Politicizing
the Gospel
This
phrase denotes the tendency among those who have tied and/or equated the
Kingdom of God with power and success. The Prosperity Gospel only differs in
that it defines success in terms of individual attainment and well-being.
Sacralists who have embraced a political gospel tend to view the question in
terms of society, cultural norms, legislation and certainly in terms of both
domestic and political power.
Wisdom means that we try
and examine things with honesty and integrity and in a non-partisan and
non-factional way. We're determined as much as is possible to set aside
pre-commitments to tradition, denomination, and cultural bias. This is by no
means easy. It's a process that we have to keep working on. I believe this is
the renewing of our minds and a key part of our sanctification.
Pre-commitments, allegiances, and pre-suppositions will cloud our judgment and
shape our thoughts and if we're determined to be Biblical in our understanding
we have to be willing to set these things aside and surrender our minds and
hearts to the teaching of God's Word.
This is going to lead to
an embrace of nuance and a willingness to acknowledge that some thinkers though
contrary to you, might have some things right.
What will seem at times
like compromise, ambiguity or equivocation will in fact represent a degree of
humility in admitting that some of these issues are more complicated than we
can even grasp. Sometimes context and motive come into play and force our
thinking to be broader and less pointed.
When the gospel is wedded
to politics all these things go out the window. Truth isn't the paramount
concern anymore. All that matters is to win. You must have a specific agenda.
Nuance doesn't help the cause. Granting anything to another camp gives them
fuel, an audience and harms your ability to dominate. If the truth calls for
you to take a position that straddles factions or demands a new paradigm, it
must be rejected. The politicized Gospel is a rejection of wisdom and the
embrace of a strategy to win.
The only information you
seek is that which is useful. The only information you give to your followers
is that which serves the agenda.
This is true not just
with those who have tied the gospel to a political cause. It can prove equally
so with those tied in with denominational power.
Politicizing the gospel is
dangerous because it leads the sheep astray. They become focused on different
things and for a different purpose. It re-shapes your ethics. If you're primary
goal is to win, then admitting something is wrong or that someone from your
faction (past or present) is wrong will invite defeat. So deliberately or
perhaps subconsciously you excuse the wrong and re-cast it so that it is right.