The Donkey, the Elephant and the Cross: Three tests to see if the gospel impacts our politics

Confession: I don't love politics!



If you have ever tried to "trap" me in a political conversation, I'd run to a place where a "Kobe versus LeBron" debate was taking place faster than Usain Bolt runs the 100-yard dash. In fact, here is just a short list of things I'd rather do than take in an hour of C-SPAN or political talk radio.

• mow the lawn by hand without a lawnmower. 
• do a 1,000-piece puzzle using my feet.
• count the pieces of sand in a sandbox during a dust storm.

You get the point.

However, I know one of the implications of the gospel is that the Lord wants Christians to be the best citizens in their communities. (Read I Peter 2) . Part of that mandate means being politically informed, helping to vote in people who we believe can best help our cities, states and nations flourish as God defines flourishing.

Then there's the other extreme.

Just as easy as is be too apathetic about politics (the thing I have to fight against), it's also possible for Christians to put more hope in the election process than in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here are three signs that our political views are out of line with the gospel.

• Do we use hate-filled language about politics or politicians?  We live in America. We have a democracy. We're allowed to vote, disagree and differ in opinion. I can even see someone being passionate about politics. What I can't reconcile to the gospel is hate-filled speech or actions in the name of political activism. I wince when I see a bumper sticker that is really disrespectful of a politician right next to a bumper sticker advertising a particular church.Yikes!

• Does the gospel have to compete for allegiance with our politics? For the Christian, a political party can never have our first allegiance. Scripture paints the picture of the Christian as a pilgrim passing through this life. We pursue politics being the best citizens we can be knowing that our first allegiance is to a King, not an elected official.

• Are our politics a hindrance to our gospel witness? We can't have Christian fellowship with people with differing political views, or we've made our political stances in such a way we could never witness for the gospel effectively to a person with opposing political views.  Even the way we discuss politics should be transformed by the grace we have received. If someone who knows us well and refuses to listen about our Savior because of how we have flaunted our political position, it could be that we look more like our favorite politician than our Savior. 

I always write these blogs in hopes of starting conversation. I would love to know your thoughts on the how Christians should navigate politics. 

Chris Lassiter is a husband to Emily (read her guest blog post here.) and father of five. He is a Young Life leader in his hometown of Staunton, VA. He has written for The News Leader, VIBE, Rapzilla.com, HipHopDX.com, Young Life Relationships and other publications. Recently, Moody Publishers published his first book, You're Grounded, which you can read about here.