Amerianity Must Be Stopped

Well, I've been feeling a bit like Jeremiah lately. This fire in my bones has been itching to be let out, what with the massive amount of political discussion currently taking place. When it reaches your fantasy basketball league, you know it's a big deal. I mean, is nothing sacred?

On a serious note, things have gotten out of hand, and I am NOT talking about the Democrats taking over. The picture above captures it perfectly. The rainbow - God's promise, His first covenant with mankind, that he would never again destroy His creation like He did in the flood. The steeple - the great symbol of Western Christendom. The American Flag - the great symbol of ... American Christendom?

American Christians vote republican, right? At least, the ones who hold to the right doctrine do. Those crazy liberals might vote democrat, but not us down here in the South. We stand for what's right. But what is right?

I'm sick of seeing voting booths in our churches. Can we vote to have voting somewhere else? I'm sure that there have been many parallels over the years to draw a line from Jesus clearing the moneychangers out of the temple to various ecclesial practices, but I'm going with voting in churches. How dare you turn my Father's house into a political arena! It's disgusting to see signs out in front of churches here in Memphis for the different politicians. It just doesn't seem right.

I'm sick of being reminded to vote yes for the gay marriage amendment. What is that? Really? What will that accomplish? Here's what really gets me, all these people, going around and passing out flyers in church, reminding their Sunday school classes to vote yes, what happens now? So gay people can't ger married, have you now performed your Christian duty? How many of these people care more about voting yes than they do about the homosexuals in our city? I maintain that voting yes has very little to do with my Christian duty, but seeking to help homosexual people discover a God who cares about their souls, I think, is pretty high on that list.

I'm sick of politics. I don't vote. I don't want to, and here's why: I put no faith in the American political system. I'll even go so far as to say that I have no faith in America as a geo-political entity. Why do we think that our political system is the primary change agent Christians have at their disposal? It's not! The primary agent of change that we have at our disposal is the power of God and He's waiting for us to ask Him to use it. Here's the irony, God wants US to be His change agents in the world. Politics won't EVER really succeed in helping the poor find jobs, or healthcare, or homes. Politics won't EVER really succeed in protecting our warped perspective of the American moral order. Politics won't EVER really succeed in taking care of widows, providing financial security for everyone, or anything else Christians expect it to succeed in doing. And that's the thing that gets me, really. Politics won't EVER succeed in seeing the Kingdom of God impose itself on our nation, state, city, or even neighborhood. Politics won't EVER succeed in bringing peace to the world.

I am firmly convinced that the ONLY thing that has even a shot at caring for the poor, the elderly, the sick; the ONLY thing that will bring true security; the ONLY thing that will see peace come into the world, is God working through His people. Now there's a proposition I can support. I just hope we don't have to put it to a vote first. I'm not sure it would pass.