The Iowa Caucuses are over, winners have been announced, political advertising has all but stopped and phones ringing with calls from candidates’ camps have silenced. Whew! It’s over. For now.
Some of you reading this are Democrats and some are Republicans. Some are Independents and some haven’t decided yet.
We all have our opinions about how things should be done. We have concerns about various issues, about where our country is headed, about who’s going to be leading the charge in another year. Sometimes those opinions unite us, and, unfortunately, sometimes those opinions divide us. Does it matter? Yes. It does.
And it matters to God.
Sometimes we become so narrowly focused on a pet issue or a favorite candidate that we fail to see how our actions and our words hurt other people. You say, “It’s just politics.” But it’s more than politics. It’s relationships. And relationships matter. Here’s an incident that happened with Jesus:
One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:35-39, NLT)
The point I’m making is this: The most important things in life are relationships. Period. Your relationship with God and your relationship with other human beings matter more than anything else in this life. Anything. More than abortion, more than gay marriage, more than taxes, more than gun control, more than legalizing marijuana, more than immigration reform, more than college tuition, more than “the liberals” and more than “the conservatives.” Did I miss anything?
I’m not saying that those things aren’t important, I’m saying that those things aren’t nearly as important as relationship. Let’s talk about God for a moment — have you prayed about the issues? Have you looked into the Scripture to see what God has to say about these things? I know there is more than one interpretation of Scripture, but I’m simply asking, did you even look?
And what about your relationship with other people? Granted, you probably associate with like-minded individuals, at least for the most part. But what about people whose thinking is different than yours? Are you still loving to them? Are you kind in your words and actions?
Relationships matter. They matter more than anything else. Jesus made it really simple: Love God. Love people. The rest is minutia. Love God. Love people.
We’re not done with politics. We know that. Candidates will ultimately be chosen and we’ll go back to advertising and phone calls and expressing opinions. So let’s determine to do so in a civilized, loving manner. Healthy debate is welcome, but let’s not let it digress into name-calling and mud-slinging. Let’s not hurt the very people God loved so much that He gave His Son, Jesus, for.
Here’s what I know: Regardless of who gets elected to sit in the white house, Jesus is still going to be on the throne and He’s the one we trust in, right? Instead of trusting a political system or living in fear, Hebrews 12:1 tells us what God wants us to do:
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2a, NIV)
So yes, debate and consider political positions in order to make a wise choice. But remember, no matter what happens, God is still in charge, and it is in Him that we need to place our faith.