Tired of Politics Yet?

April 14, 2008

I have to confess that I am weary of the constant attacks, campaigning, posturing and all the rest that goes with the current presidential election. It only promises to get worse. I am not looking forward to that frenzied period when it seems that every other commercial is a political ad.

Here’s something I heard while in Argentina recently. Why do people hate politicians?

They lie.
They don’t keep what they promise.
They exaggerate.
They forget who elected them.

Here’s the problem, my friend said. Why do people hate Christians?

They lie.
They don’t keep what they promise.
They exaggerate.
They forget who elected them.

My heart longs for Christians who live like Christ. Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian mystic and leader said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

The most ironic feature of the Ghandi quote above is the amazing Christ-like nature of his own life. He devoured the New Testament, particularly the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount. In the introduction to the book Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road that I mentioned recently, author Paul-Gordon Chandler said,

“A self-proclaimed Hindu, Ghandi was captivated by the person and message of Christ, resulting in even being called by some one of the most Christ-like men in history. Even missionaries in India would sit at his feet, seeking to learn what it meant to live like Christ within the Indian context.“

Chandler mentions this in his book because it was the example and writings of Gandhi that brought Syrian Muslim, Mazar Mallouhi to become a follower of Jesus Christ. As Chandler quotes Mazahr, he was fascinated to see how “Gandhi took Christian principles without Christ against a Christian nation [England] without Christian principles and won the battle.”

Just imagine what could happen and how many people could be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ if more Christians lived like Christ!

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35

http://sjps.tv Scott Jolley

I figured you’d have a good answer, I will check out the book.
thanks again Pastor Bueno, (that’s spanish for good Pastor!)
http://www.kcbt.org Jeff Adams

Scott, we know the clear teaching of scripture that there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved than the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). He is the way, truth and life (John 14:12). Let me encourage you to read this fascinating book on Mazhar. His idea is that Ghandi was perhaps a secret disciple, much like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathaea. His position was incredibly sensitive in a political and cultural sense and his open identification as a Christian would have been cataclysmic. In that culture, as in Mazhar’s, the word “Christian” has a meaning that goes far beyond disciple or student of Jesus Christ. This is why Mazhar refers to himself as a “Muslim follower of Jesus Christ.” For a typical American church goer type Christian, this is a most difficult concept to grasp. For Mazhar, it makes all the difference in the world. We can agree or disagree, but we need to listen to what he is saying.
http://www.kcbt.org Jeff Adams

Scott, we know the clear teaching of scripture that there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved than the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). He is the way, truth and life (John 14:12). Let me encourage you to read this fascinating book on Mazhar. His idea is that Ghandi was perhaps a secret disciple, much like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathaea. His position was incredibly sensitive in a political and cultural sense and his open identification as a Christian would have been cataclysmic. In that culture, as in Mazhar’s, the word “Christian” has a meaning that goes far beyond disciple or student of Jesus Christ. This is why Mazhar refers to himself as a “Muslim follower of Jesus Christ.” For a typical American church goer type Christian, this is a most difficult concept to grasp. For Mazhar, it makes all the difference in the world. We can agree or disagree, but we ned to listen to what he is saying.
http://sjps.tv Scott Jolley

Hey Jeff,
I keep coming back to this post, and my nagging thought is… is Ghandi in hell? I would like to think not. Don’t bother posting this if it is a stupid question…
http://www.kcbt.org Jeff Adams

Now that’s a quote worth remembering, Jim! Thanks for sharing.
http://itchurch.com Jim Edwards

I was listening to the news the other week and one of their commentators explained it well when asked if the political attacks would continue. He said, “You have to understand the origin of the word Politics. Poly – meaning many, and Ticks – meaning blood sucking insect.”
Stetson

This post reminds me of something I recently read from Leonard Ravenhill in his book “Revival Prayer.” He said, “In God’s name I ask, Why do men wander in the wilderness of this world while in our churches we have room to seat them all and to spare? Yet they do not come to church. There are reasons for this. Is the failure in the pulpit? Paul Althus said, “People today are not tired of preaching but tired of our preaching.” Does he mean the pulpit has form but not fire, doctrine but not dynamic? Does he infer that the church has a spire, but does not aspire to holiness? Does he mean that most of us church folk are sanctimonious, but not sanctified? Do we wince when we recall the biting sneer of Nietzsche, ‘You will have to look more redeemed if I am to believe in your Redeemer?’ Helmut Thielicke puts it this way: ‘When we come from church, we give the impression that instead of coming from the Father’s banquet, we have just come from a sheriff who has auctioned off our sins, and now we are sorry that we can’t get them back again.’ If any or all of these accusations and suggestions are true, I believe the failure stems back to our poverty in prayer.”

Jeff Adams

Tired of Politics Yet?