IDOLOGY

IDOL OR IDEOLOGY?

Clears throat, hello?

Taps mic

Is this thing on?

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,

To answer the overarching question: Can Politics Save the World?

I’d start by saying this: politics can serve justice. Politics can protect. Politics can shape systems. Politics matter.

But I would say that it isn’t enough.

Do I think politics is a tool that can be used by God to shape culture and systems? Yes.

But do I think that politics alone can solve all the issues in the world?

Well, if you’ve ever wondered, then stick around and hopefully this letter would give an answer.

Firstly, let’s acknowledge something important: part of humanity problem isn’t just broken systems. Systems are lifeless; they are what we make them. The real issue is the heart. And scripture tells that the only one capable of reshaping hearts is Jesus:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. – Ezekiel 36:26-27

About two weeks ago, I noticed a lot of back-and-forth political conversations online, not about faulty systems, holding people accountable, or speaking up against oppression and unfairness. Just arguments. And the reoccurring thought in my mind was: sometimes it feels like we put more confidence in politics than in God.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a call to political apathy or social disinterest. Absolutely not. Even if the world chooses to go silent in the face of injustice, we have a responsibility to speak against it:

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. —James 1:27

But I believe the extremes exist when we start to believe that certain laws are all we need to mold the heart of people. And so, I wonder: if we truly cared about the souls of people like we say we do, would we rely solely on politics, laws or policies to reach their hearts?

Let me paint a picture of my point:

There’s a constant debate about whether trans women should compete in sports against CIS women. The argument is that the biological differences create an unfair advantage. Now, think of it this way: as believers, our ability to live a righteous life is fueled by the Holy Spirit—it is God who works in you to will and to do—so when He instructs us to flee from immorality and separate ourselves from all other vices, we have His spirit to help us work out our salvation. It is safe to say that the Holy Spirit is our advantage.

Now if we give the same laws to a non-believer, is the expectation that they ought to live righteously in their own strength? That’s not something we even do. In a spiritual sense, the Holy Spirit is biologically woven into our inner parts, strengthening us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and we can confidently say that we put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). But we expect someone else to do what we can’t even do without God.

It’s the same way we felt as kids, having our parents drag us to church (if you can relate). I hated it then. The discipline was my mum’s, but she borrowed it to me—even when I was sick—so I could always show up at Church, because it would be taboo if I didn’t. Every Sunday… and every weekday as well (I grew up catholic and went for morning mass every day before school) I didn’t love it then if I’m being honest, but now, I would rather walk 10 miles to church if I had to than miss a Sunday service. What changed? My heart. I met Jesus. I fell in love with Him. And, that’s it.

This is why sometimes the online debates seem to fight for extremes that are void of intimacy, and can’t really touch the heart. I completely understand and agree that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), so this isn’t a call for laxity. It’s just a reminder that people feel the way we do, that emotions aren’t a Christian trait, that even non-believers have bad days, feel pain, fear, and seek comfort, and we have the privilege of pointing them to the greatest comforter we know—the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), and sometimes that is worth more than a million laws. Without compassion on our quest to reach their hearts, all that is done is well… the opposite.

About a month ago, I had a lot of questions for God regarding certain systems and movements in the world. His response to me was:

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God – Deuteronomy 8:3

In the book of Exodus, God delivered the Israelites from a system of oppression established by Pharaoh. Then in the wilderness, He fed them daily with manna, a new system for survival, but through that He re-oriented their minds and teaches them that while manna satisfied their earthly hunger, He was the ultimate source of their survival.

That is what I am trying to emphasis to you: in a faulty or perfect system or society, we would always need God. Just like the Israelites who didn’t need a new or better pharaoh—they needed God. Because we cannot live by bread (systems) alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And with this, my next point is that—words and ideologies are like portals that build systems just as we see with the words of pharaoh that built a system of oppression that crushed the spirit of the Israelites.

So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. — Exodus 6:9

In the same way, the word of God can create systems and realities here on earth because by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible (Hebrews 11:3)

Nonetheless, you can be anything you want and uphold any view you want, but don’t let it replace compassion, and do not let laws replace the power of God. If at any point you feel there is absolutely no hope for people just because a certain political candidate doesn’t win or a particular law doesn’t stand —that’s your cue, just shout “driver o wa” you are at your bus stop. It’s the same way we don’t believe that doctors have the final say over our health—even with discouraging results or diagnosis. Because God is our source, and even if we get cut down, at the scent of water, we shall sprout again.

As Paul said:

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable—1 Corinthians 15:19

Your faith transcends this reality. You must remember whom you have Believed.

And the word the Holy Spirit has asked me to give you today is: Learn to disagree with things from your spirit.

God doesn’t want us to just agree with anything simply because that is what we can see because by faith we understand. The eyes of your understanding as a child of God are your faith. As my pastor would say: it is not calling things that be as though they weren’t but calling the things that be not.

Let me let you in on a little secret: everything you can ever think of or imagine here on your time on earth is merely a fraction of God’s mind. There are things beyond the systems we see all around us and through faith we have the ability to enforce them here on earth—beyond what we have decided that only politics can do.

So, you must refuse to see only through the natural lens (systems, politics, name it)—there is more, there is more, there is more. What you believe in creates the boundaries for what you consider and understand to be possible or achievable, and as Amy K. Hall in her article on “Politics Will Not Save Us” said:

“None of this is to say Christians shouldn’t be politically aware or active… it is to say we need to be realistic about what politics can accomplish and place only as many eggs in its basket as it’s meant to carry”

But with God there is more to be accomplished. What politics can’t do; God can do exceedingly, abundantly and above as He wills.

As my pastor said (again, lol):

Faith is an economy. In his words, “it imports the possibilities of heaven here on earth”

We can stay glued to our phones, debating global laws that should be held in another country, but the last time people around us probably heard about Jesus might have been from the mega speakers on Sundays from nearby churches. The point isn’t that we should not participate in global discourse if we chose to, but let’s also be known as home grown evangelists, lol. And in the economy of faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can shape and enforce systems from where we are now.

Not by power nor by might but by His spirit

Well, I guess this answers the question.

Feel free to share this letter with anyone who you think might need it. I pray that the eyes of our understanding will be opened! I pray that we walk with a consciousness of the power of God more than we do with the problems we see. I pray that you learn to disagree with things, and call things that be not into your reality. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

I love you, but He loves you so much more.

Also, here’s the link to my pastor’s sermon if you would like to watch (I really recommend that you do):

Lastly, if you’ve read this far and thought “I don’t care this much about politics. What’s all this for?”

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that’s okay, if you ever need it, this letter will always be in your mail.

Turns off mic