[MUSIC PLAYING] This is the Commission Church online. Welcome to our podcast. We want to be a church who brings heaven on earth with the word of God and the love of Christ. I pray this week's message blesses you. I thank each one of you for being with us today. And I want to jump right into the word of God. And I want to speak a little bit, just a quick reminder, for those of you who have signed up to be a part of the conference planning team for this year. We have a meeting out to service, so you want to stay back for that. I want to talk for a little bit today from a pastoral heart. And there are seasons that we walk through as a church where we are tasked with a mandate of not only understanding that we are citizens of heaven, but we're also citizens of this earth. We're also citizens of this beautiful nation that we get to live in, with all the glory, with all the benefits, with all the good stuff that we enjoy is also the bad. There's also the ugly. But it doesn't take away from the fact that we still have a duty of being dual citizens. I want to talk a little bit today about what it means to be a citizen of heaven. You know, and I find this in my duty of mine as a pastor to edify the church and to speak over the church in hostile seasons as we are walking through. Election season is here, and I don't know about you, but I don't look forward to this time every four years because I see certain Christians morph and change into people that are unrecognizable. The election season brings the worst out of people sometimes. Whether it be the constant rhetoric of hate, especially from Christians, and if you're like me, you cannot wait for the election season to be over. It's the divisive climate. And regardless of the results, on election night, half the country is going to feel like the world is going to end. And some of y'all are probably nervous already right now because you don't know what I'm going to say. Some of y'all probably invited that friend a few months ago and they made it to church for the first time. And you're looking over to them and being like, I'm sorry. Or this is your first time visiting. You're probably not here because of an invitation or you got here because you found us online or you were passing by and you just wanted to check the church out. But I really want you to give me your attention for the next 30 to 35 minutes as you allow me to share. And I don't want you to pass a judgment. I don't want you to come to conclusions. I don't want you to decide what I'm going to say. I don't want you to decide in your heart and say, I don't want to hear it, period. I want you to approach this moment with an open heart asking God to speak to you. You know, my motivation today is one of apprehension. Why? Because I was praying about this and I was like, should I do it, Lord? Should I not? And I really did not want to teach on this subject today. I did not. I really want you to know that. Someone asked me a pastor, a friend of mine asked me a few weeks ago, hey man, are you going to address the church? Are you going to speak life over them? And I'm like, I thought about it, but I'm leaning more towards no. And he looked at me and said, why wouldn't you? Like, what is your fear? And I remember telling him, because I like to be liked. I don't like people to hate me. I don't want people to know where I stand or how I stand. It's a landmine of a topic. And I understand the gravity of this subject. I don't know how to navigate it without drawing some blood. That's why it's such a big of a landmine. Because there probably might be people in here that might be offended. There might be people in here that might be like, man, I don't know if this is the church for me or not. I know I'm scaring you a little bit, but you're allowing the response of what your heart says sometimes. And for me, I was allowing the feelings that I had to dictate what my view was of some integral and important things of what God wanted to communicate with the church. And I felt like Pastor Friend of mine was telling me that you're going to allow the response and the perspective of a very small percentage of people that are sitting on two fringes, on two sides to dictate what you are about to do. Whereas the rest of the 80% to 90% in the middle in this season need a shepherd to guide them, to pray for them, and to speak life over them in this season. So if you're on the fringes and your mind is made up, I'm not here to change your mind. I can't do that. But if you're the 80% to 90% that can just humble your hearts for the next few minutes, I want to speak something over you that I believe will be a blessing for you. And simply put, I want to attempt to answer the question. As followers of Jesus, how do we live A, and how do we respond B to the incredibly divisive political climate that we live in? What does the Bible tell me about it? What does Jesus tell me about it? The truth today is that there are many Christians that are Americans more than they are Christians. I want to present to you, and I want to propose that we are not Republicans first, nor Democrats first, but we are first and foremost citizens of another world. We are citizens of heaven. I cannot proceed. I cannot say anything else without even laying that premise. America, Christian brothers, and sisters is where we stay. It's not your home. You're just passing through. And if you and I do not understand the weight and the gravity of that statement, you are building up resources and holding up feelings and emotions about things and people that are temporary in nature. There's a beautiful book called The Screwtape Letters that one of my favorite authors. He writes this book, and he says-- he's talking about the battle that the Christian phases. And he talks about these two devils, so to speak. These two characters in Screwtape and Wormwood. Screwtape is the uncle. Wormwood is the nephew. And Screwtape is-- I know weird names, but go with it. He is training. Screwtape is training the younger minion, Wormwood, to go and infiltrate the minds of Christians. So in the many things that he is trying to convey to Wormwood and train him and indoctrinate him to indoctrinate Christians and believers and make them like the world, there is a part in the book that I really like. And this is what he says to Wormwood. Screwtape says, let the Christians begin by treating patriotism or pacifism as a part of his religion. Introduce it slowly that let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him onto the stage at which religion then becomes merely part of the cause in which Christianity is valued, chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce in favor of the British war effort or of pacifism. The author is writing to a British audience of that time that was easily swayed-- the Christians that were easily swayed into politics and how the world wants them to lean in that they easily forgot who they belong to first. Church, if we're not careful, instead of God's word informing our political views, our political views will inform the way we read God's word. It is so important as Christians and believers to know first what the word tells you before you do anything else in your life. Topics such as economy, topics such as social justice and immigration, sexual ethics, and life. And all these subjects and topics is your first response, what God's word says about them, or are you even aware that God's word addresses them, or is your first response to the rhetoric and the hate of the political party that you are aligned with? What is your first response as a Christian? Or have you actually confused the two? Is there no difference between the two? I'm laying a base. I really want you to pull you in in this. In my study, I came across Harold Willington, a professor at Liberty University who writes a paper titled Political and Religious Groups in the Day of Jesus Christ. And he says, in Jesus' time, do not think that politics did not exist. He says that we're a minimum of at least six to eight prominent political associations that were present in Jesus' time. If you look at the United States of America, six to seven would be too much of a number. Here, a two is too big of a number. You're like, man, we don't have space for independence. And then you look at countries like India, and they can't keep a track of the number of political parties that there are. There are 79 of them that people can choose from. Come on, am I talking to somebody? But in Jesus' time, it was harder than it was today. You think picking two people is hard, one among two? They had Republicans, not Republicans. They're called publicans. These were the officials, like tax collectors, who went and collected taxes from people, sometimes using unscrupulous methods. And they themselves started to speak religion and bring politics into the mix. And they wanted to have a say in political matters. Then there were the Galileans. They were the extreme right people that had their political views, very jingoistic in nature. And then they were the Herodians. These were the ones that were fixated on law and order. And everybody had to adhere by them. Nobody could do this or that, or go away from the law. They were the men and women of law and order. Then there were the Pharisees that you and I hear about in the Bible. They were the religious elite that also wanted a say in political matters. They wanted to influence politics because they said that unless and until we influence politics, man, God cannot move. And then there were the Sadices, with the Jewish aristocrats. And they kind of worked hand in hand with the Pharisees sometimes to exercise their authority in the political sphere. And then there were the zealots. These were the nationalistic dissect. They were the ones that wanted to promote theocracy, who said the state and the church should be one and the church should control the state. The mixed group of people, the variety of people that wanted to and wanted to establish that political affiliation and make sure that everybody adhered to it. And guess what? At the time of Jesus, all of these ideologies came in front of Jesus at some point or the other and said, here's my jersey, wear it. Support us. Tell everybody that you belong to us. Tell everybody that you stand with us. You have this mass following. I want you to tell them who you belong to. Jesus was posed with this question, political affiliation question week after week, day after day. And it's something that he had to encounter. And you know what Jesus said? Jesus wants to establish and say, I'm going to tell you once and for all which party I belong to. And I want you to turn your Bibles with me to a verse where Jesus says, this is the right party and this is the best party. And there is none other than this party. Can you guys put up that verse on the screen? No verse? Where is the verse? You sure? They're looking frantically because there's no verse in the Bible like that. No, you can wait all you want because some of you are waiting with baited breath. You're like, what's about to happen right now? There are none. It wasn't in the Sermon, on the Mount. It wasn't in the parables. It wasn't in any of his miracles or signs or wonders. No, no, no, no. You ain't going to find it. In fact, but Jesus puts his stand down and establishes himself as somebody that doesn't care about it. You want to go there with me? John chapter 18. Let's go there, new living translation. John chapter 18. Hey, if you bought your Bibles with you, I love you. If you didn't, I still love you. But bring your Bibles to church. It's great. John chapter 18, and if you don't have your Bibles with you, hey, it's on the screen. You can follow with us. Chapter number 18, verse 33, there's this discourse that Jesus is having with Pilate. He is in for a trial. And Pilate is asking him a question. Is that then Pilate went back to his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. And this is the question he says, are you the king of the Jews? What is your affiliation? Who are you leading? And he says-- and Jesus replied, Pilate, is this your own question, or did others tell you about me? That's what I want to know. And the next thing Jesus says-- sorry, Pilate says, is, am I a Jew? Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done? And Jesus answered, my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom underlying. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. My people, Christians, believers would defend me. But fight for me. I would tell them and instruct them that I can't do this by myself. What would I do without your defense? And he says, no. And he ends with this, and he says, but my kingdom is not of this world. Come on, somebody. Can I present before you, Christian, that you are a part of a kingdom that is not of this world? And we serve a king who says that he is not the king of this world, but he's the king of our hearts. Do you want Jesus' political stance? The reason that Jesus says I will not become a mascot or a spokesperson for your temporary and earthly politics is because my kingdom is not of this world. I'm not running for president. I'm not running for your king. I'm not running for your kingship. I am the king. I am king of kings. I am Lord of lords, and nothing in no earthly position will ever replace that. And that's what Jesus was communicating to them. You remember when Satan draws him to the edge of the cliff and he says, look, all of this can be yours. And Jesus is like, bro, what are you talking about? It's already mine. You fool yourself. Like there's nothing more I need. There's nothing less I need. I am all sufficient, and he made a lot of people upset because he didn't take sides. And can I tell you something? I wish-- I was going to disappoint a lot of you. But he continues to refuse to back up our political agendas now, because the Bible says he's the same unchanging Jesus that day today and forevermore. He doesn't change just because 2024. You came into the picture and said, God, would you please be my Republican or Democrat God? No, it doesn't change. Jesus says, I'm not of this world. His kingdom is not Republican or Democrat or independent. His kingdom is made up of people made in the image and the likeness of God from every tribe, from every tongue, from every nation, and every language. The representation of what is assembled in this room today is the kingdom of God. And he claims you to be a part of his kingdom. You know, the right and the left are no longer to opposing political views. Gone are those days. They're becoming rivaled religions, gridlocked in a war, pulling you into taking a side every single day. And you know what happens? We start becoming more loyal to political parties, and it's candidates, then we are to Jesus. It is so critical to ask ourselves if our ideologies have become an idol. I'm going to say that again. If you do not manage, if you do not temper, your need to be politically relevant in this crazy culture we live in, you and I will inadvertently start making our ideologies our idols. You'll start reflecting in your talk. It'll start reflecting in your actions. It'll start reflecting in the way you treat people. And why is that dangerous? When political ideologies become idols, politics begins to feel like a religion. And these rallies, they feel like revival meetings. And candidates, they begin looking like your savior. Ooh. I'm stepping on some toes today. Because there's always those two groups of people. "Man, if my guy or my gal doesn't become president, I'm moving to Canada." "Oh, man, if my guy or my gal doesn't become president, we're all going to rot in hell." I'm stepping on some toes. I told you I'm going to be a pastor today, so bear with me. Bear with me. Y'all, we are in this for the long haul. Because guess what, the Herodians, the zealots, the Roman Empire, it's all gone. But Jesus and his kingdom still stands. Come on, am I talking to somebody? Jesus refuses to be a puppet and requires you and me to do the same. You and I are not puppets for people to hold and use. When we begin understanding that and that politicians and political parties just want to use people to voice their platforms and to promote their ideologies, you start understanding that the trap that is in front of you is not a trap that you should buy into. Why? Because, man, we can all be different. We can all in this room be different. We can pray and discern about who we want to vote, ask God for wisdom. And in the second, I'm going to talk about that. And yet have a seat at the same table. There was Matthew, who was a publican, who was a tax collector, and he was hated by Simon, who was a zealot. Two guys, if they met outside of Jesus being in the room, he was one of those people, have you ever met? If it was before I was a Christian, you would see the true side of me, that that was Simon. Because if he caught him outside, Simon will behead him because he just hated what the publicans did. But it's beautiful how Jesus weaves this together and says, Matthew, you come here. Simon, you come here. And I know that you can't see eye to eye. But my table, my kingdom, is going to prevent you from snapping each other's necks off. And that's where unity and uniformity come into being. You don't have to look like the other person and have the same opinion as the other person. That's uniformity. And unity is slightly different, where you can sit at the same table. I can be a different color. And you can be a different color. And I can speak another language. And I can believe it. But we all can come together. And the thing that unites us is that we belong to another kingdom. And we will put that first any day above our preferences. Any day above our preferences. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be involved. I'm not saying, don't vote. I'm not saying, don't care. I'm just encouraging us church be the church. I'm saying, don't go about getting all wrapped up in this whole thing and go back crazy about all these people that are trying to influence you. All I'm saying is this season should not take over your life and change your attention away from Jesus. It's just like anything away that would take your attention of Jesus. And that's my cry. And that's my plea to you. God is not dependent on any human leader or candidate to fulfill his purposes. And neither is he threatened by any candidate either, because he is God. And he doesn't want you to be threatened or say that you're going to leave or we're going to be doomed. But what about issues, Auschwitz? Issues. That's what we need to be concerned about. Issues. I hear you, but issues. The early Christians cared about issues, too. But guess what was different between them and you is that you had a vote. They didn't. But politicians are short-term, but they bring policies that last a long lifetime, Auschwitz. I hear you. I was well prepared for this message, because I knew all the butts that were going to come in. You know what the early Christians devoted themselves to? Do you want to know how they changed the world? Let's go into it. The first thing is this. OK, I have these five things on thing. There's verses. I'm not going to read any of these verses. This is some biblical context for you how they did it. Go ahead and take a picture. The first thing was diversity. They were a church that looked like this. They were a church that said, we were not exclusive. We're not only for Jews. You need a membership to be a Jew. You need to be born a certain way. The Christians were radically different in that they understood the gospel message where they began to realize that Jesus died for all. The Jew and the Gentile. Every colored person was valued by God. Everybody they realized was born in the image and the likeness of God. Social economic status, gender. It didn't matter what country, what language you spoke. You had a seat at the table because that is what the Christians realized Jesus died for. He died to abolish everything that separates us and secludes us. And they said, come in. Let us all become one. The upper room experience and accept the two, that is exactly what diversity looks like. Everybody left their own things, their egos out of the door. They walked right in. Every person from every tribe, every nation. And they said, let us be submitted to what God is about to do. And guess what the Romans were shocked? Because the Romans, till that day, they were trying to divide and conquer. Divide and conquer. And as long as they knew that they could divide people, they can keep them divided. They can cause racial strife. They were succeeding in what they were doing. But the moment they saw that the church was uniting and coming together and diversity was happening, man, the Romans were like, this church is growing. Church, if we can be a church that is inclusive and we can bring anybody in and talk to anybody and give anybody a platform and give anybody a say and let them know, hey, you matter in the eyes of God. That's what's important. You know the way the Romans started seeing, they started seeing a change of sexual ethics. The nature of the Romans, the culture of the Romans was a sexually promiscuous one, where they said two consenting adults can do anything that they want. No questions asked. And the only Christians said, hold on, hold on, hold on. It's, no, no, no, what we're doing is a representation between Jesus and his church. And Jesus said, be holy for I am holy. So they said, no, no, no, we can't do that. We have certain rules. There are some ethical guidelines that we have to live by. So here we are. They said, let's change that up. And it shocked the Romans because they were like, that's never been said before. And then there was justice. The Christians started getting attracted to the broken world. They started caring for the poor and for the hurting and that began to make the church grow. And they cared about life from birth to death in Psalm 113, 39 verse 15. You can go there, but they started teaching that where the Romans, they didn't care about that. There's actually historians that will tell you that the Romans would discard female babies as they were born when they realized that they were female. They would discard them because they didn't want, they believed that they would be a bane to society sort of. And you know what the Christians would do? The Christians would go and rescue these babies and bring them out of there and care for them and tend to them and shepherd them and love on them and make them their own. And the Romans were like, what are y'all doing? You know what Christians were, they were peacemakers. And you know, every one of these things are issues that all our major political parties can't be in on. Do you realize that? That it is diversity and sexual ethics and choice and justice and life and peace and all of this. And I want to let you know as a Christian voter, you cannot vote for a single issue. You cannot, in your right mind, all five are important. All five are very important. You cannot alienate, you cannot separate. The Bible says we are in this world, but we're not off this world. We have a duty and the duty is to consider all the options and make a judgment that is going to be God honoring. What is our duty? I gotta move on. Romans 13, there's this massive cultural division and Paul is writing to reorient the people and tell them that they're citizens of another kingdom. So you know what Paul says in Romans 13 one, here's what he says. The first word he uses is this word, everyone. It gives me the juice, but here's why, because anything that starts with everyone, I know that it applies to me too. No one can sit back and say that doesn't apply to me. Anybody been there before where you're like, "Oh, pastor's not talking to me." This one, everyone. Ready for this? He says everyone must submit to governing authorities. And it doesn't matter who, if you're a Christian, this applies to you. For all authority comes from God and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. This is important church. Regardless of who you are, submit. And I know that this word submit has been weaponized. I know that it's been used against, you know, Christians and women and all of these things in wives. And I understand that, but how? And the question always arises, man. Yeah, the Bible says to submit, but how can God ask us to submit to ungodly leaders? How can God place leaders who oppose the Bible in authority? Is that really God? Y'all open up the Bible, he did it all the time. Whether, excuse me, it was a Pharaoh, or whether it was in the Book of Nazar, or whether it was a Herod, it happened all the time. Jesus arrives into a picture of tyranny where people were afraid and fearful, and it was not a godly leadership at that point of time. That's what Jesus arrives into. When we freak out about a candidate, can I tell you this, honestly? That is an insult to the sovereignty of God. And God is literally asking, are you threatened? Are you threatened by somebody's candidacy, or do you think my kingdom is threatened by their candidacy? But we're being persecuted, Pastor. When you read church history, you'll notice a trend in the moments of cultural chaos. When the church moves to unity and order, man, they thrive. It doesn't matter how much of persecution. When the church got wrapped up in the cultural climate of the day, then the church started breaking apart. But when the church started focusing on what matters, which is Jesus and the spreading of the gospel, the church will grow no matter what. It doesn't matter if it was Herod or if it was Nebuchadnezzar. Historically, when the church gets pushed into the fringes of society, she doesn't lose her identity. She starts discovering it. I'm asking your church, do not be afraid. Stop being swayed by fear mongers. Many religions see the need to remove the existing government and replace it with their own. All the ones that they can identify with. And there was a certain Jewish sect, like I said earlier, who thought that God wanted them to overthrow Rome and to establish a kingdom that they call the zealots of which Simon was one. They strongly believed in it. They believed in theocracy. And they thought that Jesus was coming to establish a political kingdom that would replace the empire. But Jesus consistently responds to them in a clear-cut message and says, that's not my intention. It is not of this world. Should Christians care about elections? Absolutely. Absolutely. You have a civil duty. Please get my heart today. I'm not saying steer away. I'm not saying don't vote, you have to. But there are two ways your relationship can happen between church and state. I want you to hone in right now. There's a theocracy, which I mentioned earlier, where the church controls the state and the church says, unless we do it, man, God is not honored and God will not be lifted up. But what happens is it starts with good intentions, but it ends up corrupting the church. And every time that has happened in church history, the church has been reduced to shambles. And the second way is partnership, where each should understand their role. Where the church should know that they have an important part to play in politics, Jesus doesn't delineate from that. But the government should also understand that they have their role. The church is not called to repair roads and issue driver's licenses. We are supposed to live for the kingdom, point people to Jesus and provide spiritual covering and disciple people. That is what God has called us to do, to go to the ends of the earth with the Great Commission. The separation of church and state is oftentimes weaponized against the church. I want you to hear this. The origins of the separation of church and state was to keep the state out of the church, not the other way around. Please listen in to me. So when the government moves beyond its lanes of issuing driver's licenses and repairing roads is what they need to be doing, come on, can I go on? To redefining marriage and gender and telling us when life begins, I as a pastor, see the need to step in and shepherd the church. Not because I think I want to be political, but because the government is becoming theological. Was Rome friendly towards the church? For Paul to say that they should submit to the governing authorities far from the truth. They were oppressive. They were killing people. They were beheading people left, right, and center. Come on, am I talking to somebody? And yet, Paul, why are you asking your fellow Christians to submit bewildering? Why in your right mind would you do that? They were hostile. But church, Paul does not use the Greek word obey. He uses the Greek word submit. He's not saying be passive, roll over, go along with things outside of God's word. But like I said last week, you cannot control what happens in the state, but you can control what happens in your home and in your heart. The state commands what God forbids, and the state forbids what God commands, then civil disobedience is the Christian's duty. It is the Christian's duty. I'm gonna say that one more time. If the state commands what God forbids, and if the state forbids what God commands, you and I, as Christians and believers, are required to stand up to civil disobedience. It is biblical. There are times that, like I said last Sunday, Daniel complied, and there are times that Daniel had to stand up and say, no, I will defy. But in the middle of that, you can, please listen to me. You can submit while giving honor to God. How can we do that, brother? Jesus has this discussion with Herodians and Pharisees from two separate groups. I told you about Matthew and the public in, and the zealot Simon who Jesus brings together, and then the Pharisees and these other group, the Herodians and the Pharisees, they come together, and they really wanna trap Jesus. So they put their own political differences aside, and they're like, we gotta get rid of this guy. Let's trap him. They come up to him and say, Jesus, to who do we pay our taxes? Ooh, who should we pay our taxes, too? It's gonna be a gotcha moment. It's gonna be a, this is it. We are going to get you. You are going to be crucified before you thought it was your time. Why? Because it was a trap. Because, you know, taxes would be used to aid Jewish oppression. Taxes was used, the people's money was used to fund Caesar's lavish lifestyle, and it would pay the soldiers that would ultimately crucify Jesus. So if Jesus said yes, the Jews would say that he is approving of oppression. And if he said no, the Romans could say that he's inciting a rebellion revolution against the government. Guess what Jesus does? He jukes them. The first crossover in history happens right there. He says, you who wanted to get me, but he says, who has a coin? Give me a coin. And he picks out a coin and he says, whose image is on this coin? Oh, that should be Caesar. And he looks at them and says, give to Caesar what is his and give to God. What is his? You know what the next verse says? The next verse says, this is beautiful. The next verse says, they marveled. These worldly people that try to trap Christians and Jesus, when they saw wisdom, I pray that more Christians will walk in godly wisdom. The Bible says they marveled, why? Because it was brilliant. This message undermines the hold of the government on your life. The coin has this image of Caesar on it, but whose image is on you? God's image is on you. Give him the text, but give God your everything because his image is on you. Never obey Caesar in a way that makes you disobey God and never defies Caesar in a way that dishonors God. Simply put, that's all that Jesus was starting to say. And in that was so much of weight that people were like, whoop. Robin, you can come up to help me. I know this took a slightly longer and this is communion Sunday and as you walked in, you probably got communion in a few moments we're gonna participate in that. But here's my point, I want to draw you into that moment of unity. And this will be a beautiful moment to do that. In a few months, as you exercise your civil duty as a citizen of the United States of America, you're probably asking me, Pastor, just tell me. I'm a part of the middle group and I just want my pastor to tell me who to vote for. Sorry, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not. But here's what I can do. I can give you five things that can help you vote the right way. You ready for this? One, remember your identity. You, first Corinthians seven, it says, you belong to Jesus Christ. Who do you represent? Who does your vote represent? I know you're voting for a person, but who does it represent? Does it represent Jesus and his kingdom? 'Cause Jesus does, like I told you earlier, he doesn't need you to defend him. He needs you to live for him. So if your vote allows you to live for Jesus with a good conscience, vote that. Second, behave with civility. Colossians, too, the Bible says, get rid of slander and malice. In Romans 15, you find a group of people that are divided over meat. Who was ever divided over meat? Come on, somebody, bring me that barbecue. But he said, be convinced in your mind and your kind. This is important, Paul is encouraging us and saying, maturity. Christian maturity is important. Like as you approach this election season, be mature, y'all. You don't need to respond to every Facebook keyboard warrior out there that is wielding his sword. I know you're tempted. I know that you really wanna say something. I know you wanna get the last word in, but use civility. (gentle music) Be God honoring. It's Dallas Willard that says this, a mature Christian is very difficult to offend. If you are sitting behind your phone and you read something that truly offends you just like that, let's do some heart check, let's do a heart check. Trust me, you don't have to respond to everything. You don't have to get your point across to everybody. The third one goes along with this demonstrated humility when you oppose somebody. The Bible says how good and pleasant it is for brethren to live together. Listen to this. If the way you argue drives people away from Jesus, you could technically be right and still be wrong. The fourth thing is this, try for unity. Not uniformity, unity. It's okay. It's okay if that person prayed about what and who he needs to vote for. And he believes in what he does. But as a Christian, never get to that point where you say that person's gonna help, that person cannot be a Christian, he or she cannot be a believer. We can't go to the same church. I can't sit next to him or her in church. That's from the devil, y'all. Jesus offers us a table to come to. It doesn't matter what your viewpoint is. Trust me, no one is sitting, like I said, with baited breath, waiting for your comment to come up on Facebook. No one is. Like, I don't know, I don't know about you, but I don't know one person who changed from one political affiliation to another because you made a comment. Anybody know somebody? 'Cause I've never met somebody like that. The fifth thing is the most important thing. Jesus says, my disciples, if your mind's disciples be known for your love, not for your passion, not for your zealous love for all things, politics and all things God and politics, Jesus, just love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Can you stand up to your feet, church? I'm gonna have to make a statement I really want you to catch onto this. Jesus doesn't care about who is in the Oval Office more than he cares about who is in your heart. Do not allow the temporary season to replace Jesus that is in your heart. There's somebody in your family that you're not talking to today because of this divisive season. Maybe you got wrapped up in the back and forth comments section on social media and maybe you became so consumed with your favorite news channel that it's on all the time. I don't know if it's you, but man, I really wanna speak to your heart right now. If you're working and your computer's on it and that news is on 24/7, y'all. There's nothing wrong with having your favorite news channel, but having it on all the time is a steady drip, steady drip of pledging your allegiance to someone or something else other than God. If that's not worship music and if that's not a podcast, if that's not a sermon you're listening to, but rather you would have CNN or Fox blaring in your ear, in your peripheral. Some toes are gonna hurt today. Why pastor, I used to be a political science major. I was actually voted by my political science class to the most probable to become the prime minister of India. Thank God that didn't happen. I love debating, I would win debate competitions. It wasn't a problem for me because I was passionate about, I would come back in middle school, not even middle school, I would come back home and I would open the newspaper up and I would read it, cover to cover every one of those pages. I wanted to know world history. I wanted to know world news. I wanted to know what's happening in US and Great Britain and in China in addition to India. I wanted to know it because I wanted to become a political correspondent on a leading news network when I was growing up. I went and did my bachelor's in mass communication, journalism and my mom looked at me and said, "What are you doing, dude?" You know that's not where God is calling you to be. But my mind was fixed because my passion for that was stronger than my affinity for God and the calling that he had in my life. So I did it. I got hired right out of an internship to go and be a part of a major news network and it was very soon that I realized that's not where I belonged. That was not where my heart was. Why? Because it was taking me away from my love for Jesus and I saw myself falling away and away and away and every podium that I would stand on to preach on a Sunday or not on a Sunday, it would be so watered down. It would be so without the power of God and at that moment I knew that that was not what my life was. My life was a devotion to God, not my passion. So yes, this has come after a lot of prayer. I almost didn't preach this today. But for me, I want us to be Christians and believers more than we are a political activist. I want you to stand up for justice issues. I want all of that to be true, but I want you to first understand who you are and who's you are. (soft music) I'm a Christian and to tell myself I'm a Christian and I'm on a pastor. I'm not a political pundit. So you're wondering why I don't go and post on Facebook and tell every event that happens, every tragedy that happens, every political move that happens, why are you not saying anything pastor? Because I don't see a need to create a poster, a comment of every event that happens in America. If I have to, I will. I'll do it after prayer. And my goal always is to shepherd God's people through the seasons that we're living in. 'Cause here's my challenge to you. When we stand before Jesus, we will not declare our allegiance to the donkey or the elephant. We will bow down to the lamb of God who was slain before the foundations of the earth was slain. That's all. Please don't get carried away, church. Don't get carried away. It would be tragic, y'all. And I've been to funerals where I've read eulogies. And you know, one of the statements that would be there, he was an avid Republican. He was a lifelong Democrat. Okay, anything else? Like, is that what your legacy has to be? Is that what you wanna be known by? Like, what else do you really wanna be known by? Like, if that's all your friends and family knew about you at the end of your life, about who you voted for, but never really knew who you lived for. So if you are posting more about your political beliefs and your justice issues, more than you are posting about your affinity for God, I take issue with that. As your pastor, I ask you to humbly, humbly surrender and say, God, would you speak to my heart? Would you speak to my heart? I want you to take your communion in your hand and if one of y'all could bring me one, I would appreciate it. I said this earlier, what other time, what other beautiful time to come together in unity? Thank you so much. Coming together in unity around the Lord's table. It's where Jesus brought people that were deferring in opinions. It's where Matthew and it's where Peter and it's where Andrew and everybody with different walks of life, they all came together. After the upper room, it was different people that all came together, irrespective of where they came from, but they found communion in the fact that Jesus died for them. And he was raised up for them and today, I am bringing you to that call, the call of unity. As you guys are, if you did not receive communion when you walked in and if you wanna participate, could you just raise your hand so that one of our service house can bring it to you? As we take this, I wanna remind you of something. If you're like me and you watch the Olympics, I was so pulled in by many of the races that happened, athletics is what I'm really like, like pulled into and I love it and I was watching the 1500 meter race, the men's race. Where everybody was talking about these two guys, Ingrid Britton and what's his name? Ingrid Britton and care and Ingrid Britton and care, Ingrid Britton and care and everybody, all the commentators were talking about those two guys because they were the favorites to win the 1500. And up to the final moments, Ingrid Britton, Ingrid Britton, care, care is catching up, Ingrid Britton's gapping up and they were up and up and close to each other. They came a point that care was kind of losing his ability to go on. So what he did was he started looking over shoulders, seeing Ingrid Britton coming behind him. And as he saw him coming behind him, he used a strategy that a lot of racers used to box him in, to make sure that he doesn't go past him. So he would move and because of that, his pace would change. And as he was doing that without his knowledge, he would move as Ingrid Britton moved, he would move back, move in, move back and in a very opportune moment, he created a gap. He was so focused on Ingrid Britton that he did not see Hawker. Come through from behind in third place, trailing, third place. All he needed was a gap, ran right past them while they were focusing on each other. Hawker makes it to this post-win interview, post-metal interview and they're asking man, what was going through your mind in those last seconds and you know what he said? He said this and I want you to catch on to this. He said Ingrid Britton and care were so focused on beating one another that they forgot to run their race. (gentle music) - Christians, stop focusing on just beating each other, y'all. Let's run the race that Christ has put before us. It's all that matters at the end of the day. It's all that matters at the end of the day. As we approach this communion, I want you to come with a heart of either repentance, another of saying, God, I gotta really look with Lyn today. And I gotta make some decisions in my life as, as to what is my God? Am I making my ideals, my idols? When Jesus comes and one day he's going to come. We're gonna be partaking of this at the end of every month, the last Sunday of every month, 'til Jesus comes. And one day the trumpet's gonna blow and the heavens are going to open and Jesus is going to come into our midst. And let me tell you, that's gonna be a glorious day, y'all. But on that day, we will not be putting our hands on our chest and pledging allegiance to the Texas flag or singing the national anthem on that day. All knees will bow, every hands will be lifted and we will be singing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God almighty, my heart is just that we as a church will be counted in that number. But we will not be distracted by who's running around us. I is our Jesus, the perfecter of my faith, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, and the end. - Thank you for listening. We love bringing you the word on so many different platforms. We are so thankful for what God is doing in and through us. We'd love for you to subscribe so you don't miss out. 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