United, Sort of...
There are two things you shouldn’t talk about at parties, the dinner table or with people you’ve just met - religion and politics. So let’s talk about both.
Why? Because they aren’t exactly on the forefront of uniting people right now.
If you’d like to watch the talk I gave on this post, you can do that here.
Religion is a part of every election in the United States. It’s sometimes used as a tool to gain a larger base of support. It may drive values and tell people where a candidate does (or might) stand on certain issues such as freedom of speech, religion, abortion, or foreign policy. The problem is: Religion is a people-centered creation that intentionally divides by telling people how they can be good; as opposed to a Gospel-centered approach as found in the Bible that tells people that there is only one who is good, and that person died for everyone else who without Him, are bad.
As a Pastor it’s kind of hard to not talk about religion and the Gospel, but when it comes to politics, some people probably think: “Stay in your lane don’t go there, just preach the Bible.”
But there is a tension here - to say that religion and politics are separated would be to ignore a large part of history. To name just two examples from Judeo-Christian History:
Early on in the 1st century (around AD 6) the Roman government exercised direct rule over Judea - meaning that prior to this, devout Jews could pay their taxes to Roman instilled rulers indirectly, namely the Herodian family around this time. But with direct rule, devout jews now had to pay their taxes directly to Caesar, which was a problem because about 35 years prior to this the Roman emperors started the ‘imperial cult’, essentially declaring emperors as Gods. Devout Jews were now forced to pay taxes directly to a ‘rival god’.
Secondly, the person we follow as Christians - Jesus Christ - was executed partly because he was accused of crimes against the state, or sedition. During his rushed trial, Pilate asks about Jesus’ kingship, which was a direct violation of Roman law - there were no kings but Caesar, something the Jewish religious leaders themselves shouted. Jesus was ultimately killed with a sign above his head that read ‘king of the Jews’ a charge of political and civil unrest.
Here’s the Point: Religion and politics have been intertwined - either intentionally or unintentionally so - for a very long time, so we need to talk about them both. But they both make people uncomfortable. Probably for many reasons, but today I’d like to talk about one specifically - namely that they cause division.
The second word in describing America is “The United States of America”.
Unity is challenging in a group of like-minded, well-meaning individuals , it’s even more challenging when you take into account a whole country full of different opinions, backgrounds, nationalities, religions, values and political views. We’re not the most diverse country in the world, but we are diverse. So how can we have unity in the midst of diversity? Let’s define a few things first:
Diversity: The differences in parts, groups or people that form a variety.
Unity: The joining of different parts, groups or people to become a whole.
So, how do you unite a diverse people group?
I think there are two ways, but let me list a few ways that don’t work:
If we all believed the same things, that would unite us.
If we proposed laws that were beneficial for everyone we would be united.
If we had a cause to fight for or defend, that would unite us.
If we remember the battles we went through as a people, that would unite us.
If there is an injustice that is apparent that would unite us.
If there was poverty or hunger, or human trafficking, or the degradation of another human being that we could all see - that would unite us.
Here’s the problem: We can’t congregate, commemorate, or legislate our way into UNITY.
Congregate - Gathering alone won’t unify us. We gather all the time and can’t agree.
Commemorate - Memories, difficulties and tragedies can unite us, but they aren’t all-encompassing.
Legislate - No laws or amendments will force or encourage people to get along.
Here are the two things that I think, can unite us:
1. God’s SPIRIT.
You may say: ‘There are 40,000 Christian denominations, where is the unity in that?’ And that’s a fair point, we’re not united in our methods but we are united in the means by which we are saved - by the Grace given to us in the Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which paid for our sin, which we accept through Faith, and which we live from in unity through His Holy Spirit.
Before Jesus died, the one thing he prayed for - was unity. He could have prayed for himself, or for what he was going to go through to be easier, He could have prayed for forgiveness, or protection for his disciples to carry on his work or a bunch of other things - but instead he prayed for unity:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” - John 17:20-21
John has been my favorite Gospel for a long time, but over the last few years, chapters 16 and 17 have become the chapters that I find myself reading and referencing more than I ever have. For two reasons - the work of the Holy Spirit and the idea of Unity.
When Unity in the Spirit Happens:
You begin to defend people rather than your position. (Ephesians 2:14)
You look for what’s right rather than who’s right. (Acts 15)
You try to think the same way, not the same thoughts. (1 Cor 1:10)
2. The commonality, of an ENEMY.
The Holy Spirit unifies in a way that we never could by ourselves, but He also points at who our true enemy is. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just unify us to live so we can create some kind of utopia now, quite the contrary - in the midst of a fallen world that has evil, division and death and sin, the Holy Spirit points out the enemy we must all be aware of.
He unifies us first so we can hopefully see that our fight isn’t with each other, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a fight. Paul sums it up this way:
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Uniting Truth: Make every effort to be at peace with PEOPLE, and take every opportunity to be at war with the POWERS of evil.
However you voted is this election, the enemy isn’t the other candidate, their party or the people who support them with their names on their lawns.
The enemy is not as Paul says ‘flesh and blood’ but the spiritual forces of evil in this world.