Hubert Humphrey may be best known for serving as the thirty-eighth Vice President of the United States during part of Lyndon Johnson’s administration, but prior to that post he was a senator from Minnesota. While working as a senator he once made the comment, “In politics, how you stand depends on where you sit.” That quip was a reference to the way members of congress are seated in our two-party system. If you are seated with the minority party, you largely play defense; if you are seated with the majority, you have much more latitude in fulfilling your agenda.
A politician stands for things based on where he sits. Whether that is right or wrong is not what I want to write about. If you are a Christian, where you sit should likewise determine how you stand. In Ephesians 2 Paul wrote these incredible words: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (v.4-6).”
I don’t care if you sit with Republicans or Democrats; you can be red or blue, conservative or liberal, and that is none of my business. If you have been saved, however, you are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Our feet are firmly planted on earth, but our minds are with the Lord in heaven. We live this life in light of our identity in Christ. Because of where we are seated, we can stand for what is right.
Many times politicians will campaign on a certain issue, but once they get their seat of power, they hit the brakes on those campaign promises because the party bosses will not allow it on account of political expediency. Where they sit determines how they stand. If we are seated in heavenly places, we should stand for what is right all the time. There may be times when people try to talk us out of doing something we know we should do; they will say not to forgive someone who hurt us, or not to help someone we have already helped before. But being seated in heavenly places means we should stand for what is right. We should always love our neighbor as ourselves because that is what our Lord told us to do.
Do the things you stand for line up with where you are seated? Do you only stand for the things that benefit you the most, at the expense of other people? That is what those who are seated in earthly places, or even hellish places would do. If you have been saved and are seated with Christ in the heavenly places, you should stand for what is right.
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