A good friend of mine asked me to stop using the bible to support my political bias, as according to her, politics and the Bible are like oil and water.

We all have our biases, (and by the way, did you know there are different kinds of biases?), so I won’t be defending myself from the accusation. But what caught my attention were two things: First was for me to stop using the Bible in support of my political bias.

She asked me not to get upset which I’m not. Given that my friend has been a Christian almost all her life, with seminary training, and is a tentmaking missionary, I am thankful that she didn’t say that I should stop misquoting Scriptures as that would be a totally different matter.

(I do remember one time when an acquaintance said I used the wrong bible verse on a different issue. She respectfully admonished me about it but when I asked how it was wrong, I was left on the seen-zone.)

I have seen people misusing and misquoting the Word to suit their purposes---political or not, and I have never asked them to stop it. I just address the issue (not the person) in my blog. This might surprise you but I don’t go around engaging in debates. During the recent presidential elections, I didn’t even ask anyone whom they were voting for. If I learned of their choices, it was because they revealed it to me. And if it’s not aligned with mine, I didn’t try to make them change their mind. I just kept posting about my preference.

The second thing that caught my attention was my friend’s comment how the Bible should never mix with politics. She said, “OT is full of coup de etat (sic) and murders” while “Jesus, in NT, was always lured to take political sides, it was beneath him, he transcends that.” I pointed out how the Old Testament prophets called out the corrupt leaders which was a political act. I forgot to say, “And that directive came from God.”

Speaking of God, if we believe that God is a God who cares about everything in our lives, then politics must also be included. Some of our pain, difficulties, challenges, and hardships in life are brought on by decisions made in the political realm. Think taxes.

Saying that politics and the Bible are like oil and water is like saying there is an aspect in this world that God is not God. If there is a place where the Bible is off limits, then God Himself is limited as He is Word Himself. To say that the Bible should never be mixed with politics is an invitation to think of other areas where we can say the same thing like in our business dealings. Yes, Jesus was “lured to take political sides” and He resisted, which is a political response.

(For more on my thoughts about the issue:

http://zabethology.com/separation-of-church-and-state.html
http://zabethology.com/church-and-state.html)

And then my friend ended with an “appeal to…excuse me for not reading the links u send me.”

I said that it’s okay if she doesn’t read it. Not all the 20 people I send it to, do, and it’s okay because I also don’t open all the links sent to me. Haha Anyway, I promised to stop right now with her. Thank you very much. No hard feelings because I am biased about letting people be.