Politics Is Not Really ABOUT Politics

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

This post is titled with an observation by our brother Tim (Onesimus) in Australia.  His blog-posts are consistently insightful and informative: but his above observation is the wisest word I've heard about the relation of politics and Christianity, in my 45 years of observing and pondering their interaction in America.

Yesterday Tim posted the negative comments of a reader who had unsubscribed because his posts were "...very political and you are not even American."  (Tim does often comment on the incredible spiritual blindness of American Christians toward their politics: but also about Middle Eastern Christianity and its refugees, Australian news and politics, art, Muslim conversions to Christianity, and much else).

He responded with three points he considers paramount in how Christians look at politics.  Those points seem to me spot-on: and the embodiment of exactly what he means, that "politics is not really ABOUT politics."

Tim's full post is at https://onesimusfiles.wordpress.com/  His viewpoints are always worth hearing (even if he is not American).
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"...politics cannot be used to address spiritual realities. For example, righteousness cannot be legislated or enforced, because the lawmakers and enforcers are no less fallible than those they seek to control – even IF those lawmakers and enforcers were religiously devout...

"True justice and righteousness will only ever come through Government on this earth after the return of Jesus, when he reigns over the nations during thousand years commonly known as 'the millennium.'

"Secondly political realities can and MUST be addressed according to the Spirit and not according to national self-interest. The follower of Jesus should be set apart from political rhetoric and partisan allegiances. As believers we need to stand as a CONTRAST to the world’s political expediencies, by representing what serves God and His Kingdom, not being swayed by patriotic fervour, or what we are told are the nation’s interests.

"Our nation’s interests rarely (if ever) reflect God’s interests – and yet, contrarily, God’s interests ALWAYS reflect the best (eternal) interests of the people in ALL nations, not only those where we live.

"Thirdly, our own attitudes and actions should always be informed by truth, an understanding of God’s character and with an eye on God’s overall purposes."
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Tim's closing paragraph also seemed to me exactly relevant to the way American Christianity was seduced by "conservatives," on the basis of their alleged "pro-life" agenda:

"It is easy to be distracted by single issue agendas – even worthy issues can draw us away from the 'bigger picture.' By focusing on the rightness of that one issue, we can find ourselves being blinded to the wrongness of the larger political agenda being presented. Beautiful gift wrapping can easily disguise a sealed box filled with stinking garbage."

AMEN !  and AMEN !!