OK, I’ve got an exercise for you (and me). Private. Personal. Don’t share with me. Don’t post on Facebook. Just do it for yourself.

Ready? Choose the political position you most closely align with. In the U.S., you’ll probably do best choosing one of the two major parties. Even if you consider yourself an independent, choose one for this exercise.

Now let’s go through some questions:

• Which points in their platform or standard talking points do you feel strongly about? Not just agree with, but feel some degree of passion/emotion about.
• Which points in their platform or standard talking points are the least important to you?
• Which points in their platform do you disagree with them? This point is important; you need to be able to spot some separation between your views and those of people in the world. There will probably be some overlap with the previous two points.

Now look at the views of the opposing party. Go through the same questions.

Hopefully, if we will do this honestly, we can find ourselves less dominated by partisan positions. In all matters, we need to ask what God wants us to think, not what this or that political party thinks.

When listening to political discussions among Christians, I realize that we’ve accepted as true the idea that there are only two choices. You are red or you are blue. Democrat or Republican. Conservative or liberal.

The two political parties are after power. They want to win elections. Many individual politicians have strong personal convictions, but they face enormous pressure to conform to “the party” and vote according to what will get the most votes in the next election. The party wants to gain or maintain power, so they want everyone (candidates, party members, voters) to always stick to partisan lines.

We believers must not allow ourselves to be sucked into this game. We need to look at each situation, each issue, each political question and ask, “What is right? What is best for the Kingdom of God?”

When I do this, I can question a political stance held by Democrats without throwing my unquestioning support to the Republicans. I can challenge Republican politicians without backing their political rivals. I can even vote for some candidates from one party and other candidates from another party. (I might even vote for a third party or [gasp] choose not to vote for anyone!)

The world wants you to opt to follow the elephant or the donkey. I say always follow the Lamb.

I want to reflect a bit on yesterday’s post: “Political Power Corrupts The Church.” More than that, I want to try to clarify some terms.

In the first place, I realize that talking about “supporting” a political candidate can mean different things to different people. I don’t see merely voting for a person as supporting them. Many in the last election voted for Hilary because they disliked Trump, and many voted for Trump because they disliked Hilary. It was more of a vote against than a vote for. Rather than supporting one candidate, these people were opposing the other candidate. At that point, at least, they aren’t supporters of the person they voted for.

A supporter promotes that person in some way. They contribute to the cause, either by sharing ideas or actually giving money. When I talk about Christians who support Trump, I’m thinking of those who only speak well of him, share memes favorable to the president, echo his ridicule of opponents, etc. It’s not about merely deciding to vote for him in the next election as the only viable option.

The other element of yesterday’s article that seems to need definition was the Pew study about “accepting refugees.” That phrase was common at the time the article came out, being applied to the European refugee crisis. I have never heard the phrase “accepting refugees” used in relation to our current border crisis, though I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody somewhere used the phrase in that way. I would argue that it’s not the common understanding of the phrase and it caught me totally by surprise when some thought that was what was being referred to.

Finally, my concern is that Christians not allow politics to become the lord of the church, changing our outlook toward morality, toward other people, and toward what is most important.

I’ve been trying to understand the effect that Donald Trump has on conservative Christians. Why do so many openly support such an ungodly man? Even many who claimed to “hold their nose and vote” in the last presidential election now cheer every move made by the man in the White House.

I think it’s about power. The President has openly sided with evangelical Christians, like the proclamation the White House made about religious freedom a couple of years ago. He is giving protection to religious groups that did not exist under President Obama.

Because of this, evangelicals have had to undergo some amazing and well-documented shifts. What do you do when you have a president who is openly immoral, is given to distort the truth, is outrageously abusive toward opponents, and supportive of unseemly elements in society… yet also gives power to the evangelical church? The answer in the United States has been to choose the power and overlook the rest.

Not only that, but evangelicals have been willing to shift opinions on moral issues to align themselves with the man who gives them power. In a Pew Research study about views toward refugees, only 25% of white evangelicals said that the United States has a responsibility to accept refugees into this country. That contrasts with 65% of the religiously unaffiliated and 43% of white mainline Protestants. What group most closely lined up with the views of white evangelicals? Conservative Republicans, who came in at 19% in agreement. Even moderate and liberal Republicans were much more open to the acceptance of refugees (40%).

This is about refugees, not illegal immigrants. It’s not an issue with an obvious “Christian” response, so don’t take my comments in that light. That said, there is nothing inherently Christian about rejecting the idea of being responsible for receiving refugees. It’s not a doctrinal view or a religious tenet that moves these evangelicals to a harsher view than the general public. What is it? Power. The desire to align themselves with the politician that gives them power.

That’s what frightens me about the Christian support I see for Donald Trump. Power corrupts. Political power corrupts the church.

[And to my friends on the left smiling smugly, ask yourselves if your position is all that different. Do you automatically reject anything and everything the President says? Do you evaluate Democratic candidates on their personal lives? Can you be happy with someone who disagrees with you having and distributing power?]

Mark 10:42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.