Politics

Dear family,

The great Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, said that every theologian, (or every Christian for that matter) should read the Bible and the newspaper, together. So that every Christian would know what was happening in the world, and for today the source of information, regarding the world's affairs, well its beyond comprehension. We can know what's going on in Palestine/Israel with the click of a mouse, and we see pictures of whats happening, live. We turn our televisions to our favorite news source, and we hear reports of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, just to name a few. We, today more than ever, are bombarded with information, daily, and that's a good thing, because we are in the world.
And we should be. We should educate ourselves with the lives of others in our current context. We need to learn how they live. What they face. Why they think the way they do. And How their story affects ours. We need to do these things, and we need to have honest conversations about what we see, hear, and experience. It is what helps define us as a community of faith.
You see, sisters and brothers, the other part of Barth's quote is, "But interpret newspapers, (all media outlets), from your Bibles." Or in other words, make sure, when you read the papers, that you do so with the lens of faith on. We should never interpret the world, and what is happening in the world, with our lens of nationalism or militarism or even democracy, but through the lens of faith. It is essential for us, as followers of Jesus, to see the world and interpret the world through the eyes of Christ. Period.
Why do i bring this up? Well it has been brought to my attention, on more than one occassion, that i speak too often about politics. That i should leave that topic alone, all together. Why? What good does it do us, as a community of faith, to ignore something so elemental to our identity as citizens of this global world. We must talk about politics. We must talk about economics. We must talk about war. We must talk about poverty. We must talk about universal healthcare. And we must do all of these things with the integrity of faith. We must come to the table, regardless of where our opinions lie, and have honest conversations about our thoughts and feelings on all that is happening in our world. If we don't. We are not allowing the Spirit of God to invade and inform our choices.
When we, as a church family, relegate political and social conversations to the world, we deny God's power and place in our daily existence. We dont need to pray over who to vote for, because we have already, more times than nought, aligned ourselves with one politician or another. We dont have to pray over healthcare or rising military budgets, because we already have all the answers, right? We live, more than ever, at a time when the people of the world and the United States find themselves polarized by "issues." And if the church doesn't have a voice in this, we are a lame duck social gathering. But that is not why God created the church.
God didn't create the church or call believers into a passive, "lame-duck" existence. No. He created both for the purpose of fulfilling HIS will in this world. How do we know what is HIS will? How do we know how to honor GOD'S desires? We have to have honest conversations, as a community, about where we are and where our world is. And through the collective voice, collective gathering, the Spirit reveals God's purposes.
But more important to coming to a consensus, as a body, we must read the world's news through the lens of the Bible. We have to let the Bible inform and conform our understanding to God's. It is a dangerous thing to approach the world, and the politics, economics, ecologies, and wars without the wisdom of God guiding us. If we negate God's wisdom, we fall victim to a narcissism that demands what we want, even if it means we deny what God wants.
Or we can do what God desires: Seek first His Kingdom, and the rest shall be given to us as well. Stay informed on what's happening, we are in the world. But remember to do so through the eyes of Christ, so that we don't become of the world.
Amen.

Shalom,
jerry