did Jesus vote?

Jesus didn't live in a democracy so no he really didn't vote. Doesn't mean that we shouldn't and it doesn't mean he didn't have something to say about politics.

I suffer from what I like to call the Reagan/ Clinton effect when it comes to politics. In my formative years Reagan was president and I learned that presidents are figure heads (like actors on TV) and their is a world of people behind them pulling the strings. Clinton was president in my college years and from him I learned that the figure head gets to define the world pretty much the way he sees fit and it is mostly about benefiting himself. This left me jaded.

I love being jaded, because it helps me understand the GenXer side of myself. It allows me to understand how this world is not completely for me and how I am really stuck in between two realities. There is the physical world in which I must work through politics and their is the spiritual world that has the greatest political solution of all time.

Three Things I Learn from Matt. 22:15-22

I. Jesus cares about Politics and I need to as well.

Jesus says his famous line, "Render Unto Caesar the things that are Caesar". Notice he doesn't say, "It's no big deal do what you want" or "Don't bother me I just care about me" or "Run, flee from all things political." Instead he is saying pay attention. Examine the currency, look at the issue, think through it, and determine the best way to handle it. Don't put me in a box and don't put yourself in a box either. You are not a Democrat, Republican or Tea Party Member. You are a free thinker who needs to understand the gospel implications of the issues before you. Don't run and hide like the Essenes, don't wage war like the Zealots, and don't conform like the Pharisees and Herodians. Think Gospel-mindedness!

2. Jesus wants our politics to focus on driving us towards the gospel.

Jesus talks about image (not politics), people are God's coin. God doesn't need silver, gold, or platinum to reveal his likeness because we are his likeness. For Jesus, politics is just another distraction that can rip us away from the Gospel. Instead he wants politics to drive us towards the gospel as we seek him to meet our needs, and the needs of the community.

Questions I think about:

What does it look like for us to be involved in politics (voting, running for office, getting involved), not so much the way Jesus wants us to vote, or the way that will benefit us the most, but in a way that will make us lean more on His understanding? What does it look like for us to move away from our familial political background and shift a little bit in one direction or another? What does it look like to experience someone else's politic and see how Christ might work through it? Everyone's politic has brokenness mixed in with goodness, if you can't agree with this then their is a hardness in your heart that might need to be moved.

Bill Clinton is Reformed

Embedded video from CNN Video

We are just racking them up these days. John Calvin is alive well and winning the hearts of presidents everywhere.

My Love

I have many friends who are in love with politics. I have to say that I didn’t know how many friends I had who were in love with politics before the last election. I have been awed by the reactions of many and I am awed by how I, myself, got caught up in the whole show.

I am very skimpy in my loves in this world. When I fall in love with something or someone it gets all of my attention and most of my thought process, so I typically try to guard my heart from falling in love with too many things. Let’s take Apple products for example. I do not just enjoy my Apple computer; I love my Apple Company and products. I love my iPhone G3 (actually loved my first generation more until it broke). I love my video iPod (the fifth iPod I have owned) that is hooked up to my truck’s sound system (a graduation present from mom and dad). I love video production and photography because Apple makes great applications that allow you to play with them and have fun with them. Apple makes it, I buy it, use it and fall in love.

I also have a deep love of Jesus. I love his word. I love his people. I love those who want to be his people. I love the family of God. I love growing in my own faith. I love reading the Bible. I love reading people’s response to their reading of the Bible. I love conferences that teach about the Lord. I love walking on the beaches talking to the Lord. I love listening to music about the Lord. It is an all-encompassing affection of my heart.

I believe that fundamentally we all want to fall in love with someone or something that can lead, grow, and mature us. I believe we all want to be inspired to grow deeper in the knowledge of what it means to be human. To grow deeper in what it means to experience reality. To share in the community of life.

In the experience of cancer that Adriane and I shared together both us felt so alive in the midst of the great struggle for regaining health. There was such an awakening of what it meant to live and how precious life really was and is! It can serve like a drug though, and once the high of that drug begins to fade you can get left with a deflated feeling inside yourself. Looking for the next high, the next reality to take you to a plain of understanding of existence.

Thus we take up the cause to find something or someone who will really lead us to a different place than where we are. If there is one thing I am certain of is that stagnancy is not the best condition for man. A man or woman at rest for long periods of time leads to psychosis. We are biological organic beings that need to thrive and move forward. I cannot end in the stories I have of people who have stopped moving forward and lost great amounts of who they were because of it.