Republican Jesus and the Broad Brush

Listen, this one may be a bit political, but try not to view it that way. It's my contention that we (democrats & republicans) have muddied the waters here, and it's causing more damage than we realize. I'm writing this in the wake of renowned talk show host Rush Limbaugh's passing yesterday, after losing a battle with cancer. A man who was a trailblazer in conservative values, but was both loved and hated. While many consider him an advocate, the democrats who reported on his passing were overwhelmingly cruel in their headlines. This article focuses on the extremes... on both sides.

I have many well-intentioned friends who are staunch republicans. I also have many democrat friends who are so fed up with certain conservative values that they have become completely disenchanted with the republican party. The truth is both sides are often flat out angry. And I'm referring to Christians on both. This has stooped to a level that we are spending more time fighting each other than seeking Jesus. Some people would literally tell you that Jesus is a republican. Others may say the opposite... although not as likely. I think this is a bit narrow-minded thinking.

I had a buddy once, during my camp counselor days, share a neat theory about God wanting to be first in your life. It's clear the Bible says to seek Him first (Matt. 6:33), but my buddy said it's more than just being first. He said, "God doesn't want to be first in line, He wants to be the line." I love this! He said God wants to have his own line. He's that far above the importance we place on anything or anyone else. Though that's not easy, it is awesome. So as we address our politics, let's keep that in mind. We should be looking at the world through His lens, not trying to fit our values into our belief system. We should be forming our values based on who He is.

Without getting too deep into "God's politics", the main characteristic I want to focus on is compassion. Jesus was filled with compassion! He also flipped tables and called people out for their sins, but the "righteous anger" side of this was largely dedicated toward the church. In this light it makes sense for us to be fighting with one another. But that's only if you don't understand why Jesus flipped tables.

The table scene is related to the church specifically. They had started to sell status. You could purchase forgiveness for passed loved ones, among other things. Can you imagine!?! There are a couple other scenes Jesus becomes outraged at a type of injustice, and we can certainly see some of those things in our politics. The ironic thing is, we see them on both sides of the aisle.

Republicans are known for wanting small government. The reason for this is largely due to individual freedoms they believe would be violated if the government became big enough. Mainly the freedom itself from too much oversight. On it's face, this is valid and mostly consistent. The issue for most democrats here is with the military, but also individual freedoms... just a different type. Republicans pour a lot of money into the military. And this could be because, if it's a christian reason, we know there is so much evil in the world and have seen outsiders try to assault our way of life. And yes, that has been through terrorist acts. Yet, now the democrats are saying, "But what about the school shootings. White men!" And big military is a form of big government, which appears hypocritical to democrats. I'm just stating facts here to lay the groundwork.

Now, what else? Democrats are often known as liberals. Though in recent times they are becoming known as "progressives". The reason for this is good, though the result may or may not be an agreed upon progress. As Chris Pratt said in Jurassic World, "Maybe progress should lose once in awhile." People desire knowledge, wisdom, maturity, and legacy. Why wouldn't we yearn to do better? The issue becomes in how. And this is where big government comes into play. If a democrat believes something is right, but the country lacks the power to do it, they will want it put into law. That line could be said about republicans as well, depending on the issue. The main difference here is, a republican would want their value put into law, a democrat usually wants more money to make it happen... which of course comes from higher taxes. Yet, republicans may hide some taxes in sales or other things that appears as if they aren't after money as well. So that's not entirely true either. I'll come back to this.

We can get into LGBT issues, but that's honestly a different conversation. If you consider yourself a christian who believes the Bible either doesn't speak against those letters, or doesn't view the Bible the same way it has been in years past, then that is really a difference of fundamental meaning of life stuff. And that is hard to include in this article because it's hard to debate belief systems. However, let me just say, to those who fall into that category, those who believe those titles are wrong, believe so because of their meaning of life stuff. If someone truly feels there is a God who inspired the Bible to be applied for all time (the parts related to how a human should behave), that individual will never see a sexual transition as anything other than an assault on God's intended created order. The best we can hope for is compassion to those individuals... not agreement. In any case, those conversations are hard, but need to happen. We need to find a place where we disagree, understand why we disagree, and still see the humanity in why. But to the conservative christian, if someone doesn't believe in our God, we cannot assume they will believe in His design. So, like I said, this is not that. I actually want to speak to the christian conservative with traditional values, but I also want to speak to the christian democrat with either traditional values... or other Biblical ones. I'll explain.

Christians typically believe abortion is wrong, due to life being in God's hands. They also believe in traditional marriage due to a handful of verses and passages on the matter, plus the many years of scholars translating them this way. They believe in religious freedom to worship without government oversight. And they believe in equality for all, but in the confines of God's created order. Democrats are for abortion, for the most part. This varies, but in large part believe the woman should have rights over her own body no matter the circumstance. And they also believe in equality for all, without any particular God dictating the boundaries of that.

America was founded on the idea of freedom. More specifically, the right to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When England believed we owned them taxes for our land, we decided that didn't make sense. And so we had a war and won our freedom! But then we made some decisions that we thought were in our best interest. One of these was to refer to black people as 3/5th's of a person and treat them as slaves for many years. That single issue has torn us asunder for so long it's shameful we still haven't rectified it. So, with some obvious possibility for mistakes to be made, coupled with the fact we are all imperfect sinful people with a tendency for selfishness, I present my actual point...

In Heaven we wont have taxes, thank God! But while on Earth, Jesus was fine with it. Still, He clearly desired generosity more. He literally said, "Give to God what is God's, and to Ceasar what is Ceasar's." This is referencing the ruler of the time. There were many Ceasar's. Anyway, there's a recognition to taxes being good to some degree. But which degree? How much is the magic Godly number? Do we give 10% to the church and 10% to taxes? The Bible never says how much to give to "Ceasar", so we're left to guess. There's a good argument that 10% is the forever fee to the church, but I don't believe this is super clear or black and white. I bring this up because the republican believes in very low taxes for specific things and not others. Land makes sense. Schools. Things like this. Social issues can get tricky, but let's take one I already brought up.

Black people are still struggling. Some struggles are the fault of the individuals. However, some are not. An honest christian conservative will acknowledge this and hopefully also heed the call to give to the needy. They will often say it is the job of churches and individuals to help, but also blame the black community for their own plight. In the south we call this "talking out of both sides of your mouth." We make excuses to not give a buck to that guy with the sign (black or otherwise). We say, "They'll just buy beer". We attend a soup kitchen and pat ourselves on the backs. We quote Emma Lazarus with "give me your tired, your poor, your huddles masses, etc", yet we build a giant wall and blame all our crime on illegal immigrants. I'm not against the wall per say. I'm against the broad brush narrative as to why.

What's my point? Some of you would say with ease and confidence that if Jesus were here, he'd be a republican. And if it was what it should be, maybe He would be. But while the Bible seems to show Jesus would be for traditional families, pro-life, and individual freedom without government overreach, He would also be compassionate to those in struggle, an advocate for easier adoption, and GIVING! But our conservatism often lacks some of those qualities, doesn't it?

How can we say we believe giving should solve homelessness, when we barely give even out of our abundance? How can we say we believe God desires all to know Him, and yet aim to keep so many different cultures out? Is it possible we may be more privileged than we think? Is it possible we may not be as generous as we'd like to believe? Can you really blame democrats for forcing our money to go toward causes we fail to advocate for without the force? Maybe if we gave more this would be less of an issue. Maybe if we allowed republican candidates who want higher taxes to be considered as sane it might help as well? I don't know the solution, but what I do know is, it's easy to sit in our ivory towers and talk about what's wrong without taking action.

Look, I'm not even moderately rich, and I've even been homeless, but unless I had my blue hair, purple corduroy bell bottoms, and piercings all over my face, no one ever thought I was shoplifting just for being in their store. Well, maybe when I was 12 and snagging Ka-Bluey's from 7-11, but I was actually stealing. And maybe if we didn't dismiss the very real struggles the black community has faced for so may years, they wouldn't be voting democrat so often. Black people are largely a religious people, and usually christian in America. So ask yourself, are they just not getting it? Or are they making a conscious choice to choose the party they believe sees them and actually attempts to help those in need.

Racism is real. Cops are being treated with kid gloves when treating minorities as 2nd class citizens. And republicans are so quick to side with the police. Mexicans are thought of as hard workers, but even if they weren't, can we really be broad brushing them as criminals trying to infiltrate our country? Should we be stripping their children from their parents arms like Nazi Germany? Can we label middle-easterners as Islamic Terrorists just because of their turban? Or worse, their skin? One of my best friends is Iranian, and I know most from his homeland and surrounding areas come to America for business opportunities, not murder. It's not always what we are told, is it? Honestly, I struggle with the turban guy and the burka wife. I assume they believe in Sharia law, which, in my estimation, is abusive toward women and really dislikes Christianity. But that doesn't make them a killer. (I’m working on my own bias here.) Otherwise we'd be guilty of the same estimation for our own disinterests in other faiths, wouldn't we? And before you say, "but we don't kill", just open a history book.

I don't mean to stereotype. I am simply trying to put a spot light on the things we fear. Democrats are also guilty of using the broad brush. Many assume all other races are well-intentioned, all abortion is justified, all money should be everyone's, all Capitalism is wrong, all minorities need hand outs, all Christians hate LGBT people, and all white people are racist... which is racist. If you have ever found yourself saying white people deserve it because it’s their turn, you have effectiviely refused to come to the negotiation table at all. And that is also a huge problem.

If you're reading this and thinking you don't fall into the extremes, good for you! But if not, I ask you to consider compassion. I have heard many times, including recently from both sides that their party is the nice one and the opposite is mean and heartless. If you can't bring yourself to believe an actual Trump supporter, even just one, had a hand in storming the Capital several weeks ago, you are blind to your own bias extremes. If you can't bring yourself to believe it's possible some undercover people were there to instigate violence, you may also be blind. It's not about the facts, because those are a bit hazy in mob situations. Though it seems both are true. It's about seeing people as people. We have forgotten what it was like to need Jesus. If we have found the right answer, that Jesus is Lord and the Bible is authoritative, that doesn’t absolve us from our continuous need for His saving grace. We must, and I mean MUST, be able to see republicans as sinful just as we are. If we can’t see fallen people in red and blue we are also unwilling to come to the table.

We are all a sinful selfish people who need God to help us pursue righteousness because we are not righteous on our own merits. This is not a party line thing. This is a human thing. We have got to start seeing each other as human and flawed, capable of making imperfect choices, and capable of compassion.

So may you stop assuming Jesus believes in your politics over His compassion for mankind to know Him and live free. May you stop excusing bad behavior, and start valuing goodness... no matter which side it comes from. May you begin to suspend judgement just long enough to see the humanity in others. And may we stop broad brushing people groups... period! If you can find yourself in an actual respectful conversation with someone with the opposite party values, you are an advocate for compassion and equality. It must start there or we're all lost to the madness already.

And that's my boxless view in a nutshell.

James went to KU for Psychology

and is an entrepreneur owning three small businesses;

Two in the wedding industry, and one in custom furniture building.

In addition, James is also a hobbyist

as a musician, voice-over artist, and blogger on the side.

Ultimately, he lives for his family and

making Christ known as the compassionate Savior He is.