Religion And Politics

Religion and Politics

November 1, 2020

I’m not sure if you know, but there’s an election coming up this Tuesday! There hasn’t been much talk about it. It’s been pretty hush, hush. So, I thought for my first Sunday back, I should talk about religion and politics.

Some say it’s the most important election in our history, but I think they say that about every election, because there’s always a lot at stake. And with every election, the vitriol, that’s what a sabbatical does for you. You study the dictionary looking for new words.

The vitriol, the ill-will, the animosity, the seeming hatred that not only one party has for the other, but that one person has for another who doesn’t see the political landscape as they do, leads us to this crazy time in the United States. Notwithstanding the issues which came with the corona virus and more.

It’s not a topic we really want to talk about. Religion and politics. Those are 2 of the taboo subjects to talk about, yet, we’re going to combine them today, and probably in two weeks as well.

I think I do a pretty good job talking about the religion side of things, but tend to avoid the political side. And I understand the hazards of talking politics in church. We have people who are more Democrat, some Republican, Independent or Liberterian in their viewpoints.

Actually, I’d like another 2 weeks of a sabbatical, so I can avoid this. Not really!

And because of what’s happening, there’s the potential for division within the church . . . because of politics. People in the United States are more apt to leave a church based on politics than theology. Division can easily happen in the church.

If you can go back to 2016, after Trump defeated Clinton. Most people were in shock. Republicans were rejoicing, Democrats were weeping. We didn’t know how to react. There was a sharp division among people. There was a new type of president . . . who couldn’t care less whether you loved him or hated him. It was shocking. Most people didn’t like him on the Apprentice, most still don’t like him. But he became our president.

Now on Tuesday we have our say. We get to vote for whomever we believe will be the best person to lead the United States. But we’re seriously divided in our country. I believe the good news is that Jesus had something to say about this. Which is why it’s important to talk about.

I’ve done a lot of reading. For today, I read articles by John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Tony Evans, 9 Marks ministries and listened to Andy Stanley and Bill Shiell. I could have taken one of about 100 different approaches. So, let’s tackle what’s happening.

The first thing we need to understand is this - - -

Nothing divides like politics, because nothing divides like fear.

If you watch enough pre-election commercials, you can raise a lot of money by talking about fear. Fear of what the other candidate is going to do. You know what I mean?

How many of you have received mail from Christina Hale stating how bad Victoria Spartz is? And you’ve received the same amount of mail from Spartz, detailing how bad Hale is. What they want you to know is this . . .

If a Democrat wins you’re going to lose this . . . .

If a Republican wins you’re going to lose that . . .

Do you remember the movie, “The American President?” With a young Michael Douglas! There’s a great scene which speaks to our times. Watch this - - -

VIDEO

Isn’t that what’s happening in our world right now? I’ve seen it on both sides. I’ve heard facts totally misrepresented on both sides. The purpose of distorting the facts is to get us to become afraid. Then we really don’t know what we’re voting for, because we tend to vote against someone.

It would be nice if there could be no negative adds. Just say what you believe, what you propose to do and how you will do it. It’s ugly and disgusting. I’ll stop there, before I can in too much trouble for saying what I really think!!!

So, think about this fear . . . what exactly is it we fear?

Ultimately the answer is the same for all of us . . . we fear LOSS

We feel something is going to be taken away. We feel the loss of control, the loss of opportunity, the loss of our culture, the loss of independence, the loss of our progress, the loss of future opportunities for us, our kids and grandkids.

There’s fear of the unknown. And honestly, you can’t get much money without scaring the beejeebees out of people.