Thankful for an end to the election season

Anyone who has ever been active in a political campaign understands that it is the work of Mammon rather than God. Everything is spun in ways that make a mockery of the commandment not to bear false witness. Empathy for people on the other side goes out the window. Loving others as you would wish to be loved is replaced with do unto others before they can do unto you. Your emotions are dominated by fear, anger, and disgust. Politics is a figurative blood sport even in the most civilized of societies and a blood bath when the rule of law fails. And the endgame is one of Mammon's biggest prizes - power.

Religion and politics do not mix because the temptation to claim God is on one side is too great. One does not have to look particularly hard to find people of faith that all but claim that God endorses a candidate, political party, or ideology. Those claims never serve God. Never. It is blasphemy because God's name is being dragged into the mud of politics with all the lies, dirty tricks, money, and lust for power. 

For Christians, we hear too often the hiss of 'who would Jesus vote for.' It should be apparent that Jesus never calls us to put aside our obligation to love each other and pretend to be Christian soldiers in the political arena. The introjection of Christ into politics is a major factor in younger generations rejecting organized religion in America. Yet, instead of taking stock of those trends, some Christian leaders have doubled down on the politics and God talk. 

One renowned Christian culture warrior spun the movement of younger generations away from the church this way:

In a Gospel perspective, this is a healthy development. It is good that non-believers know that they are, in fact, not believers. Cultural Christianity is not Christianity, and no one will find salvation through merely identifying as Christian. The disappearance of cultural Christianity will weaken the culture, but it should strengthen the church.

According to the recent Pew Forum survey, younger generations are walking away from the church because they dislike the mixture of religion and politics, the focus on money and power among the religious, and the bellicose promotion of a narrow definition of morality instead of celebrating God's love and creating compassionate communities. Rather than listen to those concerns, the culture warrior claims to represent the true believers and celebrates the fact that younger generations see Mammon rather than Christ in organized religion in America.

Some Christian leaders have even gone so far as to betray Christ by claiming that God's grace depends on how you vote.

“To vote for someone in favor of these positions means that you could be morally ‘complicit’ with these choices which are intrinsically evil. This could put your own soul in jeopardy.”

It is not how you vote that puts your soul in jeopardy but rather how you live. Love God and love others. Period. God does not count your vote. As Christians, our loyalty to Christ matters, not our obedience to religious leaders with a political ax to grind.

Now that the work of Caesar in the political arena is finished, I hope and pray we can come together to lift the crosses of those that suffer and share the good news of God's love. God have mercy on us if we fail to do that.