The other day I saw a meme of a government representative supposedly quoting a verse. Not sure if actually said this or not, or it was a meme made up by others, but it was rewritten:
“Put on the full armor of God…taking your stand against the Left’s schemes.”
Oh my.
Now don’t misunderstand. There’s a lot to be said about the ideology of the Left. But do you put that into Scripture? Do you rewrite Scripture with an ideology? NOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!
You don’t’ mess with Scripture for your purposes.
That and Christian Nationalism is dangerous for the gospel. It equates the gospel with a particular political party. And a particular person. And let’s face it, both political parties have sin in the camp. It is better for one to be on the side of the truth, which implicates both parties, rather than to confuse the gospel with a certain person or a certain party.
To be on the side of truth and not a political party does not make someone “woke” or “left” or “right,” but rather about putting the gospel in its right place. And it’s not attached to a party. We don’t see that in Scripture.
Yes, we should use our liberties to speak up for righteousness. Kids should not be having “gender affirming hysterectomies.” Abortion is an evil that we must be vocal against. But these are truth issues. And while a party may be more implicated in supporting such evils, I believe we go after the evil, and not the party.
Like the Scripture says, “our battle isn’t against flesh and blood.” Yes, but isn’t it against ideologies? Yes. Absolutely. But those ideologies are often attached to people. As much as we want to divorce the two, they are still together.
The biggest problem with Christian Nationalism is it muddies the gospel. A non-believer doesn’t see Jesus, they see a political party and a politically flawed figure-head attached to the gospel. The only thing they should be seeing is Jesus.
So yes. We tackle issues. But we do not take Bible verses and put things in them that aren’t there. Nor do we associate the gospel with a political party or a political person. We stand for truth. And no political party has all truth. Only Jesus does.
