It seems like politics plays a big part in our lives any more. It used to be that “campaign season” came around every four years. Now it seems to be non-stop. We’re still over a year away from the 2012 election, and people are already starting to speculate about who might run in 2016. If you watch the news on TV, or listen to the radio, or read the newspaper, it’s hard to get away from political talk these days.
As you hear all this talk, though, you may notice something. Every once in a while, someone will try to promote their political ideas by citing scripture. They’ll take some Bible passage and say that proves that God would want you to support their bill or vote for their candidate.
It seems to me that’s a misuse of scripture. In the first place, there’s nothing in the Bible that suggests that God supports one political party over another. More importantly, though, there are lots of times in the gospels when Jesus was invited to step in and give an opinion about a current political issue of the day. Each time, he refused to do so. One of those times is in our scripture for today.
The Pharisees asked Jesus about paying taxes. We recognize this as a political question, but we don’t always realize what a big deal this was. The nation of Israel had been taken over by the Roman Empire. Israel did not like that, of course, and had dreamed for a long time of becoming independent again. Every once in a while, they would actually drive out the Romans and get their independence, but that never lasted for very long. The Roman Empire was just too strong. Eventually, it would take over again, and Israel would be defeated.
Still, that dream of independence for Israel was still there, and one of the ways that showed up was in the payment of taxes to Rome. The people who supported Jewish independence said Jewish people should not pay taxes to Rome. If Jesus agreed with them, and said not to pay taxes, he’d be seen as opposing the Roman government and could be arrested. On the other hand, if Jesus said that people should pay taxes to Rome, he’d be seen as opposing the supporters of Jewish independence, which could make him look bad to a lot of Jewish people. What that means is that the Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to take a position on one of the really hot political issues of the day.
What’s really important, as we look at this scripture, is to note how the Bible describes what the Pharisees were trying to do. It says they were trying to “entrap” Jesus by getting him to comment on this political issue.
That’s what politics can be for Christians. It can be a trap. Now, understand that I think it’s good for us to keep ourselves informed about what’s going on in the government. Our society will only work if people pay attention. We should watch the news, we should listen to the radio, we should read the newspapers, we should do whatever we can to keep up to date on current events. I don’t want anything I’m saying here to be understood otherwise.
The thing is, though, that political issues are, by their nature, divisive. When we take sides, we get set against each other. When Christians fight against each other in political matters, we have a harder time working together to bring people to Christ. We cannot make disciples for Jesus if we’re arguing with each other about politics.
Jesus understood that. That’s why, when he was invited to take a position on this political issue, he would not do it. In fact, not only did he not take a position, he changed the focus of the question. He said, in effect, don’t be so concerned about what the government wants you to do. Instead, be concerned with what God wants you to do.
That’s where our focus needs to be. Again, it’s okay to follow politics, but don’t fall into the trap. We need to make sure we don’t get sucked into arguing about political issues. When we do, we miss chances to unite to work for Christ.
God is not telling us how to vote. God is telling us to have faith: faith in God, and faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. If each one of us trusts God, if each one of us lives our life they way Jesus wants us to live, if each one of us does what God wants us to do, then we can leave the rest of it in God’s hands. When we do that, we will know that, ultimately, things will work out the way God wants them to work out.
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