Scripture and Partisan Politics: A Problem for Christians
If you asked, I would say that though people change, Scripture and lectio divina remain the same. Now, I'm not so sure. Through the 2019 and 2020 presidential campaign and election cycle, the dynamics of Scripture and my experience of lectio divina has gone through a surprising metamorphosis.
In the beginning, Scripture seemed to focus on God and me. I marveled at the nature of God. I am not exaggerating when I say that I often cried as I perceived the beauty and the wonder of God's character and wisdom. I was in awe of Scripture passages – the insight and the logic. Even the poetic formulation moved me. I was mesmerized by the trinitarian nature of God – the shared essence but uniqueness of Father, Son, and Spirit. I wanted to know him and be like him.
So, whenever I began a session of lectio divina, I turned my attention to the presence of God and surrendered all the things that preoccupied my mind on a typical day. I wanted an open and uncluttered mind. I often imagined myself giving my concerns to Jesus and asking him to hold them until my session of lectio divina concluded.
But then, I noticed a shift within me and the focus of Scripture. As the election cycle became more contentious and the electorate's polarization became more cantankerous, I had a hard time releasing my thoughts and worries to Jesus.
I took sides in the election, and during lectio divina, I would rehearse my positions on issues and candidates. One morning it occurred to me that these things were not preoccupations to set aside but conditions and circumstances to embrace in the presence of God that he might speak to me about the nation, the church, and the nature of the Christian life. However, there was one problem. All I could hear was what Scripture had to say about others, not about me. I focused on what was wrong with others and how God wanted to instruct and change them. I honestly had to pray for months before I could read Scripture as a mirror reflecting back my life instead of a microscope turned on others.
And then, one day, as I sat down to practice lectio divina, I realized that God and Scripture had turned toward me again. I heard God speak about my heart, disposition, and engagement with others about the issues arising from our nation's current conditions. I had been reading 1 and 2 Corinthians since the middle of July 2020, and three things came into focus for me.
My attachment to the nation
The role of the church in nation and politics
The foundational orientation of the Christian
Attachment to Nation
I could see by the extreme reaction in me and others that this was no longer about party platforms, policy differences, or leadership styles. It was more about a vision for America that gave meaning to people's lives and had become the object of hopes and dreams for themselves and their children and grandchildren. It was about identity - who I am, what I believe, and how I want to live. By extension, it was about who we are, what we believe, and how we want to live as a nation. And when the political alternatives were cast as polar opposites, it incited fear and anger as everything that mattered seemed to be at stake. One party wanted to give me my dream, and the other wanted to take it away.
The problem for me was that nation, and national ideologies had become the larger story that framed my life.
The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day fell into the same trap. Jesus and his followers became a threat to their religious and national vision. It explains what they said in John 11:48-50 (NIV).
If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation. Then, one of them, named Caiaphas spoke up, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Of course, a nation can have a significant impact on the well-being of its citizens. But I needed to step back and put it in perspective. My hopes and dreams, meaning, and purpose do not lie in a national vision or ideology. A nation is too small and too temporal to warrant my devotion and allegiance. In Philippians 3:20 (NLT), Paul said, "But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior." My true hope lies in Christ. James Moffatt translated the verse as "We are a colony of heaven." I am part of an alien colony with Jesus as its leader, and it has its own story and vision for humanity and human society.
The Church in Nation and Politics
When I say, "the church," I am speaking about the community of Christ. The Biblical word is ekklesia. – the "called out ones." That term alone should tell us something. We cannot allow our voice, message, and way of life to be coopted by a national ideology or a partisan politic. Otherwise, we lose our spiritual and moral credibility, and we are no longer a model of an alternative way of living together in the world. We need to be free to be a priest and prophet to the whole nation and the world as a whole. We need to be free to support the flourishing of all citizens and identify evil, falsehood, and injustice wherever it occurs. No one else can be the church but the church.
The Foundational Orientation of the Christian
In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, 17 (NLT), the Apostle Paul says,
Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.
The following statement may sound crazy to you. The fact is that in Christ, God calls us to be a different kind of human being. Romans 8:28-29 (MSG) reminds us that
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
I have been asking myself this question. What is the fundamental shape of Jesus' life? What is his and, therefore, our most foundational orientation? What is Jesus' most basic or core disposition toward others? Based on my reading of Scripture, I am convinced that Jesus' core disposition is in the shape of the cross. This life-shape is referred to as "the cruciform life." The cross is not only the means for our salvation; it is a model of the humble, vulnerable, kind, self-giving, self-sacrificing, courageous character of Jesus and his followers.
The main text of Paul's letter to the Philippians in chapter 2:3-7 states
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.
In John 13:12-15, after Jesus had finished washing his disciples' feet, he said
Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
So, how do I respond when faced with a political leader's disturbing speech or actions or when I encounter misrepresentations of reality? What do I say when health care workers, government leaders, business owners, or a pastor asks me to wear a mask? How do I respond when a segment of our citizenry asks me to consider the impact of racism, or when someone is afraid there is fraud in the election, or when I am called an idiot, un-American, or even un-Christian because of the candidate I support?
The answer, which is extremely hard to live: I begin with Christ on the cross! The Christ who said he "came not the be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28) The Christ who “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.” (Philippians 2:7) I ask myself, where and how is Christ at work here? What would be an extension of the cruciform life? What would be humble, vulnerable, kind, self-giving, self-sacrificing, and courageous?
Then I try to do it!
