Politics

Jim Clements · Tidal Church Moncton · November 3, 2024 · You Can't Talk About That series

Jim Clements draws on Matthew 6, Daniel 2 and Romans 8:28 to show that Jesus belongs to no political tribe. God is sovereign over every government, so believers can put hope in Christ, not elections, and spend their time sharing the gospel.

More from Jim Clements · The You Can't Talk About That series

Topics: Hope, Mission & Outreach, Discipleship

Transcript

[0:00] I have, before I get started on, You Can't Talk About That, and you already know what the topic is. I want to take the opportunity. There's times to celebrate and I just wanna celebrate specifically in this service because probably most of you we've mentioned it to, we've mentioned it maybe casually in passing, but there's some incredible things that are happening in our church and within the body of our church. And I just wanna share, I'm gonna, 'cause it's a second service so I can take a little bit longer time, I want to share with you that like we have students who are meeting in their schools on the lunch hour and singing worship and prayer for each other and learning in Scripture and like, and they all sit up here like, like I have so much respect and so much hope and, and I know, like, I know one group in particular, I saw a video. Harrison Tremble and you had 70 students at lunch and a teacher that did it.

[1:09] So thanks to, thanks to Nick. Nick's the teacher. He also attends here. He helps out in the Shediac campus, who's their what, teacher, oversight, chaperone, makes sure the place doesn't get tore down, whatever they call that, that makes that happen. But thank you for living your faith out so much and I just really appreciate that. For me, when I think about, you know, there's very few topics that could spark a debate really quickly within a church and within believers than the topic of politics. And I wanna, and they say you shouldn't mix religion and politics together. And I don't know if it's true but we're gonna find out today, and because the question is, can we be Christians and hold the political view that exists outside of our faith beliefs?

[2:12] 'Cause when I watch what's happening right now, like, I think about my lifetime, I have had experience, not like personal experience, but since I've been alive, I've been under 10 prime ministers, five presidents, 10 premiers of New Brunswick, three premiers of Newfoundland and one premier of Nova Scotia. So I've moved around a little bit and to think all the elections that I've been involved in and all that I've experienced, we all know there's a big election coming up on Tuesday and maybe except for a few of you, I'm just gonna burst your bubble for a second. Most of you don't get the vote in it, but some of you think you do and it's a little crazy.

[3:05] We just had an election in our province. The town I live in is gonna have an election next month sometime. Who knows when in Canada we're gonna have an election again? But can we as Christians hold political views that exist outside of our faith? Because for me, I'm a little insulted, even though I no longer live in the US and God sent us there for a time and He has brought us back home. I get a little insulted when I see things, whether I'm streaming it or I look at the news or whatever is happening, when a celebrity tries to influence me on which way I should vote. I'm thinking, just because I watched your movie and paid 12 bucks or streamed it online, like, am I, do you think I'm that easily swayed?

[3:58] Well, you're living in your million dollar home and driving whatever car you're driving or doing whatever you're doing to sway me enough to vote beyond what I feel I should vote and what God's prompted me to vote. When I look at it over time and see where we are now, we have division instead of unity. We have control versus freedom, hate versus love, protest versus prayer, despair versus hope. Self-indulging versus helping others. Country over kingdom, and justification versus Jesus. That's where I find ourselves right now.

[4:45] But I need to tell you that when Tuesday comes and people will get on their computers, their mobile devices, they'll turn their TV on, if they can still get cable, and they will watch the exit polls from the US all day and listen to the same thing, repeat it 4 million times all day, projecting who could possibly win, who might win, and then the day will end with them declaring who won. There's only one, and that's God.

[5:33] Period. We may be surprised. Come Tuesday, we may not be surprised. Come Tuesday, we may get upset. You may be upset. Now, see, the thing is, we talk about grace and truth like they're two different things. Truth exists because of grace. And grace exists because of truth. They go together, it's grace and truth. So today I'm asking for some grace as we go through this and talk about the truth of what the Scripture says because on Tuesday, when it's all said and done, God will still be on the throne. Jesus will still be the Lord and Savior and the Scriptures will still be true. And a life lived in faith is a life that lives in freedom with hope rising. That's what'll be true at the end of Tuesday just like it is today.

[6:25] Ephesians 4: For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called the one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. God is all, and He is the only one. We are called to be His disciples, not the world, as believers and followers of Christ. With our faith life we are called. Mark 12: "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." The second is equally important: love your neighbor as yourself.

[7:11] No other commands is greater than these. What's happening in our society today concerns me. Our world is broken, and people in it are hurting. And what's happening is that the world and culture is beginning to disciple people. I told you a number of weeks ago, you're all being discipled. You're either being discipled by the world and culture or you're being discipled by God. You choose, you're all being discipled. And in culture today, culture is discipling people. Culture is telling them what they should think, how they should act.

[7:57] Culture. When you allow culture to disciple you, you begin to develop a political identity. What do I mean by political identity? It means that because I believe in Jesus Christ, culture discipling will tell other people about 15 other things I believe without even getting my input. Oh, if he's a believer in Christ, then he believes this, this, this, this and this, this, how he answered this, this, this and this. That's cultural disciple thing. And they tell us then that we have this political ID. When we allow culture to disciple us and when we allow culture to disciple us and create this and identity for us, we then begin to look for a tribe.

[8:51] We begin to then look for others that match those same whatever number of things they are. And today they call that an algorithm. You search anything, you even say anything, you get more of that, whether you want it or not. I look for winter tires. I got way more things about winter tires than I needed, even if they weren't the size for my vehicle. That is what culture does in creating it. They want you to go and look for your tribe. So then what happens in the church is people wander into the church. Maybe they've been to the church for a long time and then they ask the question, what tribe does the church stand with?

[9:41] They may not say it like that, but they ask that question. And I'm here to tell you that I will not belittle Jesus or my faith to the point that I'll put Him or my faith in a tribe because Jesus is Lord and Savior of my life and He is the one and only. Jesus is not liberal. Jesus is not conservative. Jesus is not NDP. Jesus is not Democrat. Jesus is not Republican. Jesus is Jesus, who gave His life for everyone to have the freedom and hope for the world.

[10:28] Jesus is not a tribe and I won't belittle Him, that the church is not an archive in a museum where we talk about or represent Jesus from the past. The church is a living, breathing example through all of us. For Jesus, for the world. The church is not a country, it's not a tribe. It's a gathering of believers that go forward to spread the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord and He is on the throne. Our calling in Matthew. Then the 11 disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him.

[11:14] But some of them doubted. Jesus came and told His disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I've given you. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I've given you, and be sure of this: I am with you always, till the end of the age. The average person by the end of their life will have 80,000 touchpoints of another life by the two services that have been here this morning. That represents 80 million people by the end of our lifetime.

[12:05] We will know of, have conversations with 611 people. Doesn't sound like much, but you think about having conversations on an ongoing basis. There's a Dunbar number, named after the gentleman that came up with it, that says, a stable, connected, engaging on a regular basis relationships. By the end of our lifetime we will have 150 of those, represented by who's in this room. That's 150,000 people we will come in contact with at that level and be responsible for when it comes to our faith. Let me make it more manageable for you, but by the end of our lifetime, the average person has five tremendously stable, incredible, go-to people in their life, no matter what the situation is.

[13:04] That represents 5,000 people by the people in this room. Our calling is to teach those that don't know what the truth of the gospel is and how freedom can be found by the name of Jesus. See, we have a choice. We can be understood or we can be misunderstood. And the only way that you can be understood, a lot of times, in the world today is a result of having the church align with culture. Then they'll understand you. I'm here to tell you that we are not gonna align our church with culture. We will be misunderstood, and I'm okay with that, and I'm hoping that you're okay with that too, because you can't fit Jesus and faith into the categories that humans and government officials say.

[14:07] It's all gotta fit into. Jesus is for all people. Jesus is the one and only answer. Now, go back to the question I asked you in the beginning. Can we as Christians hold political views that exist outside of our faith? The answer is no. We cannot. Faith permeates every aspect of our lives and our views on governmental and social aspects everywhere. If we are living the true faith that's in the Bible, it can't happen. The Bible gives us two truths, though, regarding the relationship with politics and government. First, we are called to recognize God's sovereignty over all things, period.

[15:00] That includes government structures and political groups. I'll leave it there. Second, we must remember that ultimate salvation and a transformation of someone's life does not come by government, politics or policy. It comes from God and God alone. Today we are bombarded as individuals to figure it out on our own. We're told people feel that they're just left by themselves, alone, trying to figure it out. And some of that is due to untrust that they have. The untrust comes with authority, they have an untrust with authority, and is not only with government, it also exists within the church.

[15:54] So when people come in looking for their tribe and they read the scriptures, if they've been discipled by culture, they read the scriptures to try and get it to align with the past of how their life has been, or if they're new and trying to figure it out, before they even hear, they read the scriptures to try and get it aligned with their present life to make sure that they can get that justification that everything fits properly like they would expect. You read the scriptures for one reason and one reason only. And that's to obey. You read it to obey.

[16:44] We think about God's sovereignty over government. The first truth that I shared, that it permeates and supersedes everything and every aspect in life, is that Jesus and God's kingdom is number one. A lot of people as a result of what's happening in politics right now have a lot of worry, lot of concern. But I want to tell you that God cares. And when I go to Matthew 6, I'm gonna read this fast 'cause it's a lot. Stick with me. No one can serve two masters, for you'll hate one and love the other. You'll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear.

[17:35] Isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies in the field and how they grow. They don't work to make their clothing, yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautiful as they were. And if God cares so wonderfully for the wildflowers that are here today and then thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don't worry, hear that. Don't worry about these things, saying, "What will we eat?

[18:22] What will we drink? What will we wear?" These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. But your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. And then if we read in Daniel, Daniel had a vision, then Daniel praised the God of heaven. He said, "Praise the name of God forever and ever, for He has all wisdom and all power. He controls the course of world events. He removes kings and sets up other kings.

[19:09] He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholar." These verses remind us that though we may see rulers or people in power of positions through government and politics, that there is only One that prevails above them all. And God will ultimately prevail no matter what the situation or who is sitting in what chair or position of government. God's plan is immutable, and He will not be thwarted by the government or by any earthly power that exists. Even when those powers use His name or faith as a tool, when they talk to us, God is still at work and in using every situation that happens for His glory and is challenging us.

[20:00] He will not be challenged, and His purposes will be fulfilled. Romans 8:28. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God. We're called according to His purposes for them. We must just learn to trust God over all events that shape our lives for the kingdom's sake. God's sovereignty allows us to view politics not as our battleground, but as a tool in God's hands. His sovereignty is so that we do not experience despair or overinvestment into political agendas, but trust that He has the ultimate plan.

[20:45] Recognizing God's sovereignty that God will accomplish His purposes no matter who's in office, who gets elected, what laws or policies that they pass. It is the truth that gives us peace, knowing that God reigns over all earthly power. Our true hope is in Christ, not in political reform. We also read and understand that only God saves. Only Jesus made the sacrifice to be Lord and Savior and for people to find freedom and hope, not governments, not political leaders, and not policies that they come up with.

[21:32] None of it can deliver redemption for those that are hurting. The only way humankind, mankind, can experience redemption is through the grace of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice that He made in the New Testament. Jesus and the apostles didn't go around trying to change the Roman government or influence the policy they had. They just spread the gospel of the transformative life that people could experience. That is what they shared. They shared the truth of who God is. For us as followers of Christ, carriers of the faith, we still must be obedient, respectful, honorable, meet the needs of people that are, that have needs that we can meet to contribute to our society in a positive way, but to speak against unbiblical truths when it comes to placing our hope.

[22:45] And we want hope and the freedom that comes. We can't place it in political outcomes. We can't get involved in all that ties us up time-wise, watching in conversations. John 15:5, "Yes, I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who remain in Me and I in them will produce much fruit. But apart from Me, you can do nothing." I rest my faith in the hands of God, to guide and direct me. Satan wants you to think that morality and justice can be delivered by government policy and elected officials and people standing up, sometimes screaming in the microphone.

[23:40] In my experiences and relationships that I've had, there's one theme that rings true when as a faith community we try to introduce help to people in our communities that I've been greeted with from politicians. If it can't help them get reelected or it can't benefit them in some way, they're usually not interested in what the faith community has to say. We carry the mandate that God has for us. Political leaders will never replace the kingdom and mission of the gospel, for it will always live.

[24:26] Yes, we need to be engaged in our communities, and yes, we need to vote, but we also need to maintain our Christian values that lead us in each of these situations. And we can't lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is witness to the world that Jesus Christ is Savior of the world. The more we align ourselves with political agendas rather than Christ, we will lose focus of that, and we have to maintain that focus as Christians. Our calling is spiritual transformation, not political activism. As Christians, our calling is to share the truth about Jesus and who He is and not some political system or leader.

[25:17] As Christians, we have to make sure that God's sovereign will and kingdom is placed in people's minds and know that it is eternal and not countries or earthly kingdoms and governments. Our hope, peace, and salvation lie at the foot of the cross where Jesus allowed His body to go and to be pierced and given for each one of us. Our world is a broken and hurting world. The world may look to the government for solutions, it may look to political leaders, but true transformation of the heart only comes by following Christ and giving your life to Christ.

[26:05] Then and only then do we each become the light of the world, the hope for others to find their way. I'm gonna ask, oh, Lou, if he'd come out and take this podium for me. And I know you've just been dying to know what's under there. As we go through life, you've often heard it referred to as a bucket. And for us, we have so many conversations that we talked about.

[26:53] So many things of relationships, conversations, all those touch points I mentioned. And we fill our life up. We allow all those things to permeate us, develop us, and push us in different directions. And we fill our bucket up with all of these relationships, with all of these connections. One by one, it begins to fill our life. And as we get older, more mature, we sometimes don't change. And we just keep filling our life with these individual conversations, individual relationships, individual decisions that we make.

[27:47] And pretty soon our bucket gets pretty full. And then we realize, I'd like to have a career someday. Boy, I better make sure I put that in my bucket. I'd really like to do well in school and maybe go to college or university after. And I'll put that in my bucket. Then we think about a family. Maybe when I get older, maybe you're a young adult now, you know, I get married, maybe I'd like to have a family, I'd like to have children or like to adopt children.

[28:37] I'd like to have a family. We put that in the bucket and then we go, oh, I should go to church. Definitely should go to church and see what faith has for me. And we put that in our bucket and then we think about Jesus. Even though we've come to church now, we hear the word and we go, oh, yes, I need Jesus, my Lord and Savior. But as you can see, the bucket's getting pretty crowded. And it gets all upside down, and it happens quickly and it can happen once you have it balanced.

[29:24] It can still go back that way if we lose our focus. And when it comes to politics and everybody that's on a screen anywhere and whatever it is they're talking about and yelling about, it's taking your time. If you were to think about the amount of time that you spend talking about politics, watching politics stuff, reading about politics stuff versus sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, would you be willing today to add all that up that you spent talking, reading, and watching and spend the equivalent with some people to tell them about your faith and Jesus Christ? Would you be willing to switch those times? For some, that'd be a lot of time. You might have quit your job 'cause that's all they talk about at work.

[30:22] But luckily, we get to reload our bucket. We can do the right way. We put our faith in Jesus in our school. We want Jesus to guide us in our school to give us integrity, to give us strength, to give us wisdom. Remember, God is the giver of all wisdom. We want God to guide us in our career so that those that are entrusting with us, if we're a supervisor or boss, that in our career that God leads us to the right career. And we do that with integrity. Family. We definitely want God at the center of our family.

[31:14] What if we loaded the bucket this way, and then all the decisions that we make, all the conversations that we have then get loaded in on the top of it? And all of a sudden, as you're reflecting on your life, or maybe you're reflecting on the political stuff we talked about today, you go, you know what, those four relationships that I spent an hour a week with talking about what's happening in the United States political realm that I don't get to vote on, that's not gonna change what God is doing.

[32:01] I'm gonna now spend sharing my faith with them. Or hey, maybe this decision I made, I wanna reverse that decision. I'm gonna take that out of my life. See, the thing is, we still want to put Jesus in a bucket, right? We still want to put Him in a tribe when the bottom line is He's really over all. That's what it comes down to, people. If you're here and your bucket's upside down, fix it. If you're here and your conversations are about politics and you're getting in the heat of debates or you're online hiding behind a screen, posting things or replying back to people without any way of any repercussions, do you know what?

[32:55] I got a sticker. I got a magnet on my fridge to remind me and it just stick, not because of what's in the fridge and it's just a little thing and it says, and it's Jesus. And it goes, I saw that. That's what matters. It doesn't matter what I see. It doesn't matter what I hear. It matters what God hears. And if your life's upside down, get it right side up. Jesus doesn't fit in a tribe. Jesus doesn't fit in a bucket. Jesus has to be over it all. And only in God's kingdom and God's dominion can the ultimate plan unfold, where glorious found and people find freedom and hope begins to rise in our community and hope begins to rise in our country and hope begins to rise in our family and hope begins to rise in every aspect of our life because Jesus is the Lord and Savior and God will be on His throne today, tomorrow, and every day that follows.

[34:05] So many people need freedom, so many people that are hurting and are disguising it because they've been told to. God says, come to Me with open arms and I'll help you right inside your life and I'll set you free from all that burdens you and holds you back because He wants fullness for you. Let me pray for you, and as we sing, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna ask you to stand, please, if you don't mind.

[34:54] One of the hardest things to do in church is to step out. I know that you guys know I haven't been a preacher my whole life. I've sat in the chairs on the other side. But if God is speaking to you today, the prayer team will come down later. But I just want to give you the opportunity to come up on your own and just ask God to help you to make this the right way and to put Jesus over all. It doesn't matter if it's just one conversation, one relationship, one decision. The chance is always there to meet Him where He is at.

[35:41] You go, Pastor Jim, why do I need to come forward and do that? You're right, you can do it right where you're at. But for me, I make a tangible motion to go. This will no longer hold me. I will claim what's mine. So think of it as coming forward to claim what is yours and to let Him do that. Father, we thank You for Your love. We thank You for all that You pour out into us. And Father, we know that no matter what election happens or what government officials are in place or whatever they decide, that our focus is on the ultimate goal that You have planned for Your kingdom.

[36:29] And so Father, those of us that are followers of You, that maybe we've had a struggle and sometimes, our priorities have got flipped upside down and we don't have any room hardly left in the bucket for the things that are important for us, that we want You to be over and to guide us through and give us wisdom and understanding and freedom. It's all been crowded out by all these other small discussions and conversations. We need to flip it. Father, maybe we just haven't put You over everything. Maybe there's crevices and cracks and spots within our life that we're still holding onto. I pray that if that's somebody in here today, that they just release it to You and come and claim what is rightfully theirs as sons and daughters of the living King.

[37:26] It's in Jesus' mighty name. We ask and pray this, and everybody said Amen.