“Humans, as a species, are constantly, and in every way, comparing themselves to one another, which, given the brief nature of their existence, seems an oddity and, for that matter, a waste. Nevertheless, this is the driving influence behind every human’s social development, their emotional health and sense of joy, and, sadly, their greatest tragedies. It is as though something that helped them function and live well has gone missing, and they are pining for that missing thing in all sorts of odd methods, none of which are working. The greater tragedy is that very few people understand they have the disease. This seems strange as well because it is obvious. To be sure, it is killing them, and yet sustaining their social and economic systems. They are an entirely beautiful people with a terrible problem”.
This quote comes from Donald Miller’s Searching for God Knows What. In this quote, an alien is assessing human nature and behavior. The alien sees humanity as missing something and trying to fulfill that emptiness in other things. The major thing the alien sees is comparison. The alien makes some very strong claims about humanity and our behavior. Though it will be tempting to shrug this off as a cynical view from a self-righteous Christian author, as many may think, I would encourage you all to give this a chance.
Whether you will admit it or not, campaigns are built on the comparison game. This is a fact. The attempt to take office by being elected is full of negative advertisement campaigns, propaganda to boost the confidence in a candidate that may be manufactured instead of earned, and lots of fundraising that is used to enhance and quantify these advertisements. Many of you may be asking “so what? That is just the way it has to be done in this country.”
I would agree that campaigns are expensive and require some level of propagating one’s self as better than the other guy, but I would argue that this line of thinking has gone beyond the campaign trail and seeped into the halls of Congress and the White House. Every word a member of Congress or the President utters can be the downfall of their next election.
I believe with all of my heart that the alien’s description of humanity is accurate. I also believe with all of my heart that Christ gave us the missing piece of our lives. Christ restored fellowship with our Creator. He bridged the gap that held us out of communion with the Almighty God. Because of this fact, I believe that Christians are called to live our lives in a new and transformed way. We ought to be transformed by God and transformative in our relationships with others. God has restored Himself to us in fellowship. We must seek Him out and reach for His open arms, but He is there to fulfill our needs and walk with us through this broken earth.
This is crucial for life in Washington DC. LIFE IN DC IS NOT ABOUT TAKING SIDES!!!! I know that many of you will disagree with this claim. You are so committed to the theologies that justify partisan politics and propagate them as supreme over other worldviews. I would humbly request that you having to establish a right and wrong in every situation and listen to the alien. Theological certainty for the purpose of justification is the death of our souls. Christ came to restore, bring harmony, and restore relationship with our Creator. He did not come to establish a nice theology that justifies our mistreatment of other human beings in the comparison game. He came to prove that no matter what someone else believes, does, or doesn’t do, the Creator of the universe still extends the hand of mercy and grace and loves them for who He created them to be.
Jesus did not tell us to take sides. He told us love one another. Politics does not escape this commandment and those who are in politics do not get to opt out of this commandment. It is often not easy, comfortable, or even intuitive to approach politics this way. God never said it would be.
-BM
I liked you comment "Life in DC is not about taking sides" I agree, it really isn't, how could you live if trust would be at such a low level? Would you not buy groceries because the shop owner is of a party you don't like? How far is too far?
Posted by: Bogdanffy Robert | May 10, 2011 at 05:15 PM