Introduction:
The civil war is brewing. Did you see the young lady on the news? She was one of those marching in protest to the election results. And a reporter caught up to her to ask some questions. What she said was downright scary. She said that what we need is a revolution in order to see change. She said that change sometimes takes blood. Then she added, "Make no mistake there will be blood on the ground!”
Those are scary words in a Republic that is teetering on the edge of violence. And it seems that a civil war is primed to erupt at any time. Honestly, I'm not surprised by the world's response of anger, or fear, or even arrogant pride. It was clear that this would be the result from the election cycle.
What does surprise me is that this potential civil war has even reached inside the church. I have heard Christians say “If you voted for Candidate A, you can defriend me on Facebook." I have personally experienced nasty comments about my political views and my motivations for voting for who I did from other Christians. I have even heard a few stories of Christians in this very community who have known each other for years who have stopped speaking to one another because they voted for one candidate or the other. And I stand before this church today and say "It should not be so."
Today's message is a prophet's message. It's a call to repentance for the American church and our church. And If you or I are participating in a church civil war over politics, we need to KNOCK IT OFF.
There may be a civil war brewing out there, but A civil war over political candidates inside the church is a loss for God’s Kingdom and a win for darkness. And if you or I are involved in it, we need to stop.
It's not just a suggestion. It's a Biblical mandate. We have Biblical reasons not to split and fight and tear each other apart over politics.
Let me give you three reasons as the church to stop fighting over politics.
In our world, we are bombarded with constant news about fighting and violence and war and hatred. It’s impossible to keep up with who is bombing who. And the last thing the world needs or wants is to join another entity that has those qualities on full display. Jesus himself spoke to this.
In John 13, Jesus is speaking to his disciples. The words he shares are just hours before He knows he is going to be arrested, tried, and nailed to a cross. He knows his disciples are going to be under stress from the outside and within. He also realizes that in the temporary now, it is going to feel like the powers of the world had won. So he says to them.
John 13:34
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Not should, not might attempt, Jesus said MUST – it’s an imperative, a command, a new law from Jesus – you MUST love one another. And the he gives the reason why.
John 13:35
IN this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Reason One: The world will know we are his disciples by the quality of our love for one another.
Now we need to see that there are two sides to Jesus' statement. Jesus makes it clear that our love becomes a witness to the world around us. Our love becomes a light in a world of darkness. If we love one another, the world will see a people with diverse opinions, and diverse colors, and diverse skill sets, and they will say “How is it that these people don’t just get along, but they actually LOVE one another.” It becomes light. It becomes our strongest tool for sharing the gospel because that’s not what the world news looks like!
But the flipside of the coin is this. If we don’t love each other we are living in disobedience to the commands of Jesus Christ.
To put it bluntly, we are sinning. Our love for one another displays our discipleship. And God’s kingdom won’t advance if we are tearing each other apart!
Reason Two: Tearing Christian relationships apart over who won and lost political races is a pretty good indicator that our trust is in the wrong place –
Our world is doing it because they believe that politics equals power. If their candidate is not in office, they feel a loss of power. And it scares them or it makes them angry. Those whose candidate is IN power often do so from the perspective of arrogance. That's the world's model. As Christians, THAT is NOT our model. Look at Romans 13:1
Romans 13:1
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
If God established government, God is the source or cause of government. He rules OVER government as sovereign and supreme.
Thus, our trust should be in God himself. If you or I won’t speak to a fellow Christian who voted differently, we reveal a dirty little secret about ourselves. We reveal a belief that the world's model - we reveal that we think true power comes in the form of governors and Presidents, not in the one who established government in the first place.
I'm not trying to say that who we vote for is unimportant or that who we vote for won't have an impact on us as citizens. Sometimes they do, sometimes good and sometimes bad. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't look for candidates with good character. What I'm talkng about is the temptation to disengage from other Christians based on politics. The problem is that when we disengage from brothers or sisters in Christ because of their political views, it’s almost like we believe that one sides platform is 100% good and the other side’s platform is 100% evil. But the truth is that's not the case.
Political ideologies are flawed because they are created and instituted by flawed people. Thus, no one in the White House, no leader in Congress or the Senate, will have the perfect solution to our problems. Capitalism, communism, socialism all have flaws because they are human ideas. And absolutely no leader will be able to save us from our deepest problems and fulfill our deepest needs. That role is saved for one – Our savior. His name isn’t Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. As Christians we believe His name is Jesus. And he is the head of the church, he is the one we allow to take the throne of our hearts. Not Donald and NOT Hillary.
I do not think who you or I voted for in 2016 will be a prerequisite for our entry into eternity. The more important question we have to ask ourselves if we are breaking apart over political candidates is this: “Who did we have a King of our hearts?”
Reason Three: Hating our brother and sister for any reason (including who we voted for) puts us in the realm of darkness.
Take a look at 1 John 2:9-11
1 John 2:9-11
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
Notes
It's pretty straight forward teaching. And here’s the thing I noticed about the darkness John describes. The darkness John tells us about is not a lack of light. The darkness John tells us about is the darkness of willful blindness. The light is available; it just won’t penetrate the eyes.If you or I hate our brother or sister for ANY reason, we are in essence choosing blindness. And that will cause us to stumble.
Stumbling may include saying hateful words. It may mean labeling people as those who don’t care when the evidence from life is the exact opposite. It means we might ignore out own need for mercy and grace. It means we place ourselves on a platform above that other person calling them "stupid" or saying "How dare he be evil for voting that way." And the fallout from it looks like a blind man trying to make his way through an ever shifting room of furniture.
Church, to abandon other Christians because of who they voted for should NOT be.
It will hinder the witness of the church. It indicates where we ultimately put our trust. It puts us in willful sin and makes us blind. And in the fallout, we will stumble over our hearts, attitudes, and actions as we navigate in the darkness rather than the light.
The warning is clear – DON’T BE that person! If we ignore the warning, not only do we endanger the mission of the church, we clearly endanger our own walk with Christ. If you feel otherwise, please feel free to talk to me – I'm certain the leadership will listen as well. But I think we feel pretty solid holding this position as Biblical.
So how do we bridge the divide of civil war that is even reaching into the church? How do we move into unity on such a divisive issue.
Let me suggest three ways to protect unity on any divisive issue - but especially the elections and the results. .
1. Apply Grace –
The temptation will be to judge and condemn. But we are people of grace so we apply grace. Let me put that into real world perspective concerning the elections. There are often “spiritual reasons” that Christians use to validate their choice of candidate. For example: One person may hate greed. He may see one party representing greed and not caring for those in need. Another person may hate injustice. She sees the other party trampling over the rights of the unborn.
Both are legitimate concerns – are they not? Grace is able to look at the other guy and say, “I might disagree with your assessment of my party, I might disagree with where you place your priorities on moral issues, but I understand your heart.” And I won’t condemn you for it.
Let me give a passage for that.
James 4:11-12
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
So rather than condemning in judgment, we should seek to understand. If you don’t understand why a Christian voted the way they did, ask them – don’t condemn them. You might just discover a deeply held conviction about that person that you didn't know was there. You might just understand their passion. So the first way to protect the church from a civil war over politics is to apply grace. Avoid the temptation to judge and condemn.
2. Apply Love –
That includes continuing to fellowship, pray for, and encourage one another. But it might need to go further. If there is a potential civil war brewing, figure out a way to serve the other person. That was what Jesus did – In John 13 the command to love one another follows the story of Jesus’ disciples fighting about who would hold positions of authority in the Kingdom. Their focus was on power. Jesus hears this bickering and gets down to wash his disciple’s feet. John 13:1 tells us his motivation was love.
It’s a great example of how to apply love in the midst of conflict. Serving one another. Leadership, if neither party budges, you might want to figure out a way to get the disagreeing parties to serve together. Let me tell you, it’s hard to hate another person while your hands are in the same dishwater together. Number two: apply love.
3. Lean on Maturity –
Galatians 6:1
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
If there is a civil war brewing, it may take maturity to deal with it. That means leadership (the ones who are supposed to be the spiritually mature ones) must nip it in the bud stage. That might be as simple as bringing both parties together and telling them to honor the message and mission of the church. It means having the goal of reconciliation, bringing together. It might mean holding those people participating in a civil war accountable to Christian standards of words and conduct. If it comes down to it, it could even mean doing the unenviable task of removing from the fellowship those who want to continue the war. The loss of fellowship will often lead to repentance.
Let me warn you, ignoring the civil war as leadership can be just a detrimental as participating in it. That because as we’ve already seen – church civil wars are sin.
Sometimes it takes the spiritually mature to lead the less mature to reconciliation.
4. Humility –
The Bible speaks a lot about this quality. The simplest passage is this one; Peter writes.
1 Peter 5:5
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
The cause of civil war is so often pride. The solution is so often humility. And not a false humility. I needs to be genuine. Peter says we clothe ourselves in it – we wear it everywhere. Humility becomes who we are. It's developed by the awesome fear that we have a Holy God. It comes with the realization that if I'm walking down a road and God is standing in the way, I would much rather have him FAVOR me than oppose me. Humility is a huge key in dealing with conflict.
Thus, It’s okay to say “The way I treated you was wrong” It's okay to acknowledge the other person by saying, "I’m sorry. What I thought was funny, I didn’t realize would hurt you." It's God's way to say "Let's get back together to working on the mission and message of the church."
Let me be transparent for a moment. I have not been perfect. I have some strong opinions on politics – I am not ashamed of that – believe it or not, decisions made by politicians have an impact on me just as much as they do someone who isn’t a pastor. And I have used social media to express some of those views. I have as much right as an American to express my views and opinions publicly. But just because I have the freedom, it doesn't mean I should.
So I will no longer post my views on social media like Facebook. And if I hurt anyone with divisive political statements I have made while on social media, I am truly sorry. I realize that not everyone thinks like I do – and I realize that my priorities for American leadership may or may not be yours. I can handle differing views. What I can’t handle is stirring up a civil war or hate filled comments on my Facebook feed. I will call people on those because THAT is unbiblical! That will destroy the message and mission of this church. That is something I don’t want to answer for when I reach eternity. I want to encourage you and challenge you to join me. To quit attacking others for how they may have voted. To quit stirring the pot of division with hate filled messages.
The civil war over politics may be bubbling over in our culture especially after a contentious and hate filled election cycle. But it should have no place in the church. I hope you too will strive to rebuild bridges and heal divides for the sake of our King Jesus Christ.
