Aligning ourselves with a party

Christpoint Church

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The hot topic in the country, at least until late Tuesday night, is undoubtedly the upcoming election. Most Americans will cast a vote for the candidate of their choosing, which seems to land in one of two categories - red or blue. If Jesus were to physically walk the earth today, would he be Democrat or Republican? That’s the same as asking if Jesus would have been Pharisee or Sadducee. The question we need to ask ourselves in this election season is, “Do I look more Pharisee than I do Sadducee or vice versa?”

In society today, we are naturally conditioned to pick a side. We see campaign signs on roadsides, billboards, and yards signs. We see ads for one candidate, followed by an opposite ad from the other while we’re watching the news or our favorite television program. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to win red and blue seats across this nation. It stands to reason with that kind of investment they would want your vote.

We are not called to a party; we are called to be kingdom minded. Jesus had to confront politics from within and from without. James and John asked Jesus, in Mark chapter 10, if they could sit on his right and left sides respectively. Their request enraged their companions. They used their platform to politic for a position. If that had been a polling booth, their votes would have been cast that day - one for the left and the other for the right. Jesus spoke to the whole and instructed them that as kingdom people they were called to be different. He was basically saying “Christians should act differently than the world,” that we should seek to serve rather than be served and chose freedom through slavery to Christ. Paul himself went from being a Pharisee to a self-proclaimed slave to Christ. He switched parties, and, not only voted differently, he campaigned for his new slavery party.

Now the religious system of the day was made up of Pharisees and Sadducees, two branches of government with differing viewpoints embedded into them from their youth. They even had a Supreme Court for their time called the Sanhedrin. Members from the left and the right made up the council of the Sanhedrin, but their passion for their belief was vehement. They were so entrenched in their party that they were willing to kill the king of kings in order to preserve their belief.

Jesus refused to align himself with a party, and we should do the same. He mentioned, when he began his sermon from the mountain, that he didn’t come to join a party nor to do away with the law; he simply and powerfully came to fulfill or to complete it. Isaiah 40:31 says that we should wait upon the Lord, and, if we do, we will mount up with wings as eagles. The eagle can only fly by using both wings in unison. They both have to have the power of the wind (Holy Spirit) beneath them. If the wings fail to lift the bird, then the eagle is useless and will die.

We are built, designed, and purposed for kingdom business. I am a voting American as are many of you. It’s our right as citizens of this nation, but we should never divide because of it. Remember that on Wednesday morning, Nov. 4, or Jan. 20, someone will be president and someone won’t, but Jesus will still be king. The great uniter has your back. Our political surroundings will never completely suit us, but, when we cast our vote for Christ, we chose to live above the chaos and division.

 Let’s speak more about serving the Lord this Sunday at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. We’re Christpoint Church, and we’re on the square in Sparta. We’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God. Welcome home.  

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