This is the week that Christians call Holy Week to remember the crucifixion of Jesus.  This week is a time of reflection, a time of introspection. It is a time for reassessing how we who are Christians go about interacting with the world around us.

Echos of Agony

When Jesus was placed on the cross, the sound of driving nails echoed across the hillside. Nails driven through the wrists and through the ankles of the most innocent man who has ever lived. Nails that drew the blood of the shameless Lamb of God.  Hammering sounds that allowed the full wrath of God to be placed on the one person who did not deserve any of it – Jesus.

We cannot begin to imagine that agony of Jesus on the cross. It goes far beyond mere physical torture.  On the cross the Son of God experienced the complete abandonment of God.  He experienced His Father’s wrath for sin focused like a laser beam on that one hill in Israel.  In those hours that Jesus suffered, he paid the penalty for every sin that had been committed – and every sin that will be committed – of those who call Him Lord and Savior.

The question that we have today – how does the sound of nails and the moans of a man in agony influence how we go about being conservatives in todays world?  Should it?

No Sacred and Secular

Far too often we separate the secular from the sacred as we go about our daily lives. We go to church on Sundays. We sing the hymns or praise songs. We shake the hands of those around us.  We says peace, peace - and then we leave it behind. We fulfil our sacred duties (church, worship, bible study, etc) but make no effort to bring that mindset into our daily lives.

Throughout the Bible, however, the idea of a separation between the sacred and the secular is never found.  When God told Adam to work the garden (Gen 2:15), the word used is the same used for worship in Exodus – עָבַד (abad).    In Philippians 1:27 Paul beseeches the church in Philippi to always “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” (NASB).  Clearly, the idea of separating faith from daily life is not just a foreign concept to both the Hebrews and the Apostles, but it is clearly anathema.

Yet we continue do so, especially when it comes to our politics.

Remembering the Sacred

Imagine what would happen instead of yelling and screaming at every opposite voice we hear, we would start hearing the sound of driving nails as we interact with those with whom we disagree.  Would our interactions on social media take a different turn if we see the bloodshot eyes of Christ on the cross instead of a post on Facebook?  Would we behave differently in government or political meetings if we worked just as hard to listen to the agonized voice of Christ on the cross as we do screaming our own voice out?

Instead of yelling RINO or COMMUNIST or GROOMER or any other of a hundred different epitaphs at others, what would happen if we remembered Jesus’ words about calling someone a fool or indicating they are less than the image of God?  What would happen if we started seeking first the Kingdom of God instead of staking out our own political realm?  What would happen if we first realize our own shortcomings before we even think of holding someone else up to impossibly high standards?

It would change everything.

A Christian Worldview – Even In Politics

A worldview is how we look at reality around us. It is how we filter what we see and understand what our senses tell us. We all have a worldview – it is impossible to act without one.   

A Christian Worldview sees everything through the saving power of Jesus Christ as we are commanded  to be of the same mind as Him.  The core of a Christian Worldview is the firm belief that nothing else matters more than our relationship with Jesus Christ – not even politics.

There is no naivete here.  The world is a cruel place where rules are broken, families destroyed, lawlessness prevails, and craziness seems to be the norm rather than the exception.  Incorporating our Christian worldview into our politics does not mean everything will be all milk and honey in our times.  It does not mean that those who seek to do harm to our country, who want to hurt our children, or who want to erase borders in the name of humanism will go away. 

But it means that we will change.

On this Friday, are you hearing the driving nails or are you screaming so loud that you can hear nothing else except your own self-righteousness? Are you seeing the cross covered by the blood that set you free from sin and shame or are your own political banners blocking the view?   Does the empty tomb proclaim that your brokenness is made whole, or are you so busy pointing out everyone else’s faults that your own emptiness goes unfilled?   The sound of the driving nails points to a tomb that has no body in it, yet at times we seem so intent on being pure and holy ourselves that we care nothing about the bodies we leave behind.

The sound of the driving nails.  The pained whispers of a man suffering the full wrath of God.  The quiet of an empty tomb.  It changes everything.    

Will it for you?