Faith, works, and Politics
Joel and I have been conversing about the church, politics, and Jesus - and how much they should intermingle. I personally tend to think of Jesus as more of a table tossing kind of guy when it comes to right wing politics in the church. But recently Joel has presented some ideas that made me think that He would probably deliver the political table turning in equal doses to right and left, but for different reasons.

Our call as Christians is to be servants of God first. We are to be set apart (In the world and not of it), but we are called to be agents of change. As a Christian and a leftie I have no problems feeling that I am serving God and that I am being an agent of change but the in the world and not of it part is frequently left out. I am quick to get in there and look for injustice and error in the opinions and logic of the moral majority (both of which abound), but in doing so I am just following the pattern of the world. I am simply spawning more argument and which is just about as effective as salvation via apologetics.

“For our struggle is not against the flesh and blood [everyone Christian or not], but against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

As much as I’d like to think that Dubya fits into the later categories he is flesh and blood as well. It does no good for us to heave our snarling complaints at him. “¹⁷Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. ¹⁸If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. ¹⁹Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. ‘I'll do the judging,’ says God. ‘I'll take care of it.’” (Romans 12: 17-19 The Message)

I’m not abdicating a Britney Spears style patriotism nor am I saying we shouldn’t be extremely critical, but in a way that is constructive. To truly improve the situation we need to transform our angst into action and results. “Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:21 The Message) So how?

But what would this approach look like? Please, all four of you who read this blog respond and tell me. How do we begin to ­DO?

<sup>Romans 13 (The 'Message)

"2</sup>For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume all Christians should be vegetarians and eat accordingly. ³But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. ⁴Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help...

13Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. ¹⁴I'm convinced--Jesus convinced me!-that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it...

¹⁸Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you'll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you."

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