Be The Fruit

Idolatry of Politics.

by Bill Blair on 30/10/08 at 7:15 am

Below is a post I wrote earlier this year about the idolatry of Politics.  With the election next week, I thought I might repost it today.  The key thing to remember is that our savior is not John McCain, Barack Obama, or even this country.  God is still on the throne and will work all of this out in the end.  Below is the previous post from back in June.

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It seems as though we finally have presidential race so the political discussion should really begin to heat up now.  That is if it has not already.  Politics is an area that causes many believers to slip into idolatry.  We stand for righteousness, and we long to see good men as our leaders who will do good things and bring America back to God.  It is as if we believe that if we get OUR men, which we believe to be God’s men, in the right political positions then this world could be fixed.  In this pursuit, many of us forget that God is in control and that ultimately it is only He who will redeem this world.  When we place our trust in a political candidate to solve our world’s problems, politics has become our god.

As an unbeliever, there was a time when I became rather obsessed with politics.  It began at the end of high school, continued to build through my college years, and reached its high point during the time of Clinton/Lewinsky saga.  My political beliefs then are not much different than they are today.  I was a solid right-wing conservative who was against abortion, for smaller government, for lower taxes, etc… It was an interesting time for me because I would spend countless hours thinking about how different programs could fix our country.  If we had lower taxes…  If we had better judges…  If we just had more Republicans… These thoughts consumed me.  I have no doubt that during that period of my life, politics served as my god. 

Now as a believer, as I look back at that time of my life it has become clear to me that the reason politics became a god for me was that I was able to find my own righteousness in my political views.  My conservative views were absolutely correct and could fix things in our country, in our world.  Anyone who opposed these views was absolutely wrong and ultimately evil which in turn made me ultimately good.  As a lost person without any righteousness in me, I had put all of my trust in my political views which really was just putting my trust in myself.

I am very grateful that God stepped in to show me what true righteousness is.  Our only hope is in Him.  We have hope because God sent his only Son into this broken world to die on the cross for our sins.  Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the grave on the third day defeating death becoming a new creation which will culminate one day when He will return and fully redeem this fallen world.  That, beloved, is when the world’s problems will be solved.

Earlier this week a friend sent me an email regarding something John McCain said at a town meeting he held here in Nashville.  McCain was asked what books inspired him, and one of his answers was that he was inspired by Joel Osteen’s books.  I have to say it is a little troubling to think that someone leading our country could be influenced by name-it-claim-it theology.  On the other hand we have Obama and Rev. Wright.  Before we get too worried we should recall that our hero of conservatism, Ronald Reagan, was known to consult astrology, and his wife allegedly consulted a psychic regularly after he was shot to determine where he should and should not go.  So this is nothing new.   Just remember that God is in control.

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that we are to submit to governing authorities because they have been given their power and been established by God.  We are to submit to such authorities because God put them there for our good (Rom 13:1-4).  Paul is telling us that God is in control of the rulers; therefore, we should be willing to submit to them.  The big thing I want you to get is that no matter what the political landscape looks like, we have to remember that God is in control and the He will “cause all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28).

Don’t put your hope in a politician.  Put your hope in Christ.

Until next time, put God first and “be the fruit.”