I had a strange encounter with an older gentleman in a local restaurant last week. Let me give a little context for the scene. The restaurant owner and the cashier were behind the counter. At a table close by (within ear shot) was a family of five. One other person had just come through the door. I and the older man (older than me!) had just had a little “waiting banter” about the weather. My first impression was that he was a jovial outgoing guy who probably loved dad-jokes. Nothing he said gave me any indication of his faith commitment, Christian or otherwise. I was waiting for a local pastor to show up for an appointment and this man standing next to me suddenly blurted out,
“I just about can’t stand these democrats today.”
It was an awkward and uncomfortable moment. His comment had no context. It came out of no where and was completely devoid of any sensitivity to the “democrats” who might have heard him. If his wife had been there, I imagine she would have been rolling her eyes in embarrassment at his offishness.
What to say?
“You still have to care for your neighbors,” I said with a smile.
He turned to the cashier and owner,
“You don’t serve democrats here, do you?” he said.
Now the tension is palpable in the space. I make eye contact with the owner. He’s silent. I speak. I broke the silence.
“Everybody has to eat. A restaurant has to serve whoever comes through the doors of its building.”
Now the owner finds his voice.
“We serve everyone. We don’t care who people vote for.”
All of this introduces something I have wanted to write about for some time: Christians and politics. I honestly don’t care if you are a registered democrat, republican, communist, independent, green, socialist or something I have never heard of. If you want to know, I have been a registered Independent for all of my adult life as a Christian. Why? First, because my thought has always been that my first loyalty is always to Christ. No party could ever fully represent my loyalties to Him and His word. Second, I don’t want any political party to ever think that my vote is in their bag.
Side Story:
Yesterday, I counseled a young disciple who had reverted to a previous pattern in his life, and put himself in a compromising moral position all because he forgot two critical truths. One, that Jesus observes the whole of our lives in every moment. Two, our testimony for Christ is always under the microscope of the world. We’ve got to always remember those two facts.
So, to my Christian brothers and sisters: I am seeing what you all post on Facebook. Can I make an observation?
- Too many of you post more about politics than any other topic.
- Too many of you post more about climate change than any other topic.
- Too many of you seem more interested in kittens and dogs and sports and or experiences than letting the world know anything about Jesus or your relationship with Him.
- For many of you, it appears that your family, or your job, or your hobbies are far more important to the public you than the Jesus who is your Lord and master (in private). Is our faith only a private thing? How does that square with what Jesus said in Matthew 10:32? (“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.”)
Ouch!
I’m not your judge. Jesus is. But let me put it through my lens, the lens I would use to judge my own online comportment. It’s not that climate change and politics and sports and even kittens and dogs are beyond the bounds appropriate for Christians to engage in. All these things are neither good or bad in and of themselves. But shouldn’t our testimony for Christ be the most prominent thing in our lives for the world to see? For me, as a follower of Christ, I want the world to see Jesus far more than any political view I have, more than any hobby I love, or sports team I follow. When I drift from that, when I hide my faith or let anything else exceed it in importance–I know that I am on the wrong track.
Let’s live passionately for and like Jesus. He was always trying to make Himself the issue. Let’s follow His lead.
Similar:
Ten things that don’t happen when we cut people out of our lives because we disagree with them.
and
To my liberal and conservative friends.
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