My monthly faith and politics column is up today over at A Deeper Story.
This time around I’m looking at how Jesus causes problems for those of us who call ourselves “Republicans” or “Democrats.”
So, yeah, I criticized both parties in today’s post. That should make everybody happy, right?
Anyway, check out the preview below, then make sure to click through at the bottom to read the rest of the post.
Politics And The Problem Of Jesus
I’ve voted for Republicans.
And I’ve voted for Democrats.
For many people, my bi-partisan approach to voting is an act of treason. A person needs to be loyal to one party. If they’re not, it’s because they’re wishy-washy, unprincipled, unpatriotic, or just a traitor.
Or at least that’s what we’re told.
The same goes for the faith too. Either you’re a Christian or you’re not. Lest you find yourself somehow stuck in between, there are plenty of self-appointed defenders of orthodoxy ready and willing to remind you of the lukewarm Laodicean church in Revelation.
For all the zeal with which we judge the authenticity of each other’s faith, I often wonder if, in fact, our political affiliation is more important to us, more formative to our identity than our faith is.
Now, I know this isn’t true for everyone. Some of us couldn’t care less about politics or political parties. Many more of us will get angry and scream and shout if told our political affiliation defined our identity more than our faith. But while we may claim that Christianity defines out identity, our television viewing habits, the books we read, radio we listen to, conversations we have, and of course our Facebook walls often tell a different story.