I Am More Than A Name
May 29, 2019
The Exhaustion Gridlock
June 10, 2019
Flirting With The Dragon
By Vinnie MacIsaac
“It is not a trial separation! America, the Beautiful, is divorced from God and we are actively dividing our assets and fighting for alimony from the Great I Am.” —-Anonymous.
Growing up, I was taught, like many of you, that you never talk politics or religion with people not of your “tribe.” Well, here is the thing about that, the two most meaningful subjects in this world are Religion and Politics, and if we can’t talk intelligently and calmly about them, we are ensuring there will not be a lot of meaning in our conversations. Maybe it would be better to say, we should not confuse politics and religion, and we ought to never use politics and religion as an underhanded way to attack to belittle each other. Maybe the problem is not talking politics and religion outside of your tribe, but in having a tribe to start with!
When we adhere to “tribe mentality,” politics makes for strange reactions, that are justified, ideologically; not so much, spiritually. A person’s spirituality is, oddly, not always a benchmark in how they deal and process politics, and that is the core of the issue. It is which one defines who you are, more? Your religion, or your loyalty or ideology?
America has become the most polarized I have ever seen it. If you’re like me, the “unfollow” feature on social media has become your new best friend. If I say I am a Democrat, I am automatically “labeled” pro-gay lifestyle, and an anti-religion, socialist. If I say I am a Republican, I am automatically labeled a racist bigot who wants to see poor people starve since they are too lazy to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Neither of these, of course, is true of all the people of these two available political positions and are, stereotypically, unfair representations of both. Yet, you will hear such claims, and worse, made continuously in the media by each group. I’d expect a secular, sinful world, that is headed towards its own destruction, to be that divided and venomous as to believe the worst about each other. But what about the church?
Yes, what about the Church? What should our affiliations be? In undergrad theology school, I had a professor (Dr. Don Leatherman) who was famous for his bumper sticker “Jesus was neither a Republican nor a Democratic” And it is true. The politics of Jesus was to do his Father’s will, not the will of men. What good is the will of men? What has that ever gotten us? I’ll tell you. The will of men caused us to reject the Kingship of Jesus back in 1 Samuel 8 when the people refused to heed the voice of God; “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”[1] And they, again, made the same demand when Jesus was being offered to them as King, “But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.” (John 19:15)
The politics of this world have consistently divorced itself from Jesus and His ways. So there is no way we can now claim that any human-made political system is really in-line with Jesus. The right and the left may both invoke the name Jesus in seeking votes, but no human-made political system is of God. For we have, effectively, left God in divorce court, in every political way that matters. Democracy[2] is the best we have come up with, and I am thankful and praise God for it. However, let us not forget that the voice and vote of the people have always been to “Take Him away! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Safety is found in scripture; not cable news networks or Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds! It is located under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, not the impact of the bitter spirit of intolerance found in partisan politics.
A few years back, I went on a political/spiritual journey. It is one I have not completed and maybe never will. I read books like a mad man! I consumed, with a ferocious appetite, over 35 history and political science books researching for myself the rich political history of America and the West, in search of a political ideology I could support as a Christian. But the more I read, the more I became fully convinced that there is no political ideology in this world that is entirely in line with Heaven or can become a haven for believers, as a whole. The truth of the matter is, we are fully and wholly divorced from God, politically, and thus we can never go back, as a political entity, to God. We are wholly divorced as a political nation from God, and Deuteronomy 24:4 has terrible news for us!
Her former husband, which sent her away, may not retake her to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that, [is] abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.[3] [4]
Sure, as people, and as individuals, we may be united with God. But all political systems, in one way or another, are in the process of building an image to the Beast. Yes, there are those who are crying for America to return to God. But perhaps they are as misguided as the seculars, and are not only on the wrong boat but have their boat going down the false river, altogether. Jesus did not come to save political values, and He came to save people! It is not that Jesus does not want to save America. It is just that He seems more concerned with saving Americans.
Revelation 13 tells us the prophetic fate of the world and how political systems help to build an Image to the Beast;
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. Revelation 13:11-14 [5]
One commentator on Revelation13 brilliantly makes application to our time frame this way;
The lamb-like horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States… The Christian exiles who first fled to America sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance… The Declaration of Independence sets forth the great truth that “all men are created equal,” and endowed with the inalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self-government… Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation… (But) The lamb-like horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The “speaking” of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak “as a dragon,” and exercise “all the power of the first beast,” plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance …Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution.[6]
So my dear friends, let us not be tempted to side with one party over the other and pretend that there is some way they are going to redeem this ship, I submit to you again, if we, “Follow the spirit of intolerance it always leads to the Dragon.” No matter how you slice it, when we partake in the intolerance of the current political system, we are taking part in the intolerance that destroys us all. When we become a pale reflection of the ideals of the world and freely partake in the partisan intolerance on our cable networks or on our social media news feeds, in all probability, we are submitting to the actions and philosophy of the Dragon of Revelation, himself. To such attitudes I say;
“…Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the (her) passion… Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”[7]
Maybe the best any one of us can do in this fallen Babylonian political climate is to “play the field” with the political world, deny allegiance to any human-made party, and take our vote to heart, one independent issue at a time. I have always favored this Godly, counsel to my Church;
“We are not, as a people, to become mixed up with political questions. . . . Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers in political strife, nor bind with them in their attachments. . . . Keep your voting to yourself. Do not feel it your duty to urge everyone to do as you do.”[8]
Yes, talking about politics is talking about the issues we all face. Demanding people think and vote in specific patterns is to deny them the liberty Jesus gives us all and is to feed the Dragon of intolerance, in our news feeds.
Jesus taught that a person who divorces their spouse, for wrong reasons, and takes another is guilty of adultery.[9] Since we have done this evil to our one and only King, divorcing Him for the ungodly desire of being like the nations, maybe it is time we stopped committing adultery with the political Beasts of this world?
Too often the American church is still divorcing God, seeking alimony from His name, and flirting with the Dragon. May God have mercy if this condition bears a child. Maybe it is time the Church stops flirting with the Dragon and gets back to loving God enough to care about people again, instead of just who is winning the ideology war. When the intolerance of the Dragon is your lover, the names of your babies will always be Hate, and Oppression, with a forged last name of the Almighty.
So, I say, talk religion, talk politics! Please, both are needed! Even talk of them together. But when you speak either of them with the heat of intolerance, you are only making love with the Dragon. To war with your brothers, and sisters, using intolerance is to hate people enough to end up loving the Devil’s bed. Who are you making love too?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
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Footnotes
[1] 1 Samuel 8:20 English Standard Version
[2] And it’s more updated second cousin the Representative Republic.
[3] Deuteronomy 24:4 King James Version
[4] As the author I admit this is a homiletical use of the text in an allegory styled usage. I am not at all seeking to imply Deuteronomy 24 means this in a political sense.
[5] Revelation 13:11-14 King James Version
[6] Ellen G White, The Great Controversy, 1888 edition, p 441-442. I recommend you read the whole chapter for context. I had to reduce her comment to, practically, fit here due to the girth and depth of the quality of her insights. I did my honest best to capture her intent.
[7] Revelation 18:2-5 English Standard Version
[8] Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 336, 337. Ellen White
[9] see Matthew 19:1-12
