navigating politics as a Christian young adult: what is truth??

Reposting this from August 2020 since it’s timely!

Ack: THIS. If a pandemic wasn’t enough to knock my socks off, know we have stacked on top of it social unrest and various political movements.

What we have, my friends, is a scary-high pancake stack of hatred, violence, and illogical beliefs, all drenched in a sticky syrup. No thanks, I’ll take the vegetarian omelette . . . might be safer . . .

My first thought when all this was happening was, “What is God calling me to do during this time?”

I don’t think there’s a straight right or wrong answer since God didn’t include The Book of Crazy Politics in the Bible, but we can take what we do know and apply it. We are not too young to have a voice! Our generation needs to take up its banner.

Feel free to add more points in the comments and I’ll flesh them out up here to make as comprehensive an article as I can!

1. Stay informed . . . but don’t.

Let me explain myself.

Yes, we need to know what’s going on. We shouldn’t have a monk mentality—yes, we are supposed to be in but not of the world, but that doesn’t mean we’re supposed to stick our head in the sand like an embarrassed ostrich.

However, having the TV replaying shootings and mass chaos and people spewing hate and lies is NOT edifying. That’s where I draw the line.

Know what’s going on . . . but don’t dwell on it.

“Take every thought captive to obey Christ . . .” 2 Corinthians 10:5

God keeps bringing Philippians 4:8 to my mind when, instead of peeking into the news dumpster, I fall in: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

2. Have a passion for the truth.

When we hear new stories or claims, we must fact check. Must, must, must! I’m afraid that our generation sees news stations and even social media news as an Infallible Encyclopedia of Truth.

Get informed on different types of fallacies. You’ll start seeing these everywhere; they can be as basic as news stations editing video clips so that, out of context, they mean something totally different.

If you need a Bible study right now, study out the word Truth. Jesus IS truth, and there is such hope in that!

Here’s a great method I follow:

1. Keep updated on current events.
2. The “bigger” or more controversial the event is, the more you should research about it. Find the voices you’ll trust and pray a lot to make sure that they’re keeping with the truth. Curate this group and even consider including differing opinions (this helps with empathy).
3. After you’ve researched and gathered the facts, find what the Bible says. You can come at this from so many different angles: Did this person act biblically? Is the source reporting this acting honestly? Does this organization’s values line up with Scripture? What are the real motives behind this action (does this look like one thing but is actually making a big statement)?
4. Know what you believe. I do think it’s important to stay open to listening to other sides and being respectful, but we also can’t be “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Ephesians 4:14
5. Elevate the Bible above any politics. We “do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12-13); ultimately, this is about humans rebelling against God. We shouldn’t be super surprised at all the violence and illogicality running rampant. This is what humans are without God.

3. Use your voice responsibly.

Here’s where it gets messy.

I truly believe that some people are called to “get their hands dirty.” I’m so grateful for them. These people are getting into the thick of it and making themselves a target as they confidently post what they believe on social media.

However, not every Christian is called to that (I’m speaking here about getting on Instagram and becoming a thought leader or politics podcaster.). Not all of us are mature enough to enter the conversation out of a place of love; God has not given all of us the platform or even ability to speak well enough to stand up for His name well. Sometimes it may be best to be quiet.

Now, hold up: if things get worse and if Christians are very obviously being attacked for their faith, then I say that totally changes things. Then it’s not disguised at politics. It’s a full-out battle. And I pray that if that time comes, I will be brave enough to stand up publically for my faith.

Right now, it could be too many cooks in the kitchen . . . and some of the cooks wanna take out the $500 cutlery set with the carving knife and try it out. Eek!

If you want to post, take a couple minutes (or more) to ask yourself if this will support your identity as a Christian by pointing others to Jesus and showing people an accurate representation of what He’s like.

• Am I feeling excessively negative emotions right now? (P.S. Is it righteous anger, though?)
• Have I fact-checked whatever I’m sharing?
• Am I getting into a fight with another believer (Consider your testimony. If you have a problem, take it offline. So much more respectful and follows the biblical model of Matthew 18)?
• Am I trying my best to listen without bias?
• Am I coming into every conversation not willing to listen to other viewpoints?

4. Pray for political leaders and our country.

(This probably should’ve been first, but these aren’t listed in chronological order or order of importance.)

P R A Y!

I’m so very bad at this. I like praying about people close to me; people who just texted to ask me to pray for them.

But when it comes to my government, I feel like that’s God’s business. It just seems too big for me to have an impact on. But this is God’s wake-up call: America isn’t perfect. America isn’t immutable. It’ time to put our prayer pants on.

5. Don’t be afraid to question.

It seems that every day there’s a new moral discussion: Should I support this group? What’s with all the kneeling? Should I post this logo?

It’s okay if you don’t immediately have a well-researched, logically thought-out argument for everything. Ask your parents, another adult whose views you respect, or even start researching on Google or YouTube and listen to the conversations going on.

6. I’m adding a new point . . . vote!!

A lot of people don’t have the freedom to vote for their leaders. But God has given us this right. Why wouldn’t we exercise it?

Yes, you may see it as choosing as the lesser of two evils. But not voting is STILL voting. It is our God-given duty to seek the welfare of the city, and that looks like having a direct impact in who becomes our next leader. At the end of the day, you are voting for POLICIES, not PERSONALITY. Please keep that in mind!

Compare each candidate’s policies and affiliated groups against the truth of the Bible. If your faith lines up with your candidate more than the other candidate, you’ve made the most responsible choice you can given the circumstances.

Resources for truth

Here are some great resources for discovering the truth about politics. I really respect these peoples’ opinions and love that they’re in different age categories than I am.

Disclaimer: Just because I put these links below, that doesn’t mean I agree with 100% of their content. You have an opinion and a Bible and I respect that; give these a listen if you feel like it and come to your own conclusions.

Allie Beth Stuckey — I love her podcast; it literally makes me laugh. She just has a way of saying stuff. Plus, I think it’s SO COOL when women are well-spoken and into politics. I can’t keep so many facts straight.

Al Mohler — This gives me Fireside Chat vibes.

Amir Tsarfati — He’s from Israel and gives a great perspective on America current events. He also ties it to Middle Eastern events which makes me feel mucho intelligente.

Dennis Prager — His Fireside Chats are so informative and he’s so well-spoken! (Note that he does use language sometimes and he’s also a Jew so his Bible knowledge is a bit different from ours as Christians; but this is a great example of being able to gather information from a variety of sources.)

Heidi St. John — Wow, this momma is fierce! I follow her on Instagram mainly and she gets very passionate. I love that she’s a “normal person” and a mom so it’s cool to get her opinion.

Note: A couple months ago, I included a link to the Behold Israel YouTube channel in an email to our mailing list. Someone wrote me and got very upset that I was “entering into politics.” She asked me to stay with the content that I’ve been sharing and basically made me feel like I have no right to be saying things about politics.

Here is my statement for people who think that: my faith is comprehensive. I don’t write a cutesy devotional on my blog and then put my Faith into its corresponding cubbyhole and move onto my politics cubbyhole.

Nope, I’m sorry. My faith is the incorruptible lens I use in every area of my life, whether it be career choice or finances or politics. So yes, this post is a little out of the norm and, frankly, I’m a little worried about the backlash. But my post on alcohol created a very good conversation, and I think people of our generation are lacking in political knowledge, especially when it comes to backing what we believe politically in our faith. You cannot live a life of Faith only during devotions; if you do, it’s not faith, just a formality.