In our country, there are two main parties, Democrat and Republican. Most people are a member of one or the other, and may or may not espouse their party’s platform. That is how our country works: we vote, elect an individual, and either two or four years later, we get to decide to re-elect that individual or vote someone else into office.
It’s called politics. It is dirty, messy and sometimes distasteful, but that is how we do things in this country. The problem comes when people decide to mix their political beliefs with their religious ones. There is nothing wrong with joining a political party because you feel their platform lines up with some of your religious beliefs, but the problem lies with associating that particular party with your religion.
Once a person does that, they begin to assume that everyone who believes what they do religiously should belong to their party. Of course, we know that is a fallacy, but if enough people align themselves with a political party because of their religious beliefs, a bloc of voters is formed, and that reinforces the idea that all people of that particular religious persuasion are part of that party.
I have been to different religious meetings, and the person talking about certain policies assumes that everyone in the room believes the way they do and is part of their political party. I have even heard people make the statement that those who are not part of their political party may not even be part of their religious belief system.
Hold on…religion is religion and politics is politics. Let’s not meld our religious beliefs with any political party. If there is an issue that we feel we must align ourselves with a certain party, great, do that, but let’s not expect everyone else’s thoughts and political beliefs to line up neatly with our political persuasion.
One political party may champion life, but the other may champion social issues. Both are important to the well-being of our country and the fabric of our society. Let us never try to pigeonhole people into one or the other party because of our own religious beliefs. It doesn’t work, is totally toxic and only tries to force people to not think for themselves and conform to whatever we think they should believe.
As citizens of America, we are all partakers in the grief we felt when we heard about the shootings in Las Vegas. We have a shared sense of grief whenever something like this happens in our country. The shared grief is part of what molds us and forms our national identity.
Lately, I have heard many pastors and teachers say we are living in the last days before the return of Jesus. I don’t like to take anyone’s word for something like that, so I decided to examine the evidence for myself.
One of the hardest things Jesus ever told his followers was, “Love Your Enemies.” As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have been challenged by this command ever since I first read it. How do we truly love our enemies?
Recently, my cousin received a kidney transplant. His kidneys had not functioned well for years, but he finally came to the point where he needed dialysis. He sent a letter out letting people know he needed a kidney, and many people volunteered to be a donor. Unfortunately, everyone was rejected for one reason or another. Finally, he transferred to another transplant center, and they began the process of reassessing his potential donors. After a while, a new doctor thought he had found the right match. It was my cousin’s wife who had been the first donor on the list, but had been rejected because of her allergies. Within a month, they were both in the hospital awaiting surgery. Both surgeries went well, and they were both out of the hospital within a week.
When we think about love, we don’t usually associate the word with hate. But real love, true love, agape love, it hates…people, no, but the wrongs of this world, yes. Here are some things that love hates:
The book of James tells us that our lives are like “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” When I read those words in my twenties and thirties, I understood them but they didn’t speak to me as strongly as they do thirty years later. Now, looking back on my life, it does seem like a vapor that has come and can be gone very quickly.
Jesus was talking to a lawyer about the two most important commandments. When they got to the second one: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” the lawyer, wanting to justify himself said, “Who is my neighbor?” He was probably hoping that Jesus would say, “The guy who lives next to you, you know, the one who is so similar to you that you can easily identify with him.”
I have a friend who is faced with a difficult life choice. She needs to make a decision, but has been fighting it. She is making it difficult for herself and for her family. I would love to see her make the decision and move on with her life. As I was praying for her the other evening, I said, “Lord, make it easy for her.”
Valerie Cullers 