Jesus Ain't No Democrat or Republican

I really appreciate Ben-from-Greensboro’s thoughts as quoted by Beth over at The Daily Greensboring in her piece Is Jesus a Democrat? Check it out. It's a good read. Ben raises some very interesting and worthwhile philosophical and social policy questions, especially as relates to the intersection of religion, morality, and public policy.

As a Christian I deeply regret the association of Christian faith with a particular political party. To the extent that a part of the Christian church has allowed itself to be co-opted and used by the Republicans (or Democrats in other cases) it has erred profoundly.

Ben also raises an interesting point as to the issue of “free will,” and the extent to which that is to be honored, especially in a diverse and secular culture. It is no easy task to figure out what Jesus and the Apostles would have had us do when it comes to various public policy matters. On many issues I think there are many possible "Jesus-acceptable" approaches as regards public policy. On other issues I don’t think so. I don’t think there exists a specifically “Jesus-sanctioned” approach to health insurance for example, or a specifically “Jesus-sanctioned” approach to many other issues. But governments are put in place to seek after the public good, to encourage good and discourage bad, and to keep evil (stealing, murder, invasion, fraud, poverty, etc) at bay. It is just truly hard to know how best to seek the public good sometimes, much less if there is a “Christian” policy on many issues, and because of that it frustrates me that many of my brethren speak as if they know just what such a policy would be. I guess they’re just a lot smarter than me.

In his own day Jesus chose to avoid the very real political parties and factions that swirled all around him. He had a different mission. Christians who live in various societies today have a responsibility as citizens to seek the public good and participate in civic life. But their ultimate mission is also different. It is not the mission of the Democratic or Republican party. Jesus cannot be corralled by one of our puny political parties any more than a wild lion can be corralled by a couple of little kids. Jesus, as in the Living version, cannot be tamed, co-opted, used, or pre-empted. We may think we’re doing that but we’re just fooling ourselves.

Democrats come and go. Republicans come and go. Jesus is Lord.