Red or Blue

Gò0dNews for Everyone

Red or Blue

by Brian Johnson

So, how do you feel about politics? I know, horrible subject to bring up but I’d like to talk about it. I’ve found a lot of people are frustrated with our politicians. They’re taking our rights away, they’re involved too much, they’re not involved enough. Even Christians are on both sides of the spectrum. How about we discuss this from a biblical perspective.

First, we should be respectful of whomever is in power. Romans 13:1 says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Nero was in power in Rome when Paul wrote this, and I don’t think anyone in America compares to the evil that was Nero. If Paul can write that about him, then surely, we can recognize that the powers here and now are ordained of God, and they should be respected.

I Timothy 2:1 lists several types of prayer and says we should pray “for all men.” Verse 2 gets more specific, “For kings, and for all that are in authority…” So, we should be praying for those that are in power as well. A far cry from speaking badly about them because they aren’t running things exactly how we’d like.

I believe our expectations are mixed up. We assume if America is going away from God, we’ve got to do everything we can to get that individual out of power that’s causing it, but we forget that God is always in control. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it withersoever he will.” So, whichever direction the country is going, God is the one steering.

“…the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia” to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1). Kings Artaxerxes and Darius were also involved in that rebuild. Artaxerxes also allowed Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. All of them were Kings of Persia, not Israel or Judah. Nebuchadnezzar was responsible for the exile of the children of Israel to Babylon, but God refers to him as his servant three times in the book of Jeremiah. We can’t allow society to determine whether God’s will is being done through those in power. Good or bad, God is still in control. Let that be comforting to you. I know our leaders can be frustrating but the direction we’re going is the direction God is allowing. We’re in the last days and the Bible says that they’d be like the days of Noah where “… every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5 “his” is speaking of the people, not Noah), so we shouldn’t be surprised. Instead of living in frustration, recognize that our time is short, and we should focus on winning people to Christ. When we fight amongst each other it doesn’t bring people towards Christ, it pushes them away.

About The Author Brian Edward Johnson is a deacon at his church and a nurse by vocation. He wants to do the best he can to teach people to trust God, for their eternity and for each day.