Land of the Free

Not long ago, I overheard a conversation between two fellow Christians, in response to some sort of political issue that's been in the works. Actually, I overhear a lot of such conversations under those circumstances, but this time it stuck out to me. I don't recall what was said, or even what specific topic was being discussed, but that's not relevant. What I do recall is some of the thoughts I had regarding the conversation, and all those like it.

Pretty much any time you turn on the TV, you're going to hear about a huge, controversial issue that has one group or another (usually multiple, really) all riled up. This is unsurprising; things like this are the reason that formal social etiquette advises against discussion of politics. Someone always gets offended, overly concerned, or even paranoid, which ultimately causes a lot of social discord. But the thoughts I had on this were focused specifically on us Christians, as a church body.

I've been seeing an interesting fact posted and discussed a lot lately: there are 365 different Biblical instances of some variation of the phrase, "Do not be afraid." Safe to say, God considers that an important issue to take to heart. And yet, a lot of the concern about political affairs involves Christians getting overly offended or worried about the direction the country is taking with its policies. In response to non-Christians promoting and embracing what they see as progress and equality, we start trying to impose Christian values on a godless nation; people who, as non-Christians, have no reason to take such values to heart. And then we rationalize our legalism by claiming that it's putting Christianity at risk. "Do not be afraid," God says. So what do we do? We become paranoid at every sign of trouble.

I'm reminded of instances in the Bible when, politically, God's people were basically given the finger. The Israelites spent a lot of time under the political heel of first Egypt, then the Babylonian Empire, then the Roman Empire. (There might be some I missed; I'm not very good at history, but you get the idea.) And of course, they worried too, at least on the broad scale. However, there were always exceptions; the few faithful. But that's just it: those few faithful servants are examples of the way God wants us to live our lives. Lives that glorify Him.

We can look at people like Esther, Daniel, the furnace trio, John the Baptist, and the apostles of Christ, all living in times of political hardship. They obeyed the laws, at least within the confines of God's law, even when the rest of the world, it seemed, was very much against God's will. They didn't cave to the ways of the world, but they did follow the law of the land, until it conflicted with the law of God. Did they all prosper when their faith was tested and proven? No. But all of their lives did glorify God, which is the ultimate point of them.

Of course, Jesus Himself lived His life in complete accordance with God's word, all the while seeming to mostly stay out of political issues, and truly, out of the business of unbelievers. He didn't come to judge the unbelieving world (not the first time, anyway). He did, however, teach how to live life the way God wants us to live, ultimately leaving the choice to those who would listen.

As Christians, we have to acknowledge the fact that this is not our home. It's not God's kingdom, so the political direction it takes shouldn't disturb us, at least not beyond a sense of urgency about spreading the Gospel. If anything, a downward spiral into decadence should be expected.

I think the real reason we dislike the "progressivism" is that it interferes with the comfort and safety of living in a Christian-friendly environment. But we're not called to be comfortable, or even safe. We're called to be faithful and grow closer to Christ; an endeavor that's made unnecessary to our subconscious minds, because there's no real need for strong faith.

Even look at the Christians living in anti-Christian nations today. Their environment is, I imagine, not unlike that of early Christians. And their faith is undoubtedly greater than ours. It has to be, because it's tried and strengthened every day. You don't claim Christianity in a political environment that wants to exterminate Christians if your faith is weak. I'll even go as far as to submit that their faith is as strong as it is, in many ways, because of their circumstances, in the sense that it's constantly getting exercised by them. If I'm correct in that, it goes to show that in addition to being expected, a taste of real adversity may actually do us a bit of good.

Now, I won't advocate what is, in truth, the world's regression, and I myself am not strong enough to pray for such adverse circumstances. But I do think that we should take all of this in stride, as we remember that God has everything in His hands. It's for Him to judge, and for us to take on the light burden of lovingly and compassionately sharing the Gospel, without worrying about worldly circumstances.