We’re coming up on our first Easter under the new administration. Sounds like a funny way to speak of Easter, right? Why not? We politicize everything nowadays.
I was sipping my coffee this morning and a couple of random thoughts popped into my head. Now, admittedly, most of my thoughts are just that – random. But these are pretty good.
I thought about Easter in and of itself. Easter is a Christian holiday where followers of Christ celebrate his resurrection. For a person of the Christian faith, it’s just as important as Christmas. This is one of the two “biggies” in the Christian world view. But recall above where I said that we politicize everything. If we Christians aren’t careful, we begin to do something very strange in our Christian world view. We politicize it. We do our math this way:
CHRISTIANITY = CONSERVATIVE
NON-CHRISTIANS = LIBERAL
We can’t comprehend how someone whose political views are opposite of ours could ever be a Christian. I mean, can a person who supports the LGBT community and is all for abortion possibly be a Christian? Surely not! So, we reach across the table and grab Christianity and pull it to our side of the table and in so doing, we become nothing like the Christ we claim to follow.
So, who does the Bible say this Christ was while on Earth? It seems like Jesus was always hanging out with Earth’s undesirables (or deplorables – wink). Right? He spent time with tax collectors, smelly fishermen, cheaters, liars, and prostitutes. Why? Because Jesus understood something that we’ve missed: People are just people.
Christians can come in all flavors, shapes, and sizes. Christ came for the person who grew up in church and for the person who grew up in the gutter. In the eyes of Jesus, there’s no difference in the two – both need him equally. Once we become a follower of Christ, it’s incumbent upon us to read the Bible and align our views with God’s word. But it’s a process and he’s the judge – not the political parties.
So, here’s this country boy’s plea as I sip coffee and ponder random thoughts. It’s Easter, for crying out loud. Stop politicizing. Realize that, regardless of views or political affiliation, we’re in the same boat – we need Christ. Don’t bring any political math into the equation. Just reach across the table, take a hand, and proclaim, “He arose!”
