3 Ways Your Politics Are Corrupting Your Witness
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- Updated Jul 07, 2023
It’s been said for years that there are two things you don’t talk about: politics and religion. Funny enough, I am about to talk about both.
For people who don’t know Jesus, maybe I can understand why you shouldn’t talk about these things, but what about people who know Jesus? It seems like a political conversation brings out the worst in people, not the best. If you don’t believe me, just think of all the vitriol that occurs every election season, especially every four years when we elect a new president. As some of you are reading this, your blood pressure might be ready to take off as you wonder where this is going. Here is where I am going. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to a higher standard. We are supposed to be in the world, but we are not supposed to behave like the world. Somehow that gets lost when we get into our political arenas.
To be clear, I am not looking to defend one political position over another because that can be a fruitless exercise. Most of the time, it doesn’t end well anyway, which is a conversation for another day. However, I want you to consider your political stance in light of your witness for Christ and ask yourself, are your politics corrupting your witness?
I know some of you might say my politics are my witness. And maybe that is the problem because unfortunately, as I am about to show you, that cannot be true all the time. As Christians, we must remember it is not about red or blue, but salt and light. Your Christianity is not defined by the party you belong to, but by your identity in Christ. This is a higher calling than your political affiliations.
Today, I challenge you to lay aside any political ideology you may have and consider three ways your politics may be corrupting your witness.
1. Hypocrisy
Perhaps the biggest challenge you have when you lead with your political flag is hypocrisy. One reality of blind party allegiance is that no one political party aligns completely with God’s word and God’s agenda. Look at any political platform and you will see things in it that just don’t align with God’s word. This is true of every political party.
The problem we face is we easily dismiss those areas to focus on the things that align. While every party will have some agendas that line up with God’s word, that does not lend itself to blind allegiance. If you are going to be true to following God first and to your testimony, you must be clear to point out political stances that do not align with God’s word – even if they are in your own party.
When we don’t do that, unfortunately it makes us look like hypocrites, and the last time I checked, a hypocrite does not make an excellent witness for Jesus.
2. Selective Morality
When you lead with your politics first, the problem we see perhaps the most frequently is a selective morality. By the way, this is a byproduct of hypocrisy. Often, we deflect attention away from our selective morality to defend the party line.
Why is it that the person in the party you like can do something and you defend them, but the person in the other party can do the same thing and you are ready to hang them? Have you ever stopped to think that people in the world are watching this selective morality play out in front of them? We love to bemoan in the church how we have lost our impact on society. While this may be true, we are blaming it on the wrong reasons. The simple truth is we have not remained consistent in our morality and commitment to our Biblical values. If we did this all the time, regardless of who the candidate is or what party they belong to, then our witness would have more impact. Because we don’t seem interested in doing this, it is leading to our salt losing its saltiness and our lights growing dim.
What you must love about Jesus is he told people the truth all the time, whether they were his friends or foes. Sadly, many in the church have compromised this area because we are more concerned about the political consequences.
My friends, we have been called to a higher agenda. When we uphold the standard of truth and hold every political leader and opinion to the same standard, then we will regain the respect of those who don’t know Jesus. They may not agree with us, but they won’t be able to deny our integrity. May it be said of every Christian what Jesus said of Nathanael.
“As they approached, Jesus said, ‘Now here is a genuine son of Israel — a man of complete integrity’” (John 1:47, NLT).
3. Biblical Fallacy
When you lead with politics, you may fall victim to what I call Biblical fallacy. What I mean by that is you use Scripture out of context to validate your political statement or position. Either that, or you explain away why that Scripture does not apply in this situation. Let me give you an example.
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
When you read these verses, the instruction is fairly simple. We offer petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving for all people and for kings and those who are in authority. That is about as straightforward as it gets. Let me ask you – how many of you do this? If we are going to be honest, most of us don’t. Here is what we do. We pray for those in office we like, and we rail and complain about those in office we don’t like. If we pray, we pray blessings for those we like and curses for those we don’t like. Please stop me if I am not telling the truth, because this is biblical fallacy.
The problem is we often justify our positions with excuses. We will say “look at what they are doing,” or “I just don’t like their policies.” While both things may be true, please tell me what does that have to do with offering petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving? The answer is nothing.
To take it a step further, I am going to make an observation from recent history. When President Trump was in office, pastors and leaders were lining up at the door of the White House to pray for him. There were prayer meetings and worship services at the White House. Prominent Christian leaders were exhorting their followers to pray for President Trump. When President Biden took office, all those voices went silent. The rallying cries to pray for President Biden disappeared.
Now here is the real test of whether you lead with politics or with the Bible. What is your immediate response to that observation? If the first words out of your mouth are “But…”, then you are putting your politics ahead of your commitment to the word of God. If that is true, you are destroying your witness. I am not saying you must agree with any policy a person in office has. I am saying according to God’s word, that should not stop you from praying for them.
One last thought here, when you pray for them, pray the same way for the leaders you like and the ones you don’t like.
Final Thought
I don’t know how this article will be received. After all, I broke the rule and talked about politics. My heart is that we would get past the political stuff and realize our calling in Christ is much higher than that. Yes, you can get involved and you should. Yes, you can have candidates you like and don’t like. Just remember, the world is watching and what they need to see in you and me is Jesus. Quite frankly if they don’t see that, then your politics won’t matter anyway.
The last time I checked, the road to salvation and eternal life goes through the cross and not through the voting booth.
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Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Dick Craft
