Lobbyists In The Church!

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (John 18:35-37 KJV)

On trial, Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. Jesus did not fight political battles. His message was about the Kingdom of God. 

A decade ago, I left my former denomination. A decade prior to that I had begun to speak openly regarding their mission priority being one of political lobbyists in this world rather than sharers of the Good News of the Kingdom in Christ Jesus. 

I am not against individuals speaking regarding their political beliefs, no matter what party they belongs to. In fact, I think they should speak up as individuals. But, they should speak with tolerance and as individuals and not as representatives of the church. 

I find it abhorrent that an entire denomination would decide via delegates what the politics of every member of the denomination should be. It causes division. It makes those who disagree with any new resolutions of the church on earth like they are being told their political belief system is wrong and that they are not a part of the church unless they agree with the resolutions and the actions of church lobbyist. It takes away from the true mission of the church. It will destroy the church on earth. It will destroy congregations and denominations.

Yes, indeed we are to speak up and defend the helpless. But, who the helpless actually are can be a matter of differing opinions even within the church. For example there are those who defend the woman's right to abort a child. They consider themselves to be defending the helpless woman. But, there are also many of us who choose to speak up and defend the helpless child who can now in some states be aborted at birth. 

My husband is a retired U.S. Marine. Many years ago, a member of my denomination; but, not of my congregation, confronted me over the U.S. Marine and the Tanker stickers we had in the back window of our 4-wheel drive pick-up as this Christian did not support the military in any way, shape, or form. He also wanted to know if my congregation approved of me using the salary they paid me to purchase and drive such a gas guzzler. The truth is that on my salary as a female pastor, I could not have afforded the truck. It was my husband who paid for the truck. Without that 4-wheel drive truck, I could also not visit some of the people I had to visit as their pastor, especially in the spring when some of the back roads I drove on had mud that was knee-deep. 

Over the years, I have been careful not to espouse my politics from the pulpit. That is not the place for it. Political lobbyists do not belong in the church. In fact, many church constitutions (agreements with the state) have some restrictions on it, which are often ignored.

I am retired and not leading any congregation now and do not have to worry about dividing a congregation over my political opinions. As a citizen of the Kingdom of God who lives in this world, I feel much more freedom to express my worldly opinions which I believe are based mostly on my faith. I have the right, as an individual, to speak up for what I believe is right. I do not believe that any congregation or denomination has a right to tell the whole flock what they must believe politically. Every member of the church on earth has the inalienable right to voice their opinions whether on politics or anything else. As Christians, we do not have the right to bully others into thinking like we do. We, as individuals can choose to protest. But, the church on earth; no Bishop, no pastor, should consider that they can tell us that we must.

Jesus spoke the truth. He called sin a sin; the disciples didn't get to vote on it. But, the Good News, at least for us, is that he willingly died to take upon himself those sins. His disciples didn't get to vote on that either. What he taught affected the world and although he was not political; what he taught does and will affect what we believe politically. He was not engaged in overthrowing Caesar or any of his cohorts. His Kingdom, he said, is not of this world. 

May God help us to live in peace with one another no matter what our political persuasion happens to be. May God help the church on earth as a whole to focus more on sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ than on lobbying for special interests in the world.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Law Upon Law

Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." (Luke 11:46 NIV)

We are in the midst of primary elections around the county. These elections include offices all the way from local community offices to Federal positions. To a certain degree we will be electing leaders to make important decisions for us based on a bit of fake news; a lot of bitter back-biting; nasty, nasty attacks on the opponents. Who can tell which law-makers are best for the positions? As they make decisions they will either instigate, legislate, or enforce new laws stacked upon the old laws supposedly for the sake of justice; for doing what is best for the people. Too often these decisions will be made based on what lobbyists want for themselves or their specific business or cause and not what is actually good for communities or the country as a whole. Egos and greed seem to rule the day.

Unfortunately, John Adams appears to have been perfectly correct when he stated, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." We have an outstanding constitution in this country. However, there are some who think that it should be done away with or at the least drastically changed. They consider it archaic. For an unrighteous nation who needs law upon law to live; maybe it is inadequate. So do we do away with the constitution or do we, as a nation, decide to attempt to live by the righteousness of Christ rather than trusting in these multitudes of laws that we have created to serve justice? For those who believe that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins the law has been put into our hearts and written upon our minds. St. Paul wrote to the Hebrews (10:15-16)  

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

   “This is the covenant I will make with them

   after that time, says the Lord.
   I will put my laws in their hearts,

   and I will write them on their minds.” 

If this would be true for the world, we would have no need for the cost of making law upon law in every corner of the world and the burden that comes about because of these countless laws.

Jesus condemned the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, for loading people down with laws that they could hardly keep. The law that God gave to Moses was not enough. They and we seem to have to add to the laws; to micro-manage society.

It is difficult to keep the law when there are so many that one cannot even know what they all are. I am not just talking about traffic or criminal laws. I am also considering all the laws, the red-tape that comes with daily living; red-tape that goes with building a new home; running a family business; even purchasing insurance. Yes, you have to have all your ducks in a row to even file a claim on insurance you may have been paying on for years. The average person is just trying to earn a living and to live life. But, the burdens that come with so much red-tape take up much of the time that we would otherwise have to live life.

There are way too many rules and regulations to follow. Who can know them all? Sadly, that is the price we pay for living in an unrighteous world. Justice will not happen by making more laws in a lawless world. Justice will only happen when the law and the love of God is written upon our hearts.

God's Peace – Pr. J