RBC

We couldn’t be more opposite- politically speaking that is. I have cousins who live in the Cleveland area of Ohio and I promise you we are on the polar opposite ends of the political spectrum on most issues today. I am their gun toting conservative and they are my bleeding heart liberal yankees. I want to point out here right off the bat that even though we rarely see eye to eye in the governing politics of this country, that DOES NOT stop us from loving each other. Yes, that is right America, you CAN disagree with someone politically and still love them.  This is a lesson our country desperately needs to learn. I firmly believe that the polarization of this country will be its downfall if the people and politicians don’t start remembering what this country is best at….meeting in the middle. I know that as Americans, we like to think of ourselves as uncompromising, but guys our entire government was founded on compromise. It’s what we do as a country. I have come to realize this more and more as I watch political issues unfold today. There are rare occasions where my cousins and I find ourselves right in the middle, standing side by side on an issue, knowing that it’s the right thing to do, but we sit & watch as our political parties trade what is right for what is popular, leaving us feeling helpless.  It is this feeling that has overwhelmed me as of late and it’s the driving force behind my statement that I proclaimed in the title- I have given up politics.

Having a plethora of friends on both sides of the isle politically speaking, I can almost hear the wheels turning in your heads, so let me be clear. I am and will always be a social conservative. So to all of my democrat friends that I love dearly- sorry, I’m not jumping ship, we are going to continue to disagree on these issues. However, to all of my conservative friends that I equally love dearly, you are going to find that I am no longer going to carry the banner of the republican party around like I used to and for no other reason than Jesus wasn’t a Republican (He wasn’t a democrat either- just to be clear). This very statement is where I draw my biggest argument against ever following politics again, at least the way I used to. I have watched as both conservative and liberal Christians have so thoroughly immersed themselves in political rhetoric, that you can’t tell their faith from their politics. How can we, as Christians expect to win anyone to Christ when we turn Jesus into a political party? How can we take up the banner against abortion (a banner I take up regularly) and talk about the right of that child and then in the same breath support closing our borders and denying a child a safe place to go and eat? Jesus told Peter to “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17). I am not saying that allowing refugees in wholesale is the perfect solution, but that is my point entirely here. We have taken stands at the extremes- either let them all in or keep them all out. We have to find that middle ground.

I want to to close with this. My affiliation is solely with Jesus Christ and the Word of God. I will build my beliefs and make my decisions based on His teachings and His word. I will stand against the things that  Jesus and the Bible speak out against, and I will defend and love the way Jesus and the Bible taught us to love. I am not compromising my beliefs by trying to be in the middle, I simply want to be where Jesus is and that is somewhere in the middle of this mess our country calls politics. Sometimes those beliefs are going to look very Republican and other times they aren’t. I may not always seem to get it right, but as I have said many, many times- I am on this road to redemption just like everyone else. I am just simply trying to avoid having political and cultural bias- from any direction- affect someone from seeing Jesus for who He truly is….not a Republican…..not a Democrat……but a Savior.

In Christ Alone,

Rev. Bro. Coach