Does God Belong to a Political Party?

I made a mistake yesterday. It’s not the first time I have made this mistake, and it’s probably not the last time either. I got involved in a political discussion on Facebook! I know, right? What was I thinking? But then again, sometimes I come across something so troubling that I just can’t stay silent.

Yesterday’s foray into the futile began when I came across a post from a “friend” who was explaining why he could never vote for a Democrat. He said a lot of mean things about Democrats and insisted that because of his faith in Jesus he could never support a Democrat for political office. Although I didn’t agree with him, I also didn’t really find anything in his post that surprised me and I wasn’t going to even respond. Then I did it, I began to read the comments. (Now really, I should know better, right?)

As you can imagine, his post sparked some spirited response. But about halfway down the list I came across a post from another reader and that’s the one that got me hooked. You see, this contributor not only passionately disagreed with the original post, she went a big step further. She wrote “I firmly believe you cannot be a Christian and vote Republican.” And then she went on to list a litany of supposed Republican sins that reflect the political climate of today translated into violations of God’s law and proof that all Republicans are going to hell. After completing her list of supposed Christian political and economic values she concluded with, “I call bullshit on any Christian who does not support a party that is willing to provide these basics of life.”

I read through her list of issues and I found myself agreeing with her on some and disagreeing on others. But no matter how much we might agree on some issues, I was moved to challenge her post on this issue. How can a person fairly conclude that being a political party member or voting for a candidate disqualifies you from being a Christian? That seems to me a bit too far to go. And so I challenged her.

I didn’t challenge her politics, at least not directly. I challenged her view of grace. I asked if the God who promised grace to all through Jesus Christ would not offer just as much grace to a Republican as he would to a Democrat. I asked how it is that we, who are all sinners, can come to the place where we not only disagree on politics but then tie those disagreements to someone’s faith. I honestly wanted to know. She honestly wanted to tell me why I could not possibly be a Christian.

I don’t support universal health care. I don’t support abortion on demand. I don’t support the “wealth tax” that has become so popular these days. I don’t support free college education. These are the things that “prove” to her that I cannot possibly be a Christian.

Let that sink in a minute. Then, I would love to hear how you would respond. I’ll be happy to tell you what I said later. For now, I hope this sparks a little conversation. Here are some questions:

1. Does God have a political party?
2. Does your position on an issue of political, economic or social importance determine your status as a Christian?
3. How does God’s grace apply to our differences of opinion on the big social/political/economic issues of our times?

I hope to hear from some of you on this one.

Shalom,

Kevin