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Just A Thought: Politics are NOT the task of a Christian

August 7, 2016 0 comments

Posted in: Just a Thought

"Politics are not the task of a Christian." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other.  Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?"  - 1 Corinthians 3:3-4


Politics in the church?  Inconceivable!  If you are new to church life, it can be amazing.  Everything is new. God is real to you.  You love to worship and you’re excited at how different life is in the kingdom of God! But along the way, you notice problems.  Sure, you see people make mistakes and have flaws - you can handle that. (Who doesn't have flaws?)  But, you start to discover more unsettling things.  There are "money people" who seem to get their way.  Cliques…  You discover that decisions are made behind the scenes, and that every now and then staff members of the church just "disappear."  If you bring this up, you're told that "well, there are no perfect churches" - meaning, you just need to accept it.  Welcome to church politics.
From the inception of the church, it took less than three hundred years for it to morph into a religious institution, fully loaded with politics and power structures.  This stands in contrast to the Kingdom of God that Jesus taught about, and how THE Church is taught by God to function. Think about these Scriptures: 

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave."                                                                                                                                               - Matthew 20:25-27

"When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear...hostility, quarreling,                                       jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division..."                                                                                                                                             - Galatians 5:20

"...throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life… Put on your new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy.  So stop telling lies. Let’s tell the truth, for we are all parts of the same body."                                                                                                   - Ephesians 4:22-25

Church politics stink; it feels wrong, because it is wrong; let's prayerfully do better in HIS Church.

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