Does God Hate Politics?

I can't remember the last time this nation was so fired up about politics. My Facebook news feed is packed with political cartoons and satires. Words like “Obamacare” and “#GOPshutdown” can be seen trending on Twitter daily. YouTubers rant about how bad/good the government is, while bloggers brandish verbal swords of fact and emotion as they ready themselves for today’s fierce internet battle.

Never before have we had such a power to plugin to the world around us. Never before have we had such a platform to voice our opinions. Unfortunately I fear that this platform is doing a lot more harm to the church, than good.

Underneath all the tweets and satires there is a rift. It’s a rift that grows and grows with every post. I've been asking myself this question a lot lately ”how does what I’m doing affect my influence on non-Christians.” Every time I see a Christian post something political (I’m guilty of this too) I wonder for a second just how those who are non-Christians take it. Christians we have a problem. That problem is that we’ve let politics get in the way of reaching souls.
Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn't be involved in politics. I’m also not saying that we shouldn't discuss politics. What I am saying is this: we should not push a soul away in order to get our political point across.

Consider for a second Ephesians 2:11-16:

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (ESV)

Paul, through the Holy Spirit, is here describing the rift between the Jewish and Gentile people. To illustrate the distance in their separation Paul uses words such as: ” the uncircumcision,” “separated,” “alienated,” ”strangers,” and “far off.” The Jews wanted nothing to do with the godless, uncircumcised Gentiles. To say that these two groups didn’t get along would be an understatement. Yet somehow they were able to eventually get along. What did it take for these two groups with vastly different beliefs and cultural backgrounds to stop being divisive and come together? What was the glue that allowed these two groups to band together and form this beautiful cohesion? Jesus Christ. It was Christ and His death on the cross that brought these two vastly different groups together into one singular body, the church (Eph. 1:22,23; 2:16; 3:6).

Replace “Jew” and “Gentile” with “Republican” and “Democrat” or “liberal” and “conservative.” How can two groups this different come together? Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, Republican or Democrat, we are all still people who desperately need Jesus.  We will not win the souls of those lost by sharing the best political cartoon on Facebook. We will only win their souls by bringing them to Jesus.

So, does God hate politics? No, but He does hate when we push people further and further away from Him. Let’s stop being so concerned about winning arguments, and be more concerned about winning souls.

By: Jack Dodgen

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