“Jesus never held office. He didn’t campaign. He didn’t fight legislation; He didn’t take on political causes. He didn’t write a book; He didn’t go on a speaking tour.”
“He just loved everybody He came in contact with – and changed the world.”
Christians are meant to shine light into dark culture by their love rather than their politics. In his new book One Thing, Neil Cole calls us to reexamine the way we think about pointing people to Christ. When we allow our political views to take over our faith, we lose credibility to talk about the bridge-building love of Jesus.
“You can look at the political situation right now and realize how futile it is for us to keep trying to change the world through politics. But if we just start loving our neighbor as ourselves I think we will start to see a change.”
Susie shares the story of a well-known news anchor who became a believer in Jesus after meeting a solid Christian. Within a short time of professing her faith, this anchor was overwhelmed on social media by men and women directing her on how to dress, how to vote, and what to say. When we jump on people instead of letting them be in process, we rob the Gospel of its power. God’s power is through process, not rules. He’ll change us increment by increment.
“We put so much faith in behavior modification…If you put your faith in something other than Christ you will grow something other than Christ.”
We can’t put faith in a program to change the world – we need to keep our faith in Jesus where it belongs. His love, character, and presence never change in our world, though fashion trends and slang do. The latest worship music and programming strategy, if emptied of the Spirit and love, will never point someone to faith in Christ. Neil cautions us to not forget the true source of our hope.
“We’re not putting faith in Christ. We’re putting our faith in our process, and our program, and our curriculum, and our opinions, and our behavior modification, and our moral stances. There’s so little fruit to spare for that. And we come off as being arrogant, stubborn people that are so narrow-minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”
If we instead choose to radically love and serve others instead of judging them, we can start a revolution – or rather, continue the revolution Jesus started.
Key Scriptures: John 6:9; Acts 5:31; Galatians 5:6
Featured Songs: Awaken Us by Chris Tomlin; More Than Amazing by Lincoln Brewster; Thank you by Bethel Music
One thing
