Politics In Church: Did Jesus Play Politics?

Many of us seem to know so much about the term 'Politics', but recently I’ve been deeply questioning my understanding of it and how it relates to the activities in the body of Christ.

Is the church above politics?

Is politics generally a part of man’s activities?

Can politics be avoided in the church?

What effect does it have on the gospel of Christ and its propagation?

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Yes, in this post, we shall look at politics and the church…

What is politics?

The word “politics” had been said to have been derived from “polis” meaning literally “city-state”. Defining politics can be very daunting, but then, it's closely related to administration, people and governance.
Truly the church is a body of Christ and as such, needs some sort of leadership to ensure orderliness and good conduct on the part of every individual that belongs to it, even as it perpetually strive towards the ultimate goal— that the gospel of Christ and his glory be expressed through the lives of its members to the world.

The church as an organization, need certain authorities and leaders to appropriately occupy some position to care for the good people, just as we have here @steemchurch, @sirknight, @tikhub and others. (Act 1:23-26)

Looking at verse 1 of the scripture referenced above, we would discover that the church somewhat constitutes different individuals who tend to have distinct ethnicities, backgrounds, and their diverse interests; so to say. But for this body (the church) to thrive excellently, these various interests need to unify on the premise of God’s love, without bias. Just as Jesus said, "an house cannot stand when division and segregation dwell in it." (paraphrased!)

Gloomily, this is not the case in many of our churches today. The reasons why so many issues abound in our various denominations today; you hear of cliques, caucus, with different interests far from the very essence that the church was founded on—the love of Christ; no wonder the secular politics has crept into the body of Christ? Who is the authority behind this kind of politics? A question in the heart of many.

We saw how the disciples acted in the early church, when they wanted to replace Judas Iscariot. (Act 1:23-26). I want to believe that was one of the transparent “elections” that the Apostles ever conducted. Why did I say so?

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They consulted God and were particular about His Will. But today, because of our personal preference, selfish desires and biases, many of us try to mastermind everything in our sphere to get what we want and not what God really wants.

Neither you nor I is perfect. The nature of some of these incidences, only reminds us of the fact that being a Christian does not make any of us less human. At times when we look at what seems to be going on in our churches; how some individuals are installed into offices in some of our churches, how segmentation is fast eating up the body; we 'smile', but then, become more critical with our very self, as we examine our lives.

Jon Paulien wrote:Politics is not ideal, but a fact of life

Consequently, if leaders and apostles in the early churches couldn’t escape its play in their time, we in this present day shouldn’t expect to absolutely exterminate it either. But...

There are three things we need to constantly reflect on, not to allow politics get the message of grace blurred in our churches and basically, in our personal lives.

1. Self-denial

Denying of self is one thing that man finds extremely difficult to do. Why? The reason is simply because he’s naturally selfish, and not willing to place his personal preference, desire or interest in a subordinate position to that others. In other words, he thinks of himself first, then, himself again.
Hence, the only way self-denial is a possible reality for man is through the help of the Holy Spirit.

2. Empathy

This is the ability to be able to place the interests of others side by side with ours; being able to relate to others in terms of their feeling, predicament, as well as challenges. As it is, someone who can deny him or herself at some point can actually exhibit empathy to others. As Christ advised: Do unto others as you would have do to you.

3. Justice

As we know God for who He is—a just and faithful God—so faithful to His words, that none will fall to the ground. This is the reason why, as children of God we must strive to look, handle situations and settle issues in the way God expects us to. In other words, we must have passion for fairness.

NB. This post is open or subject to addition, or alteration. We know in part

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Love you,
@degreatmyke