Fundy, Libber, Left and Right We are Precious in His Sight!

I was tagged in a post this morning on Facebook that shared a quote from the Christian Left. The quote referred to our responsibility to the poor and came down pretty hard on conservatives. While I know that it is nearly impossible to be a US citizen and remain neutral on political issues, I continue to find myself grieving over the dissension caused by ideological differences among Christians who are commanded to “love one another.” After a couple of “conservative” friends commented on the post, I felt compelled to respond myself. Here is what I wrote:

I always hesitate to post comments on these kinds of things because I know that both sides are extremely passionate about their ideological positions and have difficulty seeing eye to eye with one another. As a pastor, my desire is to see the kingdom of God become a reality "here on earth" as Jesus taught us to pray. This agenda is political because Jesus came and claimed his kingship over every man made political system. In that sense my allegiance to Jesus as king is political. As king, it is very clear to me that Jesus also had an agenda. His political platform was shalom - the restoration of all things (see his prayer in John 17 as one example among many). This restoration included (and I would argue, prioritized, serving and empowering the "least of these.") My calling as a pastor is to lead the flock that God has given me (rich, poor, liberal, conservative, black, white, straight, gay, 80's lovers and ... ugh... lovers of any other decade) to embrace the call of Christ to promote and practice shalom in this world through service and mission to all people (beginning with the marginalized). While I resonate with the original post quoted here, I wish that the writer would have simply said something like "contrary to what prideful, greedy people would like to believe ..." Because it is sin, not ideology, that lures us to desire wealth and possessions over helping those less fortunate. We could bicker all day about why liberals or conservatives have it right or wrong. In the end, our job as Christians is to examine ourselves and remind ourselves that we are all sinners fallen fall short of the glory of God. Karen and David make valid points here. Taking care of the poor is our responsibility as citizens of the kingdom of God, period. Let's let the political ideologues and talking heads point the fingers (because they always will) and let's get busy discovering what Christ is up to in the world and joining him in the restoration of all things. That sounds like a lot more fun to me.