Politics at the Junior High Dance

noreply@blogger.com (FBC) — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 17:13:00 +0000

I took down a couple of posts this morning – primarily because they were a massive fail on my part. Discourse that was coarse, and I think I primarily posted the political missives because I was angry. The anger of man doesn’t achieve the righteousness of God. Mainly, I removed them because they don’t achieve what I consider my life mission of leveraging my life to see those far away from God know Jesus.

Politics is actually the art of influencing people to your point of view. I innately know that salt and light must be distinct, powerful, pungent, but different. I vehemently disagree with some campaigns because they tend to pit us against each other. My vote is an exercise in a biblical worldview that holds to absolutes about ethical behavior that applies to me as much as it does others. I will adhere to strong ideas about the sanctity of all life, the necessity of caring for the least of these, the need for family, religious liberty, and the promotion of the civil good. On the other hand, other people made in the image of God aren’t the enemy. I’m not endorsing illegality or a republic that dismisses biblical ethics, but I do want to accept people and love them just like Jesus.

As a historian, I know populist campaigns tend to emerge in the vacuum of national turmoil. William Randolph Heart used his newspaper empire to cater to urban working people and spread fears about the ‘yellow peril’ of Asian immigration. He won 40 percent of votes for the presidential nomination on one ballot at the Democratic National Convention in 1904. The Know Nothing party in the mid 1800’s wanted to purify politics by demonizing Irish Catholics and other immigrants. William Jennings Bryan mesmerized folks over fiscal policy when He advocated overthrowing the gold standard for free silver. Bryan tapped into economic grievances in an attempt to unite the working class against the cartels that monopolized the markets. Hardly anyone knows what populism is because civics and government courses are either extinct or promoting multicultural agendas.

I understand the anger hurled against the entrenched elites in the Beltway. The media gatekeepers, the ingrained politicians, the influx of lobbyists, the coddled celebrities, the icons of Wall Street, are the ultimate cliques of insiders that we despised in Junior High School. It’s because Washington D.C. culture is a giant Junior High School. It’s why some candidates gain traction by deriding and castigating the very setting they come from. Donald Trump knows what He is doing to quote my preferred candidate (Marco Rubio) by masterfully exploiting the hostility against a horde of privileged politicians and sanctimonious media conglomerates. Donald Trump understands D.C. Junior High culture because he lives at all their dances. In fact, he often is the one throwing the party.

I have no idea what will happen in November. The media conspires with Trump because it sells ads and boosts ratings. Very little analysis takes place in an age of sound bites and political horse races. I’m going to advocate for a positive vision for the future that espouses the best of what makes America the land of the free and the home of the brave. In the end what matters is eternity. So I’m going to try and post with that end in mind.

FAQS

noreply@blogger.com (FBC) — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 19:54:00 +0000

I’m starting a new series in a couple of weeks called FAQ (frequently asked questions) and we have received input from people through informal conversations and online surveys to steer the direction of the topics. I think the exercise necessitates some preliminary thoughts about tackling social and ethical issues. Some say leave such hot potatoes alone. Others spend almost all their time on nothing but these issues. Let’s sketch out some reasons for addressing these concerns in an even-handed fashion as I bring back my blog:

The issues are broadcast far and wide in our nation. If the voice of the church is silent – guess which views people in the pews will adopt? I want people’s worldview to be biblically informed.
God says to preach the whole counsel of God in Acts 20:27. In fact Paul speaks in the common square in Athens in Acts 17 using secular examples to make his point.
Paul divides his letter between theological foundations (orthodoxy) and ethical practices (orthopraxy). My walk with God in the world should be informed by my time with God in the Word. Paul does not avoid complicated issues (look at Corinth).
The direction of much of the church in the US is individualistic focused on conversion while the biblical framework deals with corporate concerns and how redemption touches every inch of creation.
Daniel (our most recent sermons) tells a tale of two cities: Babylon and the city of God. Babylon is built on self-enhancement while the city on a hill constructed by Jesus Christ is an alternative countercultural setting to proclaim through theology and show through our lives how Christians use sex, money, and power in a different way. It also reframes bitter debates about race and class to a biblical ethic.
Christians should integrate their faith and work.
Southern Baptists have a group in Washington D.C. (The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) that deals with ethical issues.

Much of my research for my doctoral dissertation dealt with the relationship that Christians should have with culture. I’ll not bore you with the title (it’s too long and way too academic), but the subject matter is of utmost importance. Two statements espoused all the time summarize the extremes:

“Just preach the Bible and leave politics alone.”

“What difference does it make what the Bible says – we just need to love each other.”

The first allows the pendulum to swing too far by removing the church as salt and light from the surrounding community. The world is hopelessly corrupted by sin and the church is a fortress that needs the Kingdom of God to supersede the world. The catch phrase is “come out of the world and be ye separate.” This model is fundamentally not “of the world”, but they are not “in the world” except to raise their bullhorn and stridently protest.

The second identifies Christ with culture and so identifies with the ethos of the surrounding spirit of the age that it equates the Kingdom of God with the surrounding culture. German Christians en masse did this prior to WWII. This model is completely immersed “in the world” but they are also “of it”.

My recent foray through Daniel suggests the mandate in Jeremiah 29 to seek the welfare of the city the exiles were called to entails a mandate to engage in politics. Politics is rooted in the city and the citizen. Politics are assumptions about how things are done. The way things are done around here is a political action (office politics are an example). Unfortunately, the whole idea of politics has been tainted by a negative connotation and connected to identity politics and political parties.

God (in Romans 13) ordains worldly institutions and Daniel demonstrates a model that maintains living out the distinct values of the Kingdom of God while seeking to engage the tensions involved in participating in culture because the Kingdom of God is among us. Who among us does not want our world to reflect the enduring hope of our Heavenly Father, the atoning love of Jesus Christ, and the life-giving faith of the Holy Spirit? I think complete disengagement from the way things are done (the original definition of politics) violates the command of Jesus to live as salt and light. On the other hand, attempts to meld Jesus to political parties and identity issues are an exercise fraught with danger.

What we should seek are biblical answers to complex questions:

1. Should Christians practice civil disobedience? When? Where?

2. How should the gospel impact our views on dating, marriage, and divorce?

3. When salvation occurs what is the implications for my daily life?

4. Is war ever ok?

5. What about capital punishment?

6. How can the arts glorify God?

7. In what ways do we emulate our culture when we should try to change it?

8. Should Christian musicians sing secular music?

9. How should I evaluate media?

Most people have opinions on many of these issues. The question is how many are biblically informed. My hope is after the coming series we’ll be better equipped to EVALUATE and LIVE OUT our consciences and our faith based on biblically informed positions.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Joe Stewart

Veritas and Ecclesia

Politics at the Junior High Dance

FAQS