The Politics of the Church -- Where Church and State Intersect

The biggest threat to the Church is politics -- and not the fact, as many claim, that the Church is interfering with politics, but the fact that politics is interfering with the Church. The Separation of Church and State does not protect the State from Church influence, but it protects the Church from political interference and control. Of course, the Separation of Church and State means that there is no “OFFICIAL” Government sanctioned Church or religion, but it cannot be used to sanitize politics from religious influence because those in the political realm are going to be influenced by their religion. This does not mean that there is no protection from a “religious” politician who is trying to impose his religion on others through law. That is a clear violation of the Separation of Church and State. But in spite of what many people will suggest, there is a difference between saying that a person’s politics are influenced by his religion (that the type of decisions made and votes cast will be influenced by his religion) and that he can use politics to impose his religion on others.

I, as a Christian, want to be protected from other Christians, who would persecute or sanction me because they feel that I may not practice Christianity in the right way. I also, of course, want to be protected from those of other religions who would want to sanction me because they believe that my religion is wrong. I also want to be protected from those who are not religious, who would want to make it so that I could not practice my religion, and who would sanction me if I were caught practicing it. Because I want these protections for myself, I must want these protections for others. I must want other Christians, other religions, and the non-religious to be protected from ME. Therefore, the Separation of Church and State is not merely a wise policy, it is an essential policy.

The problem is not that religion has found its way into politics, but that politics has wormed its way into the Church. Whole denominations have been taken over by political entities or parties, and either operate as an extension of those political parties or entities, or essentially hold and declare political affiliation. Evangelicals may dress their politics up in Christian ornamentation and language, but they are less Christian and more Conservative Republican. Certain mainstream Protestant denominations may give their politics a Christian flavor, but they are less Christian and more Progressive or Democrat. Those within those religious traditions that do not share the politics are forced with the choice of leaving the denomination, or fighting the denomination, or creating their own denomination.

THE INSERTION OF POLITICS INTO THE CHURCH HAS ONLY SERVED TO SPLINTER THE CHURCH, OR KEEP THE BODY OF CHRIST FIGHTING ITSELF -- POLITICS IS THE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE THAT WEAKENS AND NULLIFIES THE BODY OF CHRIST.

The Church, or any part of it, should not be endorsing politicians, or aligning itself with political parties or entities. The Church should be focused on one thing and one thing only: Communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Church should be focused on being Jesus to the world; therefore, the Church should be doing and saying what Jesus did and said, and what Jesus told the Church to do and say.  

THE CHURCH HAS BUT ONE PRIMARY PURPOSE " TO COMMUNICATE THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST TO OTHERS, NEAR AND FAR.

Notice that the Primary Purpose to “COMMUNICATE,” not to “PREACH”! Surely preaching will be part of its communication, but the power of the Church is not the power of preaching, it is the power of love, and the power of love is not in merely talking, but in doing! As Saint Gregory the Great has said: “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”

So the Church will preach love -- it will preach good news to the poor, it will speak comforting words to the prisoners, the desperate, the hungry, the needy, the homeless, the sick. But love is not about talk, love is about doing. The Church cannot just tell people they are loved, the Church has to show people they are loved. The Church does not merely speak comforting words to the prisoners; the Church sets the prisoners free! The Church does not merely speak comforting words to the hungry; the Church feeds them! The Church does not merely speak kind words to the needy and the homeless and the sick; the Church provides for their needs, finds them homes, and heals their illnesses.

THE CHURCH IS THE PHYSICAL EMBODIMENT OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE WORLD AND IT IS TIME THAT THE CHURCH BEHAVED LIKE IT!

So the politics of the Church is simply to love! The politics of the Church is to be patient. The politics of the Church is to be kind. The politics of the Church is not to be jealous, or covetous, or envious. The politics of the Church is not to be pompous, or self-important, or rude, or temperamental. The politics of the Church is not to seek its own interests, but to seek out what is in the interest of others.

THE POLITICS OF THE CHURCH IS TO WANT FOR OTHERS WHAT WE WANT FOR OURSELVES, AND THEN TO HELP THEM GET IT!

So instead of the Church arguing political issues, and tearing itself apart in the process, the only question the Church has to ask is: ARE THEY HUMAN? If it turns out that the people discussed or affected by the political issue are, in fact, human, then the answer is to help those people get what we want for ourselves -- regardless of how we may feel about them or what they want.

Instead of arguing about if the Church ordains homosexuals, performs same-sex marriages, ministers to homosexuals, or anything else relating to homosexuals, the Church simply needs to ask: Are homosexuals human? If it turns out that homosexuals are human beings, then the Church needs to examine itself -- then I need to examine myself. Do I want the right to be ordained, or to get married, or to receive the Sacraments, or to be involved in the life of the Church? Then that is what I want for homosexuals too. It does not matter if I feel that homosexuality is a sin, because homosexuals are human; therefore, I want for them what I want for myself, regardless of how I may feel about what they want.

Instead of the Church arguing about food stamps or welfare, the Church simply need ask: Are the people on food stamps or on welfare human? If it turns out that poor people are in fact human beings, then the Church needs to examine itself -- then I need to examine myself. Do I want to eat? Do I want clothes to wear? Do I want shelter? Do I want to be able to go to a doctor and receive medical care when I am sick? If I want these things for myself, then I want them for the poor. It does not matter if I think that the poor are lazy. It does not matter if I think I am making the poor dependent on handouts. It only matters that I want these things for myself; therefore, I want these things for the poor as well, regardless of how I feel about them. If I am not going to directly feed them, clothe them, give them medical care myself, or if I am not going to let them live in my home, then I need to make allowances that provide them with the ability to do it like giving them food stamps or welfare, regardless of how I feel about it.

Now if this idea of giving to others what you want for yourself, regardless of how you feel about it or them, offends you, then let’s be clear: YOU ARE OFFENDED BY JESUS CHRIST! Then you have only two options available to you: 1) admit that you are not now, and probably have never been, a Christian -- a real Christian as in a disciple of Jesus Christ -- and that you will never be one because you are unwilling to substitute the Law of Love for your own personal Law of Condemnation; or 2) get in line with the Gospel and change the way you think and act (Repent). There is no middle ground. There is no way to have it both ways. You either accept what Jesus says, or you find yourself a new religion! Because, if you cannot accept this simple idea, then you cannot accept Jesus Christ. If I do not want for others what I want for myself, and if I am not willing to work to provide others with what I want for myself, then I am not willing to accept Jesus Christ, and I certainly have never “accepted Jesus Christ in my heart as my Lord and Savior” because I refuse to let Jesus Christ direct my heart, and I refuse to let Jesus Christ save others through me.

Jesus let His body be crucified on the cross so that ALL may be raised to new life. Certainly those of us in the Church can let our “sense of respectability,” and our judgments, and our need to determine who we think is worthy or not, be crucified -- certainly we can let our bigotries, hatred, indifference, greed, or whatever else keeps us from helping those who need help be crucified, so that those who are in need may be raised to a new life, not after they die, but here and now -- because if we let them die because we would rather blame them than help them, then we declare that WE DO NOT EVEN BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, and there is no new life here or anywhere else, in this world or in the next!

The politics of the Church is love, and we need to stand at the door to make certain that we do not let anything else in. Jesus Christ is not Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal, Capitalist, Communist -- Neither is His Church. The politics of the Church is the Law of Love: Providing for others what we want for ourselves regardless of sex, gender, color, ethnicity, creed, sexual-orientation, economic condition, political affiliation " regardless of how we may feel about it, or the ones we are providing for. This is how we accept Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Savior! This is how the world knows that we are His disciples! This is how the world knows that we belong to Him and no one else!