3 Reasons Why I "Get Political" for Jesus

I’ve been told throughout the years to not bring politics into the church, which seemed like a semi-reasonable request to me at first because I was really only interested in talking about Jesus. But over time, it was my studies of Jesus, the Bible and history, that led me to see that I would have to engage politics because of my faith. Here are three quick reasons I feel compelled to occasionally “get political” in church.

1. Jesus’ Favorite Message Was About His Kingdom

Whether you call it the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God, the Bible shows us that the two expressions are of the same thing. This Kingdom is not an abstract concept that Jesus occasionally preached on, but one of His favorite messages about an actual place in which Christians are citizens (Philippians 3:20) who fall under Jesus’ rule. Because we don’t live in kingdoms as much anymore, it helps to hear it in modern semantics: We are citizens of the country of Heaven in which Jesus is president. And since Heaven is where we live, it’s important that we therefore practice the politics that have been sort forth in that place (Matthew 5-7).

Jesus is the ultimate authority there. No president; no king; no from of political leader will ever be like Him or sit in His place. “If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not,” so the saying goes. Or again, to modernize, “If Jesus is President, Trump is not.” As Christians, our allegiance is to Jesus and Jesus alone–and as the early church showed, living in His kingdom may require us to do some jail time or it may even ask for our own blood. The early church truly believed Jesus and His kingdom were worth that much.

2. Politics Have Always Been Religion

While we claim that there is separation between church and state, many Christians act as though the state is under the anointing of God and therefore His mouthpiece. This way of thinking is actually quite ancient. All throughout history leaders have claimed to be guided by the gods or even to be gods themselves. They claim divinity and therefore, to disobey them is to disobey a god. With that being said, politics have always operated as religion—they have always been one and the same. Therefore, when Jesus comes preaching His own kingdom, He is calling us to pull out of our own political religions and join His.

And while we might think that the separation of church and state would have changed our perception of politics being religion, you only have to come in contact with a handful of Christians to see otherwise. Speaking against the nation in any way causes some Christians to rage as though you just spoke against God himself. But America is not Heaven. Trump is not Jesus. American politics are not Heavenly politics. And when earthly country, leadership and politics become sacred to us, we have worshipped the forbidden. And once we’re on our knees before her, we will find ourselves trying to submit Jesus to her reign rather than vice versa.

We’ve created a theology to get around separating church and state by claiming that our rulers are servants of God and can do no wrong and that following them is somehow following Jesus. I think God would be surprised by this, seeing as how He vocalized through the prophet Hosea that we make kings and princes without Him that that He does not recognize them as His authorities (Hosea 8:4).

3. The Prophets Were Political By Nature

Another compelling reason to speak against ungodly politics is simply in the fact that the prophets did it. It was a part of their God-ordained job to keep country and king on track with what God wanted, and this is exactly why people hated the prophets and even went so far as to kill them. Nobody minded claiming to be God’s people, but everyone minded living like it. And it was Israel’s inability to listen and enact God’s politics that landed her in captivity. God’s own people brought Hell to Earth rather than Heaven, so God let them experience the weight of their sin.

Little has changed in the way we treat prophets. For example, I share the words of God’s inspired Scriptures to remind fellow Christians of how God wants us to live and love and I am threatened and yelled at by none other than these same Christians. Israel didn’t want to hear it then and if we’re honest, we don’t want to hear it now. You can shut up the prophetic messages of the Bible if you wish, but it’s hard to live in the Kingdom of Heaven when God can’t teach what Heaven looks like.

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I’ve studied and engaged in this conversation many times before and I already know the passages and comments that will be given in return. However, I don’t have time to cover all of that here. All of that being said, I welcome us to continue living in the Kingdom of Heaven and to bring that Kingdom to Earth, because while Jesus’ reign has already been inaugurated on the cross, it has yet to come here in full. One day we will see the fullness of that Kingdom as related to us in Revelation, but until then we continue to share the good news with those around us so that they might join God’s Kingdom—since, after all, the major reason Jesus has delayed coming back for so long is because God wants more to be saved (2 Peter 3:8-9). So we continue to love those around us with the unconditional crazy love of God’s Kingdom.

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"(kabôd). n. masc. glory, honor, divine presence. Often refers to manifestations of the presence of God in the tabernacle or temple; can also refer to the reputation or character of God or, occasionally, men. The term kabôd very often occurs together with the divine name; God’s kabôd is sometimes framed as an attribute that God possesses, while at other times it is framed as his actual presence." (Lexham Theological Wordbook)

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Today's podcast takes place live at Annual Conference 2018 and features guest pastors from around the Southern Michigan Conference of the Free Methodist Church! Thanks to Paul Jones, Derik Heumann, Robbie Bolton, and Janae and Kevin Burchett for joining the podcast and sharing with us each in their own way.

In this episode we address things like prostitution in the Bible, if Judas ended up in Hell or not, and even suicide. We also spend some time sharing about some of the churches in our conference and revisiting some of the things we've learned at Annual Conference.

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You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Google Play. (If the episode is not there when you check the podcast feed, subscribe to the podcast on the podcast app and it should show up soon.)

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An important megachurch study back in 2007 found that large churches were doing a good job at getting people saved, but not so much at discipling them. Jamin explains the importance of Jesus' call to make disciples and not just "saved" people and invites us into the dinner church model as a means to disciple others.

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Looking for the extended version of this podcast? Reach out to Jamin.

Q&A Ep 3: Dinner Church with Shane Claiborne

Today we had a special interview with Christian activist and author, Shane Claiborne. Shane is well known for his ability to bring communities together and impact them with the love and peace of Jesus. We were excited to talk with him about all kinds of things related to our work as a church and our direction into the dinner church model.

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You also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Google Play. (If the episode is not there when you check the podcast feed, subscribe to the podcast on the podcast app and it should show up soon.)

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Q&A Ep 2: Bitcoin, Art, Forgiveness & Hearing God

Thanks for all your questions! You can now submit them quickly and easily at the new www.1208greenwood.com. Today Jamin and Myisha talk over your questions. Is investing in crypto-currency like gambling? Why don't Christians seem to care about art anymore? If the people we love keep repenting and turning back to do the same things, what do we do? And why does it seem like everyone else is so much better at hearing God than ourselves? Furthermore, how do we hear him?

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Throwback: Eat Like Jesus

As we preached on food this past week and move towards the dinner church model this fall, we are uploading some old episodes reflecting on food to help train us for the change.

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In today's message, Jamin elaborates on the power food has in life and ministry and why 1208's is incorporating food into their new model.

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Is gambling ok if done recreationally and in moderation and all winnings are tithed to the church? (i.e. Is this different than the person who spends $80-100 a month on entertainment or hobbies?)

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Chameleon Evangelism

So often the church takes Biblical truth and shoves it in people's faces without first submerging themselves into the world of those they're trying to reach. Such evangelism requires little sacrifice on our parts and ignores Paul's only evangelistic method to "become all things to all people." If we truly want to reach people, it often requires more effort than bold statements—though it doesn't mean we water down the Gospel either.

If in the end we are not relatable, then we can hardly be heard. God, of course, gives us the ultimate example of this truth: He puts on skin and comes and lives among us as Jesus to show us exactly what God looks like. He "chameleons" himself into the people He's reaching. He wears their skin, their culture, their understanding, their world, and in doing so, He clearly shows them who God is.

And so, this kind of chameleon evangelism is expected of us to an extent, too.

Judging Angels

In today's passage Paul rhetorically asks, "Do you not know that we are to judge angels?"—as though we would nod our heads in agreement and understanding. But truthfully, most of us would put our hands up and respond, "Actually, Paul, we don't know what you're talking about."

To understand what the apostle is saying, we have to get our head into his world and understand the spiritual mindset he lived in. Jamin works off Michael Heiser's book, The Unseen Realm, in order to establish the Bible's picture of a divine council and give some backing to Paul's blatant statement. As it ends up, he does have a context and the Bible gives us the ability to understand what he's getting at.

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A Heavenly Reward

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