Your Politics Won’t Save You

“For by grace are you saved, through faith , not of works, lest any one should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9). Holding on to this verse has freed me in so many ways. There are times when I feel caught in the middle. Growing up in conservative Christian schools my whole life, we were taught that if you did not vote Republican than you were betraying Christ. Growing up in a community of democrats, you felt like if you did not vote Democrat then you were betraying your own people. But what if it is not that simple?

Over the years I have had to take hard look at both parties and when I look at their policies I believe that both sides can grieve the heart of God and both align with Biblical teachings. So where does that put me or others like me? Someone accused me of being lukewarm for not choosing to be Republican. Sadly, my racist experiences in conservative circles for my entire life prevent me from choosing to affiliate with that group. It does not mean I am hindered from seeing the individual, but that my life experiences shape my perspectives on what is a healthy place for me to dwell. This is not an arguing point for me, it just is what it is. But I love you though (if a Republican is reading this). Now on the other side of things, when I began to get heavily involved with Christian education as a career and I faced a great deal of opposition about that from Democrats, it also caused me to realize that they also cannot represent me well. I have a lot more to say about the policies on both sides that trouble me, but that is not the point of this blog post. Let’s just say there’s enough there that troubles me on both sides and from my personal experiences with both sides that lead me to distance myself from both.

I share my personal reasons to show how we all are human and make choices based on personal experience and that is ok. These personal experiences shape our perspectives and help us navigate the world. We are all individual like that, or at least we should be given the freedom and respect to be uniquely human. So, I do not choose any party, but I choose Christ. Choosing Christ alone, frees me from feeling like I have to label myself using something man has concocted to divide humanity. I do vote, but it fluctuates, depending on who is the least dangerous to democracy or maybe not at all. I simply do not look to any party to uphold a Biblical standard, because both sides fail to do so consistently and adequately. I am also acutely aware that when I stand before Christ he is not going to ask me what party I belonged to. He does not care about that. He is going to ask me if I obeyed his Word to the best of my ability. He is going to ask me if I loved unconditionally. He is going to ask me if I shared my faith. Christ is NOT concerned with a political agenda, because the law is so exhaustive, no one… no political party could fully uphold it and be consistent. Where one may be against abortion, that same party rejects providing any aid to the child and his/her mother after they are born. Where one wants an education that is equitable in public schools, that same one won’t support children and parents choosing the best school to meet the child’s needs. So I choose Christ.

Someone asked me what I will teach my students about civics with this kind of mentality. I share that I will teach them how our government works in a non partisan way, so that they have the tools to make the choice that they feel is best for them. We live in a country where we can choose how we vote, or even NOT to vote at all (although we should folks…..). Someone asked me what I will teach my students about sin. I said that I will teach them what our Bible says about it, but that has nothing to do with politics or civics. Because each of my students is a human being and indoctrination is not teaching them, it is oppressing them. The very foundation of my school (The Living Water School) is that children, after given a Biblical worldview, should be free to make their own choices, and that includes how they vote. At the same time, they should also learn to love everyone unconditionally as Christ demonstrated when he died for Pilate, the guards who nailed him to the cross, the Pharisees who falsly accused him, and the WORLD. Jesus did not let the politics that surrounded him, deter him from laying down his life for EVERYONE.

Christ fed the 5000. He touched the leper. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He talked to the Samaritan woman. He chose fishermen and a demon possessed woman to be his disciples. Christ loved unconditionally and that is my primary focus. I will not be defined by how I vote, but I will be defined by my relationship with Christ. I will not judge you by how you vote, because Jesus died for Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, People’s Party, the Green Party, you and me, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.