Political Idolatry

In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul lists what he called “the works of the flesh,” and among these common sins is idolatry. Obviously in the civilized world we do not see many people bowing down to idols, but I believe recent events demonstrate that politics is a form of American idolatry.

Politics has become a religion. We have made it our idol. We worship at Red or Blue altars.

We no longer have a Golden Calf, but we have a Golden Elephant and a Golden Donkey. They are gods to some people, the party platforms are their holy writ, and their followers have waged jihad on those who belong to the other side.

There was a time when two people could have a civilized debate, even when holding very different beliefs. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes were great friends, yet they debated fiercely on TV. Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan used to spar by day, but hang out by night. O’Neill was famous for saying, “Politics ends at 5PM.”

We have to get back to a place where we see the other side, not as the enemy, but as human beings who have different opinions. That is part of what makes me so angry about what happened to Charlie Kirk. He never hurt anyone. He didn’t die with a gun in his hand, but a microphone, while a cowardly assassin chose not to pick up a microphone, but a gun. Kirk used to say that when we stop seeing each other as people, violence begins, and that is exactly what happened.

We have to get back to viewing people as people. “I disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” But when politics is our idol, if I disagree with what you say, the only death will be yours. If we do not turn from the idolatry of politics, these tragedies will become more frequent, not less.

So how do you know if you have made politics or political parties an idol? There are 3 signs:

1. You hear someone share a different point of view, or see them wear clothes that identify them as belonging to the other party, and you decide that person should not have the right to live. It is better for them to die than for you to let someone hear their viewpoint. You have made your political affiliation a god in your life.

2. You hear about or witness the death of someone on the other side, and it makes you happy. Your first thought is to say, “He was shot? Oh, good.” You have made your political affiliation a god in your life.

3. Everywhere you look you see a Nazi. If you think every member of the other side, and every podcaster or pundit that promotes their views are Nazis, you are in too deep and have been brainwashed. Everyone is a fill-in-the-blank-ist (racist, sexist, fascist), or everyone is a fill-in-the-blank-aphobe (homophobe, xenophobe). If someone is to the left of you, they are a libtard or a Dumb-ocrat. If someone is to the right of you they are a RepubliKKKan. You have allowed the clergy in your religion to convince you that everyone with a different point of view is corrupt, evil, and beyond redeeming.

If any of these three signs describe you, you need to repent of your idolatry. By all means, be involved in the process, but not if you are making this your god.

And we must change the rhetoric. When you call Donald Trump “literally Hitler” for years, don’t be surprised when someone takes a shot at him. We went to war with fascists. When you call Charlie Kirk a fascist for years, don’t be surprised when someone takes a shot at him. Words have meaning, and they carry weight. It is irresponsible to brand the other side with these words, especially because they are not true. Read a history book before you call someone a Nazi or fascist.

But when politics is your god, you view your Great Commission as destroying the other side. We are called to make disciples for Christ, not our political party.

To Save a Life

(Like my blog about the peace symbol, this blog was written as a default response to all the parents, students, and other people who are asking my opinion of To Save a Life.) By now you have probably heard of the movie To Save a Life, which opened nation-wide in theaters on January 22nd. The movie deals with so many issues that teens face today, like suicide, cutting, drinking, drugs, premarital sex, teen pregnancy, and abortion. At first glance this movie looks like an awesome resource that we should recommend for our teens, parents, youth pastors, and youth workers. But a closer look at the movie reveals a few disturbing things. For starters, according to pluggedin.com, there are 2 uses of the “A” word, 5 uses of hell (used as a curse word), and once the “D” word is used. There are other crude terms used to describe a girl, and crude terms for referring to sexual activity. There is also a bedroom scene that shows a girl removing a boy’s shirt, then afterwards the girl putting he...

Catechism #15

Q. By what sin did our first parents fall from their original condition?  A. Our first parents’ sin was eating the forbidden fruit. The first sin we see in the Bible was in the eating of the forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve. But as we saw last week, there are sins of commission and omission. The eating of the fruit was an act of commission—a sin that was committed in the Garden of Eden. But before Eve ever took her first bite, a few sins of omission occurred that led up to the sin of commission. First, notice that it was Eve, not Adam, that did all the talking with the serpent in Genesis 3. Yet it was Adam, not Eve, who was created as the spiritual leader of the family. For whatever reason Adam abdicated his role as the spiritual leader and stood silently by as Eve ate the fruit. After Eve’s bite, she gave it to Adam, and he ate it too. Not only did Adam omit his role as leader, Eve omitted her trust in the goodness of God. Not only did she misquote God ...

All Things To All Men

One of our favorite verses to use in our evangelism methods is where Paul said that he “becomes all things to all men” so that he might “by all means save some (I Corinthians 9:22).” This is certainly a good idea if we keep it in its proper context and application. For example, I remember a time in high school where I knew a kid that loved skateboarding. Being the chicken that I am, I was never a skateboarder. All he would talk about was skating, and I knew none of his lingo. But to help develop a relationship with him (he was new to our church and didn’t know many people), I brushed up on my skating lingo so I could ask if he had done any sick ollies lately (impressed?). This would be like Paul saying “to the skateboarder, I became a skateboarder.” This is effective and necessary. But then there are the people that use this verse to justify doing sinful things in the name of evangelism. The first one that comes to mind is about drinking. Some people will go into the bars to evan...

Tommy Mann

Search This Blog