Lessons On Faith From The U.S. Election

I've been giving some thought today to the faith ramifications of the U.S. presidential election yesterday. One of the suggestions that I've seen is that Mitt Romney's loss means that the influence of the "Christian Right" in U.S. politics is on the wane. One would hope so. I don't say that for ideological reasons. I'm equally appalled by the existence of something called the "Christian Left." These phrases represent, in fact, ideological positions and not faithful expressions of the gospel. If the gospel is to be reduced to mere ideology, then what need do we have of Christ? Whatever country we live in, let's just try to shove our view of how things should be done down each other's throats. You see, that's the problem with ideological expressions of the gospel. Ideology is about power. Yes, it's about a vision of how to order society; it's about basic beliefs about what's right and what's wrong. Ultimately, though, ideology is about power. It's about the quest for, the acquisition of and the exercise of power - because without power, ideology is largely pointless.

The gospel, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. Isn't the gospel about the voluntary sacrifice of power and influence and authority? Isn't the basic message of the gospel summed up in these words: 

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)

Why, then, insist on cheapening the gospel by mixing it with ideology? Ideology divides; and by mixing the gospel with ideology all we do is divide the body of Christ, and turn Christian against Christian. We do that in other ways, too, of course. We pit evangelical Christians against liberal Christians. We pit orthodox Christians against heretical Christians. We pit charismatic Christians against mainline Christians. We pit Catholics against Protestants. Jesus must weep. In choosing those divisions, all we're doing is weakening the body of Christ. When Christian faith becomes reduced to adherence to a certain set of either social policies or doctrines, then Christian faith is weakened, because the body of Christ is divided along those lines.

This should even be the case on the "hot button" issues that seem to get people so exorcised these days - same sex marriage and abortion. It is not for Christians to enforce an ethical code on others. We are not the arbiter of other people's morals. We are love. We are love, because God is love, and because Christ is God, and because we are the body of Christ. It's really that simple. We may agree or disagree with the choices other people make - but our calling is to love them and to assure them that God loves them. Whatever change that may bring about is up to the Holy Spirit and not to us. But to divide ourselves up (as we so often do) into the "good" Christians and the "bad" Christians based on your opinion on fundamentally deeply personal, moral issues is wrong, because - again - its sets us against one another; it works against love.

I'm not arguing that there's an easy solution to this problem. We're humans. We have strong opinions. We like to divide ourselves up on the basis of those opinions. We like to fight against each other, preferably peacefully and through the ballot box, but sometimes violently and through the barrel of a gun. But a part of the solution might be to remember the two verses that preceded what I shared above:

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:3-4)

As Christians, our fundamental concern should be for "the interests of others." If we could focus on that, we might be able to let go of ourselves and our own interests and beliefs and prejudices and simply live in love for those whom God already loves.

If the "Christian Right" is on the wane - and I desperately hope that it is (just as I hope that we'll give up the idea of a "Christian Left") then perhaps we can actually get back to the call Christ has given us: the sharing of the gospel - not a message of judgment, but rather a message of reconciliation and love, in which all are committed to doing the best they can for others - both God and their neighbours.

We'll always have politics. As Christians, we have to decide how to engage in politics. Do we enter the fray as ideologues, fiercely and passionately committed to our own understanding, believing that those who believe otherwise need to be defeated, and even crushed; going to virtually any means to win (honest or dishonest, ethical or unethical, Christ-like or un-Christ-like) bitter when we lose? Is that the way of Christ? Is that the way of the gospel? I hope not. And it doesn't have to be our way, if we can live into the words of Paul in Philippians.

Recently, in leading up to the election, I came across these words from Eric D. Barretto, a professor of New Testament studies at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minesota:

"How then do we vote like Christians? We vote with forgiveness, love, and grace in our hearts towards our neighbors but especially those with which we disagree on political questions. We vote without commitment to political ideologies or personalities. We vote without expecting mere mortals to do the work of God. Yet we vote with hope that God will meet us in the messiness of our political lives. We vote with expectation that the reign of God is indeed at hand. In short, we vote like a Christian when we vote for the sake of our neighbors and those the world and politicians are most likely to neglect. In doing so, we love God most deeply."

I think those are good words. They remind us that the greatest power we may possess as a people of faith isn't by latching on to an ideology or a doctrine and fighting tooth and nail to impose it on others. Our greatest power is in giving up any illusion that we have power; voluntarily sacrificing whatever authority we may have in order to further the best interests of our neighbours. That would be Christ-like. That's what we're called to.