pharisees, zealots by the Romans, a type of Pharisee by the Sadducees, and ignorant men by others. It is a point of fact that Christ was betrayed and died because he was misjudged in regard to His Kingdom. His Kingdom was not of this world, His agenda was not of this world and His allegiance was not of this world. Yet He was perceived and lumped into a category by men that ultimately lead to His death.
It has been a struggle for believers over the ages to break free of the stereotypes that mislabel them. It is no different today. Christians are not pro-Trump, right winged, Bible-thumping, conservative republicans. This is an unfortunate typecast, however, this is the category that they are lumped in. The subtlety of the situation is that we are pilgrims whose allegiance is to our Heavenly King, whose destination is a Heavenly land, who que off from Heaven. This is not to say a believer cannot hold certain political affiliation or values, but the believer is more than a political party. The Christian’s values transcend a political or cultural movement.
Does Christians have moral stances that align with conservatives? Yes they do. However, contrary to popular opinion, Christians also align themselves with moral stances that would place them at odds with republicans and conservatives alike. Case in point: the glorification of the military, the moral responsibilities to refugees, the allegiance to a political party and demonization of another, the social/cultural war (specifically how to have emotional/spiritual intelligence in evangelizing it) and so on. In short, If Jesus would have a Facebook page, He would not spew out right winged (or left winged) barbed statuses. He would not leverage God’s word at a group for “I told ya so” sake. He would not create strawmen and attack his enemies in a humiliating fashion.
One might say that Jesus stood for what is right. He was angry and had violent zeal. To which I would answer, yes He did. He was zealous over God’s house, God’s word and God’s agenda. He did not identify with a particular party. Many times people are eager to know my political affiliation. My official stance is none. In the Book of Joshua, Joshua, on the eve of battle, asks a glorious figure if he fought for their side or the enemy’s side. The figure said neither. This is my response as well, this should be the Christian’s response. We are on God’s side.
The ramifications that I see in being aligned with social constructs are these: First, evangelism has been hindered. Evangelism is not to proselyte to conservative ideology. However, many times the unbeliever, especially those of the left persuasion see Christians trying to convert them to an ideology. True evangelism is speaking about the good news of a King who is not of this world, but died to reconcile his rebellious servants to himself and has prepared for us a place with Him. Sadly, the applause of conspiracy theory, ant-masking, gun glorifying, preaching drowns the gospel out.
The gospel cannot co-exist with a conservative agenda. What? No they cannot. Jesus said to preach the good news to all the world. The good news of the gospel cannot be compared to conservative ideologies, or any ideology for that matter. Anything proclaimed other than the gospel is insignificant and antish. A conservative agenda does not set the government straight, heal the soul, sooth racial wars, cause the unborn to live, turn the sword into a plowshear, cure greed, and a thousand other evils. The gospel does these things. What I am saying then is that one can be gospel minded and be in public service, but one cannot be public service minded without the supremacy of the gospel.
A Christian should not want to be flavored by a secular ideology. Republicans taste bad to democrats and vice versa. The Christian is a to be a sweet smelling fragrance of Christ. Personally, I do not see Jesus with a red MAGA hat on. I do not see Him siding with a party, but calling all to repentance and faith. Jesus is not throwing stones at the LGBTQ community but inviting His sheep to follow Him, coming out of darkness into light. Jesus is not a nationalist, He is not a capitalist, He is not an American in any sense of the term. Jesus was and is and is forevermore King of Heaven and earth. He is not in a category, and His Kingdom is not of this world. He has a people that are traveling through this world, but not of it. Soon he will come to the world and set up His rule. What a day that will be. Then you will know what side I am on. Then I will feel at home.
Sowers Pouch 