The title of this blog post is from the song Political World by Bob Dylan. Great song. It also seems an appropriate song to listen to right now with politics dominating our social media, TV screens and internet news. I even saw a presidential hopeful on Rolling Stone Magazine in the grocery line. Isn't Rolling Stone magazine supposed to be about music? Maybe I'm out of touch with our current culture. Nonetheless, politics is in the air.

To be honest, I washed myself clean from the "political world" years ago when I realized it was causing me unhealthy thoughts and stirring the pot of judgment on certain people or politicians. I also started to let go of those things when I was trying my best to follow Jesus. But as I got closer to Jesus, I also realized that he was very political - but not in the way we think of. Jesus' politics were scandalous and risky to his audiences and leaders around him. It's also what eventually got him killed. How was Jesus political? Let's find out...

When it comes to Jesus and politics, the stories in the New Testament make it very clear that Jesus and his early followers had a political imagination. Jesus' main theme when he spoke to people or taught them something, it was about the Kingdom of God. Everything was upside down in terms of our human thinking in this Kingdom. Jesus talked about how the first will be last and how the meek will inherit the earth. Not exactly the most popular things to say to people who think the very opposite of how power and blessing work.

Nowadays, Christians and non-Christians alike tend to get sucked into a specific political party. I'm not judging where you are, I'm just simply stating that Jesus never did that. Jesus, instead, pulled the best out of each political party and challenged the worst in them. Jesus had some unique followers. They ranged from the Essenes (people who took off to the desert to escape the world around them) to the Pharisees and Sadducees, tax collectors, zealots, and even Roman soldiers. Pretty diverse group of followers among many others. How did this happen? How could these different types of people follow Jesus? They became new creations. Ultimately, they let go of certain ways of life and had to learn how to think differently.

I still struggle with how to engage with politics today. It's hard to not be tempted to think that a person or a government can be the ultimate answer to society's issues. Governments can do good things, and they can do bad things. A government can pass a good law - but no law can change a human heart. I've learned that only God can do that. I read in a book that, We can keep people breathing with good health care, but they may not really be alive.

There is something significantly different about engaging with the politics of Jesus. It requires love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and community. A government can't be left responsible for those things. But as a Christ follower, this is our calling. We are told to first, seek the Kingdom of God. I had to start thinking about what it would be like if Jesus REALLY was not just my God and heavenly Father, but also my King. Could I start to live and think the way he teaches his followers to? Because when you read the Gospels, it's pretty clear that with Jesus in charge - the poor are blessed, the mighty are cast from their thrones, the peacemakers and the meek are blessed and the proud are scattered (Luke 1:51-53). 

I think it's interesting that when there is a presidential election on the horizon, the nation becomes a feeding frenzy on the hope that someone new will bring about change or hope that we have never experienced. This thought becomes very dangerous as a follower of Jesus because we are setting ourselves up for disappointment if our hope is built on anything less than Jesus.

So what do we do? How do we vote? That's not for me to answer. You have to discern that for yourself. What I would encourage you to think about is - vote everyday. Vote how you spend your money. Vote how you spend your time and resources. Do the things you vote for everyday align with the teachings of Jesus - where the meek, the merciful and peacemakers are "blessed"?

There is a story in the Gospel of Matthew where the Pharisees ask Jesus specifically, "is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" (Matthew 22:17). So Jesus asks for a coin, and asks them a question, "Whose picture and title are stamped on it?". They reply, "Caesar's". "Well then," he said, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what belongs to God." (Matthew 22:18-21). What is Jesus doing here? I believe Jesus is subverting the question. He doesn't beat around the bush with the questions, he actually takes the questions to another level. He forces his listeners, taxpayers and tax collectors to think - What has Caesar's image and what has God's image? What is Caesar's and what is God's? The answer is - Caesar can have his earthly money. But money has no life in it. Humans bear the image of God - and Caesar doesn't own that. Once we've given to God what is God's, there isn't much left for Caesar.

Another way to look at it is, even though the image of Caesar is on the coin, YOU have to decide whether it belongs to Caesar or whether it belongs to Jesus. The reality is that when God is doing work in the world, all principalities, all powers, all dominions, and all thrones will be used (Ephesians 1:19-23).

When we come to Jesus, we become a new creation. We have a new identity. We have new eyes. No political or national identity should trump our identity as brothers and sisters in Christ.