Good morning. Welcome to Bridgewater Church. My name is Kurt. I'm the campus pastor here in Tunkenic. It is so good to have you with us here this morning in the air conditioning. It's really nice. And I also wanted to encourage you guys, those who are members, to make sure you go to the Welcome Center and vote. Kevin Oslands is our candidate for Associate Pastor here in Tunkenic. So I encourage you to go and to vote at the Welcome Center today. I said at the first service that it's ironic that we're voting for him on a day. We're talking about politics, but I was informed by my wife that that was not the correct use of that word. So I don't know what it is, really. But that's happening today. We're talking about the final message of this series, "Stay Out." And we've been talking about having this wholehearted commitment to God where we're allowing God into areas of our lives that might be off limits. So far, we've invited him to inform us regarding our entertainment choices, our money, and our food. And today, we're going to ask God what he has to say to us about politics. Now, before you run out the door, okay, let me remind you, just as we always do, we start with God's word, and we want to let that inform our choices, not our emotions, not our presuppositions, but his word. And so as I had learned that I'm going to be preaching this particular message, I thought long and hard about it. You see, because for me, historically, politics hasn't been all that important to me. From the moment I turned 18, I did begin to vote. You know, I felt like, you know, I'm doing my duty, my civic duty, and I'm voting. But sometimes I would miss elections, and it didn't really bother me. So from my perspective, that's where I was coming from. And my concern has always been wanting more and more people to know Jesus. And I didn't see how politics played into all that. So the focus in my life is like wanting people to know Jesus. So one time I was counseling a couple in marriage counseling, and as I sat down with them, I was like, I wanted to know for sure that each individual knew Jesus. So I paused the marriage counseling, I sat down with each one of them individually, and found out that one of them had not made a decision yet to follow Jesus. And in that meeting, that person chose in that moment to begin to follow Jesus as a forgiving leader. And that's been at the forefront of my mind. If you know me, you know what drives me, and that is people coming to know Jesus. It affects every area of my life. In my mind, God could have taken me home when I came to know Him. But He allows me to remain here for one purpose, and that is to lead other people to Jesus. So you may be like me, and you've seen politics as somewhat important. Maybe you've voted, but it's not a huge priority historically for you either. But maybe you're on the other side of the spectrum with that. Maybe you watch 12 hours of politically related news a day, you listen to podcasts for 10 hours a day, and you're just in it, right? Because you're trying to find the best ways to help your candidate win, right? So regardless of where you fall on that spectrum of sort of the, yeah, I'm not sure, yeah, maybe, or you're like, you're all in, right? Regardless of where you're at on that spectrum, it all covers everybody somewhere in between. And so this message is for all of us. I recently learned about this story that has to do with Bridgewater's history, so I found it very interesting. So some years ago, Bridgewater had a church split over how we should be involved politically. A group of 46 members, including a retired senior pastor, left the church because they felt Bridgewater was too involved, too vocal about one particular political issue. Now what side would you have chosen? The side of significant political involvement or against political involvement, right? So take a moment right now and tell a person next to you what you would have done. Go ahead. All right. There haven't been any punches thrown yet, so I think we're doing okay. All right, so let me tell you a little bit more about what happened here at Bridgewater Baptist Church passed a resolution against slavery in 1837. The church split was in 1839. Montrose at the time was part of the Underground Railroad taking slaves to freedom in Canada. Frederick Douglass, son-in-law, pastor of the AME Zion Church of Montrose. An associate pastor of Bridgewater, Albert Post, established one of the nation's leading abolitionist newspapers and had a secret room in his home where he had run away slaves. The pastor of Bridgewater Church, Jesse Warden, was the chairman of the political anti-slavery group in the county. And for those who may not be familiar with Civil War history, 1839 is 11 years after New York outlawed slavery and 22 years before the Civil War. Frederick Douglass had escaped slavery one year earlier and was ordained as a 21-year-old preacher in 1839. Two years after the split in 1841, the leader of the church founding pastor's kid, Davis Dimmick Jr., was elected Democratic Congressman to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was not against slavery and was in favor of the gag rule which made any discussion of freedom for slaves illegal to talk about in Congress. So the pro-slavery politicians split the church because the church was against his politics. So they had some that were fighting against slavery and some that were fighting for the state. The church split was resolved after four years when two things happened. Congressman Dimmick died unexpectedly at 40 years of age. At the same time, a revival resulted in 105 people baptized in one year. The split came back together and the church continued to be heavily involved politically in the ending of slavery. What side would you choose now in that story? The political side against significant political involvement related to this issue or the other side. Politics isn't really about politics, is it? It's about loving your neighbor. Even if your neighbor has major differences than you do, how should the church respond politically? This is a question that we need to answer because the church is not just a building, it's not just a corporation. The church isn't me, the church is every believer. If you've accepted Jesus as your forgiver and leader, you are part of the church. How should the church be involved in politics? How should you be involved? Instead of framing this as politics, let's take a look at what the Bible says in Romans 13 about how we should love and how we should love our neighbor. We should get, how should you and how should we together love our neighbor? That's the Christian view of politics. Politics is just one of many ways in which we can love our neighbor. When people talk to you about politics, is that what they come away with? When they talk to you about politics, is they come feeling loved? Do they say, "Boy, I disagree, but he really loves me." Is that the feeling that happens after a political conversation? Well, let's take a look at Romans 13 and beginning in verse 1 and 2 and see what the word has to say. Romans 13, verse 1, "Everyone must submit to governing authorities, for all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God." So anyone who rebels against authority is rebellion against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. So you may be sitting there after a while, and you're like, "Wait, what? You mean I have to listen to those guys? What do you mean?" As Paul often does in his writings, he asks a question, like he answers the question that we might have that might be, "Why?" Well, why do I have to listen to him? Well, it says in that passage, "All authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God." That answers the question of why. Then he takes it a step further, and he states that if we rebel against that authority, we will be punished. And that's pretty intense, right? That's pretty strong. Jesus illustrates this example in John 19, 10 and 11, when he intercedes, when he interacts with Pilate. So Jesus is getting ready to crucify Jesus, and Pilate, who's in charge, says, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?" And Jesus answers him, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." So those in power do have real power, but this power is given to them by God. God allows them to have this power. Therefore, we need to trust that God is in control of who is in control. Trust that God is in control of who is in control. Next, we're going to get into the reason why they're given this power in verses 3 and 4 of Romans 13. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong, would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right and they will honor you. The authorities are God's servants sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. Their God's servants sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. Literally, it says that they do not hold the sword in vain. Therefore, because part of the purpose of the government is to punish evil and to honor good, that should influence who I vote for. One of the common statements that you might hear me say, if you talk to me a while, is I'll say, well, I'm going to vote for the least worst candidate. All right. I'm going to vote for the least worst candidate. I'm rarely overly impressed by the morality of a particular candidate. But the platform by which they represent and they follow through with will influence my vote because we do have a responsibility to uphold what is right. So, when you vote, don't vote because what they'll do for you, my debt will be forgiven. I'll get to keep my bump stock semi-automatic rifle legally. No, when you vote, vote for who will do the best job punishing wrong and honoring what is right. That may mean that we need to work on getting better ourselves, helping others to be better at the same time. More and better disciples means that we come alongside one another, we give each other accountable in our walk with Jesus and how we treat other people, particularly those who disagree with us. Let's continue in verses 5 through 7. So, you must submit to them not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience. Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons, for government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them, pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. So, give respect and honor. We're supposed to obey the government except when obeying that means that we disobey God. So, in Acts chapter 4, the apostles were forbidden to teach or preach the name of Christ anymore. And they respond by asking, who should we obey? God or man? And the answer is obvious is that they need to obey God because they can't help but share Jesus with other people. They can't help but they have to do with their compelled because of knowing Jesus that they need to share about Jesus with others. So, and the number of men that were led to Jesus as a result were 5,000 men. So, therefore, don't be distracted when the government expects you to do something wrong and you choose to do what is right. And what is right is to love God and love others and to continue with the mission of more and better disciples for Jesus. Now, this next part might be the hardest part to swallow for today and that's this. The two largest denominations in the U.S. today are the Democratic and Republican parties. It is with such intense religious fervor that each one fights against each other. They often build this straw man about the other's beliefs and then they pigeonhole them into a particular area and define them based on that way, based on the political party that they belong to. Debates about morality and human nature are dominated by two parties. Are you ready for this one? If you don't believe your political party is ever wrong then you're worshiping your party. If you don't believe your political party is ever wrong then you're worshiping your party. If you can't point out anything wrong in your party, you either know very little about it or you know very little about God's word. Therefore follow God, not your party. We obey the government unless doing so directly disobeys God. We're also told here to pay our taxes, right? How many like to pay their taxes? No hands on that one. All right, so we can get all bent out of shape over reasons to rebel against paying our taxes. We might say I'm not paying my taxes because then that's going to go to fund abortions or I don't want to fund a crooked government that misuses my money and lies to me. God's word says to pay your taxes. And if you know we take a look at our own government and we try and compare, well let's take a look at the Roman government at the time when this was written. All right, the Roman government was corrupt and brutal. Here's what was going on in the leadership of the Roman Empire while Paul was writing this. After killing her second husband by poison, Agrippa wanted to marry her uncle. The problem was he was already married. So she killed her aunt so she could marry your uncle. She then persuaded him to make her son Nero, his successor instead of her instead of his biological son, Britannicus. She went on to poison and killed Britannicus, palace advisors and eventually killed her husband, Emperor Claudius, Claudius, thus making her son Nero the emperor. Do you think he was a good emperor? Nero ruled semi-wisely for about four years and then had this descent into madness following in his mother's footsteps. He killed his mother, his wife and lots of political opponents and then blamed the burning of Rome on Christians. It is said that human candles were made out of Christians burning them alive to light his garden at night. This is some awful, awful stuff. But God's word says to be, pay her taxes. And in verse 7 it says to give proper respect and honor. So even as hard as it might be sometimes, we must obey the government. Give, obey the government unless it means disobeying God. Unless it involves you being asked to do something that dishonors or disobeys God. Political conversations have been a race to the bottom. Swearing, name calling, disrespect of political opponents is now the rule, not the exception. I remember when I was growing up and maybe I had a different view of it because I was a kid, but I just remember all the political ads and they used to be like actually say stuff, you know, that was helpful for a while. And then it wasn't until the end that it got like, you know, attack. But now these days it's like attack right from the beginning. Nothing's really helpful. Let's just, let's destroy the other person, right? We need to be different. Disagree respectfully. They don't deserve my respect. God says they do. And he is in control of who is in control. Which brings us to our next section of scripture in Romans 13, 8 to 10. Oh, nothing to anyone except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God's law. For the commandments say you must not commit adultery, you must not murder, you must not steal, you must not covet. These and other such commandments are summed up by this one commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to others. So love fulfills the requirements of the law. So what's the purpose of our conversation today? When it comes to politics, love must be our motivation. The problem is not just at the top. The problem is throughout our world. What happens in politics is that we get this righteous indignation to fight for what is right or sometimes just what we want. As the Bible says, the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. If we become angry and tear someone to pieces verbally because of what they represent in their political party, we are certainly not more righteous than they. Are we? The final point here is love your neighbor. Love your neighbor. As I begin to bring out the application for this message, I was thinking what better than this passage of Scripture that I had come across recently that really addressed a little bit more in detail how we need to respond when it comes to politics, when it comes to authority. That is in Titus chapter 3. I begin with verses 1 and 2. It says remind believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. That is pretty normal. How many people experience gentleness and true humility when you have political conversations? Any takers on that? No? Gentleness and true humility is not typically what engages in when we have a political conversation. How much humility do we see? How often do we feel loved by the person that we are talking to or do they feel loved by us? Verse 3 of Titus 3. "Once we were foolish and disobedient, we were misled and we became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy and we hated each other." I think we tend to measure people who are not followers Jesus by the same standard as followers. Why do we expect unregenerate people to act like they have the Holy Spirit of God? Does our frustration with government drive us to our knees in prayer? We were once there too. And I dare say for some followers of Jesus they continue to be foolish and disobedient as it relates to loving others that have differing beliefs. I have spent countless hours sitting in the counseling office with people that had completely opposite views as I do. Some knew I was a Christian, others did not. Some expressed to me grief over how Christians have treated them with such hatred and disdain. When I left to be a pastor, for some of them I turned the world upside down. It was like wait a second. This man treated me with kindness and love even though he disagreed with me the whole time. Maybe there's some Christians who aren't not so bad. Maybe there's hope because someone who claims to follow Jesus has shown me kindness and love. Why? Why do we show this kindness and love? Let's read the verses 4 to 7 here in Titus 3. "But when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love, He saved us not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins giving us new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace He made us right in the sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life." That is the why. That is the motivation. Jesus showed us His kindness and His love and then we go and we show that kindness and love to others. So if you're arguing with the Scriptures shared this morning and you're trying to justify your actions so that you can choose to continue to hate, remember what Jesus did for you. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. Sometimes we want to be thankful for salvation. It's by grace through faith. It's a gift of God. It's for us. But we don't want to do the finishing part that Jesus does in our lives. And that's daily dependence upon Him to change our hearts. As we rely on Him and then let His love flow through us to others. You see, sometimes we want to win so badly. We want to win an argument whether that be on social media or in person. And by the way, I have not witnessed one time an argument won through social media. Sorry, I have not seen it. I've seen things accomplished and usually that's anger. Lots of anger. But I have not seen if you're going to have a conversation about something so important that needs to be a face-to-face conversation. And when you're having that face-to-face conversation, be careful about this because what we tend to do is we analyze a person, we strategize all the ways and we can reason in order to beat them. Maybe, just maybe we win the argument, but did we win the person? Have we hurt the cause of Christ? We need to see people through God's eyes and love them like He does. They're not a person to be defeated, but someone made in God's image whom God loves. Invite God into your politics and allow Him to change your heart. Do what is good as He has called you as His workmanship and His ambassador. I want to share with you a quote from a resource that I have come across recently. It says, "Eternal perspective. Political and legal drama will compete for your attention in the coming months. Potentially stealing our kingdom focus and doling our hope. Government may change, but our mission remains the same. Love God and love others." I love that because things are going to get pretty intense, aren't it? As they do, we need to have that eternal perspective. This is from a resource called the Pourover. I would encourage you. It's a great politically neutral resource that you can access. If you Google the Pourover, you'll be able to find it and sign up. They send three emails a week to give you information that's going on and then biblical responses that we should have. I recommend that resource. Even if you don't choose to have that resource as an application, I encourage you to keep perspective. In the midst of all that's happening in the world around us, remember that God has called us to love Him. He's in control of who is in control, and He calls us to make more and better disciples with Jesus. But it starts with us. It starts with our hearts. Let's pray and see that happen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, can I thank you for your free gift of salvation? I pray, Lord, that if there's anybody here that does not know you, that they would have a conversation today about that, so that they could know when they walk out of here that they belong to you. I pray, Lord, that you would help us, God. Things are going to get pretty crazy around these next few months. But we know, God, that you're in control of who's in control. I just pray that we would trust you and not other areas, God, and that you would use us to bring more and more people to you. I thank you, God, for your love, for your grace, for your mercy. You are so good. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
