Political Alliances, Part 3

 

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.  I Corinthians 1:10-11 English Standard Version

            Many Christians refer to their place of assembly as “the sanctuary.” This refers to two ideas; one the sanctuary is a place that we have set aside for a holy purpose for worship and two a place where we can find refuge from the world. In fact, for years a man who was fleeing persecution or punishment, just or unjust for a crime could claim sanctuary in the Church building. This harks back to the cities of refuge found in the Mosaic Law. Our worship centers, our sanctuaries, ought to be places where we can find rest and refuge from the turmoil that roils our world. Sadly, this is often not the case.

In this series on political alliances, we’re examining the hazards and pitfalls of close affiliation with a particular political party. Our current cultural norm encourages joining, especially in the realm of politics. Whether officially through registering or unofficially through stated support,  joining a political party creates various problems for a Christian. In the last episode we examined how joining a political party inhibits or even cancels out our prophetic voice…our ability to speak truth to power and to our culture in general. In this episode, we will look at how political affiliation builds walls between Christians, inhibiting body life. Our current cultural penchant for extreme politicizing leads to divisions among the Body of Christ, the Church, and sadly this is nothing new.

            A few years after Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, Paul faced the problem of the human proclivity towards division. Peruse Paul’s letters and you will find numerous passages in which he attacks this sad human tendency, this perversity of the human spirit. I’m not sure why, but this party spirit seems to run deep within the human psyche. It shows itself in many different forms and in our current age we’ve let political alliances infect the Church with devastating effect.

            First of all, sometimes we make political party allegiance an article of faith. We choose not to extend fellowship to a brother or sister who belongs to the other party. Oh, we may not officially disfellowship them; but, we refuse to associate with them and view them with suspicion. When we make political allegiance a matter of faith, perhaps even salvation, we needlessly damage the body of Christ. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul uses very strong language when addressing this penchant for adding to the Gospel.

¹² I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! Galatians 5:12

This is how strongly Paul feels about those who would create division among the believers by adding to the Good-News. We do the same thing when we make political alliances a screening criterion for fellowship.

            Secondly, we often exaggerate the importance of our secular leaders, giving them greater status than they deserve. While we should respect our leaders, secular and religious, we must watch out for our tendency to over emphasize loyalty to a single individual. In the opening chapter of I Corinthians, Paul addresses the sad human proclivity for elevating individuals as a means of separating the body, the Church (I Corinthians 1:10-17). His language clearly reminds us that our primary allegiance is to Jesus, not some human figure. Though the Corinthian believers separated on vaguely religious reasons, Paul does not excuse them. We do the same thing with political leaders. We have all seen, or perhaps participated in, such divisive activities. We must maintain our allegiance to Christ above all. Political issues may carry transient import, but Christ and our fidelity to Him is paramount. All other allegiances or ties must remain secondary and subject to careful scrutiny. We must master this destructive cultural trait.

¹² “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. I Corinthians 6:12 Christian Standard Bible

            In this passage, Paul reminds us that we must subject our desires and appetites to Christ. Paul uses several different issues to make this point, including sexual immorality and later food offered to idols. Whatever the case, Paul stresses the importance of not letting things of this world control us, and I would say that in our current age we often allow political allegiance to master, or dominate, our thinking. In our passion for party, we forget that these are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Despite that we erect barriers to fellowship that drive our fellow Christians away. In the gospel of John 13:35, Jesus tells us that our identifier as His disciples is our love, specifically our love for one another. We’ve come to a dark place indeed when our primary congregational identifier is a political party. We must not let our political inclinations master or dominate us. When we let secular politics become the screening criterion for fellowship, we’ve turned away from what the Lord desires for His body, His bride.

            This does not mean that political considerations are unimportant; but, we must give our fellow Christians great latitude, remembering that the ties that bind us to the Lord also bind us to each other. We must reinvigorate our patience and humility. Patience with our fellow Christians, and humility regarding our own abilities to navigate the tumultuous waters of this existence. After all, when we stand before the Lord and see our own frailty in the light of His magnificent glory, we will be forced to admit our own weakness and failure and praise Him for His great grace and mercy lavished on us.

 

Thought Questions:

1.  On a scale of 1-10, how important is your affiliation to a political party with 1 the least important and 10 the most important?

2.  How often do you discuss politics with your fellow believers in your congregation?

3.  Does your pulpit minister discuss politics from the pulpit and how does that make you feel?

4.  Would you feel comfortable if you knew that your fellow congregants were of the opposite party?

5.  Why do you think that politics has become so divisive in our country, do you think this is a good thing, and why?