Overcoming political idolatry
I’ve struggled with it, and you may also
One of the things that I have struggled to master is the reality I KNOW is true of political involvement as a Christian – the principle that while our participation in party politics isn’t unbiblical or inappropriate, such manmade organizations can’t be the authors of the moral framework through which we view the world.
That is so hard. So hard. At least for me it is. And given that most of you receiving this Memo as part of our subscriber group are individuals concerned about the direction and future of the country we’re living in, I’m guessing it’s not outrageous to say that you may struggle with this too.
It’s nearly impossible for me to reconcile that a manmade organization that embraces as morally permissible the slaughter of innocent human beings in the womb for the sake of convenience may have anything positive to share on matters of morality. That logically pushes me into an embrace of the other primary manmade organization that claims to reject such a morally repulsive position.
But since it is also manmade, since its pursuit is also power, I’m a fool not to be on guard to the manipulations, exploitations, and abuses it also perpetuates. When I saw it worded this way, it cut me deep because I know this has been – and too often remains being – me:
“Too many believers have outsourced their public witness to ideologies made with human hands.”
That’s the sin of political idolatry and I’ve been guilty of it far more frequently than I want to admit. That’s why now I beg people I trust to call it out when they see it in me. They’re doing me no favors to ignore it, and frankly, I would expect a friend to refuse to let me walk down any idolatrous path.
By the same token then, we aren’t friends to others, we aren’t loving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, when we allow them to do the same. Let me show you an example of what I’m talking about – and understand that I’m intentionally picking an example that is harder for us to see. This sin is obvious to us when we see some believer who is willing to promote sexual immorality or abortion for the sake of the success of their political party of choice.
We see that and can immediately identify political idolatry. But what about when it surfaces on “our side” of the political divide (understand I’m speaking in generalities without knowing your individual allegiances)? We don’t even have to dive deep into policy to see the danger of tribal political preferences trumping our Christian character. For instance…