Disclaimer: Sorry, not a lot of humor this week.

I don’t just hate politics, I loathe them. Yes, I understand they are a necessary evil no matter what government you live under.

What I despise most are the endless arguments by anybody and everybody claiming knowledge of exactly how our government should operate. Bottom line, most of us unwittingly push our own agenda and don’t listen to anyone else. It’s happened for centuries, and after daisies are using our bones for fertilizer, people will still be arguing politics. Nothing changes, nobody ever wins, and the world is still going down the toilet.

I have a family member who makes Chicken Little look like an Alpha Rooster. They are forever decrying how bad things are because of what Rush or Glen, MSNBC, or The Huffington Post said.

It’s not much different from what the masses do on social media when there’s a hot issue. The sky is always falling and someone’s to blame. Usually it’s the president. Did you know Obama was responsible for the collapse of the Hostess (Twinkies) corporation, that he has jihadists over for dinner every Sunday night at the White House, and that he is actually the Anti-Christ? (Of course we thought Ronald Reagan was Satan too, but now he’s lauded as one of the greatest presidents of the 20th century.)

What’s ironic about many who crucify each other on Facebook over their political views is that they call themselves Christians and proponents of the same Bible that says, “Don’t get involved in arguing over unanswerable questions and controversial ideas; keep out of arguments and quarrels about the law for it isn’t worthwhile; it only does harm.” Paul says to warn them to quit and if they blow you off, don’t have anything to do with them cause they’re warped and sinful.[i] (Before you figuratively throw something at me, please read the reference below and note these are not my words.)

I call this type of spewing spiritual sewage because it justifies all the anger management issues of Galatians 5–hatred, discord, fits of rage, dissensions and factions–by claiming to defend the honor of God. (Like the General of the Armies of Heaven really needs our lame help to do anything.) What’s scary is that these individuals are actually working in direct opposition to what Jesus prayed for only hours before he went to the cross in John 17[ii]—unity.

I had one FB friend in her empty nest years admonish me–a single mom of three–about my lack of political fervor regarding the declining future of our country. Hey, I love America. I cry every time I hear “America the Beautiful”. I want my children to enjoy the same freedoms I have, but like the Apostle Paul, I’m clear on one very important fact–my ultimate citizenship is in heaven[iii].

More, I trust in God’s sovereignty. Obama isn’t in political office because the Democrats or some Muslim Anti-American underground put him there. He’s there because God put him there just like he put Cyrus in office in Isaiah 45-46, just like he raised up the Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Egyptians at different times in history to bring about what he wanted—His reconciliation with his ever-unfaithful people.

How is God working through the president, the Supreme Court, the governor of your state, or the mayor of your city? I have no idea. Is Obamacare from God? Should we drop the borders between Mexico and the US and let refugees pour in? Should marijuana be legalized? I have no clue. But our leaders’ hearts are in the hands of the Lord and he directs them like a watercourse wherever he wants them to go.[iv]

So what does that mean for us? Do we imitate the Jews of the New Testament crucifying anybody who disagrees with our ideal of what our nation should look like? Do we vilify the civil authorities? Do we demonize anyone who violates our dogma?

Did Jesus? No, because his Kingdom wasn’t of this world. Why then, when we have sworn to imitate him, do we think ours is?

It doesn’t mean we don’t vote. It doesn’t mean we don’t sign petitions or rally for Biblical principles to be maintained in our country. It doesn’t mean we don’t take a stand in our offices, schools, or homes.

What it is does mean is that we don’t sling spiritual sewage at one another. Instead, first and foremost, we fight to stay close to God so we know his will and so we never lose focus of what is truly important—to trust the Scriptures, to love one another[v], and to glorify God so that others may see him in us.

That’s clean living[vi].