It has been said that “politics makes strange bedfellows” – a saying adapted from The Tempest by William Shakespeare, spoken by a man who, during a storm, seeks shelter with a sleeping monster. Christians must be careful about with whom they sleep.
Revelation portrays the powers of this present age as “a great prostitute” (Rev. 17:1). Moses warned, “Be careful… otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, [and] cause your sons also to prostitute themselves with their gods” (cf. Exod. 34:12-16). Paul scornfully asked, “Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute?” (1 Cor. 6:15 NLT). We must be careful lest our political engagement become whoring after false gods. We must be self-aware of our political sympathies lest our political engagement compromise the integrity of the gospel. We must be aware of the splinters and logs that inhibit our prophetic vision lest we become hypocrites. Many political conservatives have been scandalized by the recent remarks of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde, but have ignored the pro-LGBTQI and pro-choice cabinet appointments made by the Republican president. Some on the left have praised Bishop Budde’s remarks, choosing to ignore her heretical, even apostate, views on human sexuality. Hypocrisy abounds on the left and right.
The politics of this present age are forging gospels contrary to the Apostles (Gal. 1:9). On the right, Christian Nationalism is the rave; on the left it is Progressive Christianity. The fundamentalism of the Christian right has reduced God’s church to a white Republicans club in which wealth and power are the ultimate signs of divine blessing. The radicalism of the Christian left has reduced the gospel to a socialist political agenda in which justification is critical theory, sanctification is equity, Spirit baptism is intersectionality, and glorification is revolution.
Human sinfulness is so embedded it cannot be remedied by political action. The purpose of law is to legislate morality, to enforce a code of social and civil conduct. Biblical concepts of justice and righteousness are formed by the character of God and necessary for human flourishing. Law is God’s prevenient grace. Even so, Paul was deeply concerned about the church at Galatia. Some of the leaders disturbed the church by preaching “a different gospel” (1:6), a “distorted” gospel (1:7), which has “bewitched” the Galatian believers (3:1) to such an extent that they “have been severed from Christ,” they have “fallen from grace” (5:4). What heresy had they embraced? They were “seeking to be justified by law” (5:4). Paul warns that if we place our confidence in the law, then Christ is of no benefit (Gal. 5:2). More than fifteen hundred years of Christendom in Europe failed to establish the kingdom of God and collapsed with two world wars. The political theologies of the right and left are little more than attempts at constructing a form of post-modern Christendom, likewise doomed to fail. God’s ultimate purpose is an eschatological new creation.
Joshua was commanded to “be careful to do according to all the Law… do not turn… to the right or to the left” (1:9). I suggest that we navigate the present political realities by taking a middle way. The middle way is not about moderation, or compromise. Rather, it is about a radical faithfulness in covenant with God.
A Pentecostal middle way requires a radical allegiance to the mission of God.
Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down…” (Josh. 5:13-14).
Joshua asked the question of a typical party politician. Are you red, or blue? Are you left, or right? Joshua hopes that he can count on divine help as he leads the people of Israel into the hostile territory of Canaan. The warrior angel’s reply is stunning – No! The warrior angel has one allegiance. His sword is drawn, ready to make war against the enemies of Yahweh. We are compelled to ask, “But aren’t the people of Israel God’s people? Will God not fight for his people?” Yes, God has fought for Israel and defeated the Egyptian armies. But Yahweh is not a tribal deity. He has warned Israel, “You shall not follow other gods… the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth” (Deut. 6:13–15). The wilderness wandering was an ongoing warfare between the people of Israel and Yahweh. The wilderness was littered with the bones of Israelites who rebelled against God. The warrior angel’s drawn sword was a warning that should Israel compromise allegiance to Yahweh, just like their fathers and mothers who died in the wilderness, they too would perish in the hills of Canaan.
Political allegiance is a raging temptation. When Jehoshaphat and Ahab conspired to go to war against Ramoth-gilead, there were many court prophets who were willing to take the name of Yahweh in vain by speaking words God did not inspire. Zedekiah, and the other court prophets, declared that God would grant success to Jehoshaphat and Ahab against Ramoth-gilead. Only Micaiah dared speak the truth – that if they went to war, they would be defeated. At the end of the day King Ahab was dead (2 Chron. 18:1ff). The way of the false prophet is death.
The red prophets of the right, and blue prophets of the left, are false prophets inspired by political agendas. Authentic prophets refuse to turn to the right or left. They walk the narrow way of the middle. They speak truth to power – to blue power and to red power. Abraham Heschel reminds us that the prophet has a singular perspective – the mind of God. The prophet is not a hireling, but God’s partner who is “in fellowship with the feelings of God.” The prophet “alienates the wicked as well as the pious, the cynics as well as the believers, the priests and the princes, the judges and the false prophets” of the left and right (The Prophets, 1962).
Jesus declared, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18). But we must remember that Jesus “walks among the seven lampstands” which represent the church (Rev. 2:1). He warns that sinfulness results in judgment against the church. A church that has lost its first love will have its lampstand removed (Rev. 2:5). To the church that tolerates false prophets, that indulges in heresy, idolatry, and sexual immorality, Jesus declares, “I will wage war against them with the sword of My mouth” (Rev. 2:16). A lukewarm church makes Jesus sick to his stomach and it will be vomited out of his mouth (Rev. 3:16). To the church that tolerates toxic leadership, Jesus warns, “I will kill her children with plague” (Rev. 2:23). Don’t miss this – a toxic church will suffer the same fate as the Egyptians! Jesus exhorts, “remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent…” (Rev. 3:3).
The church that maintains fidelity to Christ will “eat of the Tree of Life” (Rev. 2:7). The church that is faithful unto death will be awarded the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). The church that guards against false teachers will receive a new name (Rev. 2:17). The church that overcomes toxic leaders will be granted “authority over the nations” (Rev. 2:26). The church that refuses to have its garments soiled by the corruption of this world will be clothed in white garments (Rev. 3:5). The church that holds firmly to the Faith will be established in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 3:12). The church that opens its door to Jesus will dine with him (Rev. 3:20).
A Pentecostal middle way is holiness – not loving the political gods of this world.
But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord… You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins (Joshua 24:15, 19).
The people of Israel struggled with divided allegiances generation after generation. They were seduced by the gods of Egypt and Canaan. The politics of the ancient world were embodied in the gods. The Pharaoh of Egypt was the son of Atum-Ra, the sun god. When Israel was encamped at Mt. Sinai, they demanded that Aaron fashion a golden calf – the Egyptian god, Apis. Generations later, as the Babylonian armies razed the city of Jerusalem, the people of God asked, “Why has the Lord done this to this great city?” (Jer. 22:8). Jeremiah responded, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them” (Jer. 22:9).
Joshua warns that a divided allegiance makes it impossible to be faithful to God, for Yahweh is a jealous God. I fear that many Christians in the United States suffer from a divided allegiance. They are demanding not a golden calf, but a golden elephant or a golden donkey. The Spirit warns, “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes…” (Deut. 12:8), with red and blue being supported by partisan prophets who criticize their opponents while justifying their own idolatry. God allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and God will allow the armies of postmodern secularism to overwhelm a church with divided allegiance. We must hear the words of another Joshua – Jesus Christ – who said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other… seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:24, 33). We must follow his example. When tempted to bow before Satan that he might gain the kingdoms of this world, Jesus rebuked the devil with these words: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matt. 4:10). We must be warned: If the politics of this present age divides the church, then the church has succumbed to the temptations of power. The church should never be a tool of the state, but should always act as the prophetic conscience of the state. Our citizenship is heavenly (Philippians 3:20). Let us be reminded that God will shake the nations of the earth and that “we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28).
A Pentecostal spirituality offers a middle way in resisting the political temptations of this present age.
A faithful Pentecostal spirituality is the integration of orthodoxy, orthopathy, and orthopraxy. We must ask ourselves, “What do we believe? What do we love? How should we practice our belief and passion?” The temptation of the political gods is to compromise orthodoxy and orthopathy in favor of orthopraxy. The political gods have little use for “pure and undefiled religion” that demands faithfulness to Christ, caring for distressed people, a Biblically informed sexual morality, and resisting worldly affections (cf. Jas. 1:27; 1 John 2:15-16).
All who claim to speak for Christ must be held accountable to the Holy Scripture and the sacred tradition of the church. We must engage the public square as faithful ambassadors of Jesus Christ, representing the kingdom of God before the kingdoms of humanity. We are to judge the world, not be compromised by it (1 Cor. 6:2). With the apostle Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:16). The powers that crucified Christ will always resist the faithful witness of his church (John 15:19; 17:14). Even so, we must boldly proclaim the gospel to all worldly powers.
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