Jesus and Politics and Love -- Oh My!

It’s not polite to talk about politics or religion.


And yet, between my newborn still not sleeping well and a brain that just won’t shut off, if I don’t get this out of my head and into words, I may never sleep again.

A few years ago, one of my students was interested in getting more involved with the yearbook program I sponsor. He surprised me after school one day when I was alone in my classroom grading.

He wanted to know if he should bother getting more involved since I was a Christian and he was gay. I was stunned by the randomness of the question (I have had many gay students) and it took me a few seconds to get myself together. I wasn’t sure what he meant.

He asked me if I thought he was a bad person. He assumed that because I was a Christian, I wouldn’t like him. In his 15-year-old mind, it was a causal relationship, like in math. If A, then B.

He had had another teacher that had made some bigoted comments in class and that man was a Christian. He assumed that I would do the same, and he didn’t want to be a part of my program if that were the case.

Basically, he wanted my reassurance that he would be loved, accepted, and not put down.

The conversation hurt my heart then and even more now knowing what an amazing young man he has turned out to be. The moment sticks in my memory like jagged glass and cuts me open on nights like these when my mind won’t stop running.

You see, I love that boy, just like I love all of my students. I want the best for their lives and I want to help them get further in their own development. I challenge their thought processes and they unknowingly do the same for me.


I grew up in a Southern Baptist church with the King James Version and some of the greatest hymns ever written. Before you jump to conclusions, it was there that I met some of the most loving people I have ever known and some of the people I still call my best friends today. I learned there about God’s love for me as a sinner. I learned that it is by grace we have been saved, through faith and not of anything we do to earn it. I learned that the evidence of the state of our hearts is like fruit on a vine; you can tell a tree by the fruit it produces. Mostly, I learned to love people because Jesus loved them.

Twenty years later, I read the Bible on my iPhone and the church I attend plays rock worship music. I facebook and text with my small group of teens that I’m in charge of. My church has its own app. But Jesus doesn’t change. He still loves people.

So when the national conversation pits Jesus against people, I get confused.

I feel like Jesus’ love for sinners extends to people regardless of what they have done, are doing or will someday do. As Christians, we thrive on this truth, soaking in the assurance that although we have been called to “sin no more,” God balances that with his knowing mercy. When we turn from serving ourselves to serving Him, he isn’t surprised by our faltering.
Yet we deprive people of the same privilege of knowing God and his love because of something they do.

Pick your current issue:
Homosexuality
Birth Control
Abortion

They are hotbutton issues. Some believe they are sin; some don’t. Personally I don’t really care. What I do care about is that people, real people, are made to feel like God hates them by the hypocrisy in our national debates. The above are dubbed as unforgivable while things like pride, superiority, and thirst for power are revered. Congressmen, governors and lobbyists publicly and impersonally condemn people. The old maxim “hate the sin, love the sinner” seems to be nowhere in sight as churches close their doors to those they think of as unworthy of God’s love.

It’s easy for me to get mad at this – really easy. I don’t pretend that it’s ok for me to actually BE mad about it, but that’s the direction my sinfulness wants to go.

People who stand up on television and lobby against people often say that God would have us confront sin. After all, Daniel didn’t bow down to the gods of his culture, so neither should we.

And trust me, I understand that sometimes being loving means calling people on their sin and forcing them to look at their life and look at their choices. And since most of you who read this know me well, you know that I do that to people a lot… a whole lot. (maybe too much? :) )

But.
I firmly believe that the Biblical way to call people out is through a personal relationship with them, not with name calling, or overly generalized statements made in front of a camera. (Even Daniel worked with and through the people directly in his life, not by generically telling thousands of others what to do)

You see, someone yelling through the television is not going to affect positive change in a life. You can’t legislate someone to Christ.

You have to love them. And that’s not easy. That means getting into their life, even if you disagree with choices they make. (Someone out there probably disagrees with your choices, too) It means giving of yourself not knowing if you’re going to get anything in return. It means you’re pursuing a real relationship with a real person.

My favorite verse in the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 2:8 and I try to live my life by it. “We were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

So as America struggles to find its identity – democracy or theocracy? – I am just going to stay out of it. I no more want to start more arguments than I want to remain an insomniac over this. I'm not a republican; I'm not a democrat. I'm not pushing an agenda. I'm just one person who struggles every time I listen to the news. Jesus never intended to get into politics and neither do I.

But it just bothers me. A lot. I wish people didn’t have to feel like they have to buy in to the modern image of the church, you know? This one dimensional, just-show-up-on-Sunday-and-make-sure-you-vote-with-us version of Christianity that has taken over America is a pale ghost of the overflowing life that Jesus brings. He changes everything.

And now, I've been up for four hours and my 5-year-old will be up any minute. But, sometimes, the best way for me to sort things out in my own head is to write them down. I sincerely apologize to anyone I have offended by writing this. It was not my intention, but I also am fully aware that it is nearly impossible to write about this without offending someone. Just know that I am ok with being wrong about some things and this all is coming from a place of love.