Hey Christians, could I talk to you for a while about the COVID and political situation? Many Christians are very concerned about the direction the world is going in. I share their concern. Many believe that COVID may be part of the beginning of the end. I agree with that. I believe that it is likely that many of us will see Christ return in our lifetime. However, the end isn’t here yet and, in the midst of the COVID situation and current political climate, many of us have lost our focus. The COVID vaccines may well be laying the ground work for the mark of the beast. However, the vaccines are not themselves the mark of the beast. Some of the things the government is now doing, both in the United States and internationally, may well be unknowingly laying the groundwork for the government of the antichrist. However, we do not yet live under the government of the antichrist and we won’t because Christ’s church will be raptured before antichrist rises to power. In the mean time, we have a lot of work to do. The way that many of us are now acting is inhibiting our ability to do that work. We need to quit trying to make a political statement about everything and start actively working to draw people to Christ and teaching them to live as His disciples. First, many of us need to learn to live as His disciples because, rather than drawing people to Him, many of us are now pushing them away.
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying we should just go along to get along. There is a whole lot going on in the world right now that should trouble followers of Christ and we should stand up for His truth. However, we are going to solve nothing in the political arena. We must forget about trying to convince people that a particular political party or political ideology or set of politicians is the answer. We must convince them that the answer can only be found in the true lordship of Christ and everything which then flows from that. Unfortunately, it isn’t only the world that we have to convince of this fundamental truth. Many professing Christians appear to need convincing as well.
I am deeply troubled at how many people, including many professing Christians, including many in Christian ministry, have begun to politicize absolute everything. Many people, rather than going to Scripture for answers, appear to start with a preconceived answer, often born of their political ideology, and then work backward from there to try to find a half way Scriptural argument to back it up. In many cases, they don’t bother with Scripture at all. They are so contemptuous of any kind of authority, so contemptuous of the opinions of others, and they express that contempt so freely and with such vehemence, not at all Christ like.
I truly believe that all of the problems we face as a nation are ultimately spiritual, not political, in nature. If presented with that statement, many professing Christians would superficially agree with it but their attitudes and actions do not reflect that agreement. They nod their head but they don’t really believe it in their heart or, if they do, they don’t have enough Scripture in their heart to guide them as to how they should act accordingly. This is certainly not true of all Christians but it is true of many. So, let’s look at some Scripture that may help to give us some prospective with regard to this.
Please consider the following passages of Scripture and try to honestly examine your heart in light of what they say.
James 1
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
We are called to keep ourselves unspotted from the world but many of us are beginning to look and act just like the world, with the only difference being that we mention the Bible or the name of Christ while we spout off. In so doing, we hurt His cause rather than help it. As we seek to truly live more Christ like in this increasingly political age, I would suggest that we start here with the above passage, that we remember that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God, that we begin to receive the Word with meekness and not with prideful arrogance, that we become doers of The Word and not just hearers (and in some cases teachers) on Sunday morning, and that, as a result, we begin to bridle our tongues and truly let God speak through us, rather than letting us speak through us..
There is another passage of Scripture I would like to ask you to consider.
Philippians 4
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Please read this Scripture carefully and then honestly ask yourself a few questions. When people think of you, do they think of gentleness? Or are you anxious about what is going on in our world and perhaps sometimes expressing that anxiety as anger? Are you, with true humility and thanksgiving, letting your requests be known to God? Or are you, with an attitude of prideful entitlement, letting your demands and complaints be known to man? In your heart, do you truly have what you would call a peace which surpasses all understanding? That kind of peace only comes from Christ. If you do not have that peace, is that perhaps because many of your actions and attitudes are not truly rooted in His Word? Do you spend significant time in His Word so that you can truly know whether your actions and attitudes are rooted in His Word?
The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) but the pull of sin and our human emotions is also very powerful. Emotions are running very high right now and have been for a while. Though The Word is of course, ultimately more powerful, God still gives us a choice which to follow. Hearts seem particularly hard right now. Please join me in praying for God to soften these hard hearts, so that His Word can take root, and please start by asking Him to work in your own heart. This is something that I have to do on a regular basis. We all tend to let the impact of our emotions influence our behaviors, if we do not seek His strength to prevent it, and that is especially true in times like these. We, as Christians, have a lot of work to do and we must go about that work based on His word, not based on our emotions.
I have one last passage I would like to ask you to consider.
James 3
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Much of the wisdom that we are offering so freely is not being done in meekness or with gentleness and does not come from above but from within our own prideful hearts. It is true that the Word of God sometimes offends and that’s OK but, too often, we ourselves offend, by the way we present the Word or by not even basing our words on His Word, and that is not at all okay. Ultimately, we must remember that “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace”.
I will offer no further commentary on these passages here but I would ask you to spend time honestly and introspectively reflecting on them and applying them to your own life, relying on guidance from the Holy Spirit. I believe that, if we will all do this honestly and on a regular basis, we will begin to see a change among those who profess the name of Christ and, as a result, we will begin to see a change in our world.
