(Originally published at RelevantMagazine.com in 2004)
Politics or propaganda? I have a hard time finding a definable difference between the two. I hear two great armies shouting their mantras and exalting their leaders – competing for seats of power. But in the end their seats are powerless.
For the time being I’ll avoid the obvious problem of a two party political monopoly. I’ll stay clear of hot button political issues and the year long Jerry Springer show called the campaign trail (thank you JibJab for pointing out the obvious). From this sentence on I’ll only say what I know and am qualified to say.
The politics of God and the politics of mankind have never been the same. God is not endorsing your political party. He’s not a spokesman, symbol, or tool and in no way does He serve as a platform for this planet’s political systems. Never-the-less there are many Christians who believe putting God professing lawmakers in political power is going to bring radical social change. They must have forgotten that this method has already been tried. It was called the Dark Ages.
Political systems that enforce Godly principles have never reproduced the God-induced reformation that comes about when someone encounters the Almighty King. It won’t happen. Let’s just call it like it is. Politics are a good man-made idea that just isn’t working when it comes to seeing the purposes of God’s Kingdom actualized on the Earth. I’m not suggesting politics are worthless. I’m not suggesting it’s unredeemable and unusable by God. One of the many amazing things about this Eternal Deity is that he has no boundaries and no mediums. He’ll use whatever he wants and there’s no stopping him. But when the church starts seeing the government as the catalyst to answer the ancient prayer, “Your will be done, your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” then we have a major problem on our hands.
It’s the church’s job to bring the light that chases the darkness away (no, that doesn’t mean mobs with torches). Christians have to realize that creating laws to force unbelievers to live as Christians is simply not the way to convert the heathen. “Right living” is a result of being made right with God. It’s called righteousness and it only happens when a seed called faith blossoms into a plant called belief. When Christ sent his followers out to start this revolution he said they would be like farmers tossing seeds in a field. There was no mention of government subsidized farm equipment or laws to prevent birds from eating the seeds or vandals from planting weeds.
God’s political system is called the Church. We are the system God designed to bring change throughout the world. We are the “Christ propaganda”. Its time for the church to stop asking someone else to do its job. We’ve been like the people of Israel who had full access to God but asked for a human king to deal with Him in their place. But this time God is not going to cave to our demands. We are the kings who have been selected to usher His Kingdom into this world. It’s time we stop looking elsewhere for what’s already in front of us. We’re it. We are God’s politics.