Politics and Religion, can they go hand-in-hand?
There was a time where God desired the leader of the Church to be in harmony with the leader of the nation
Zechariah 6.1-15
Reference: v. 13b And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two. (NIV Bible)
Explore: Zechariah is receiving word from the Lord that Joshua will build the temple of the Lord and he will reign on the throne, reign as priest. And it’s there that religion and politics will be in harmony with each other.
I am no historian but there are not many times where the Church and State have lived in harmony together. There are many people who feel that they should remain separate, but at this time that the Lord desired, He had a plan for the two to come together through Joshua.
Application: I’m a big believer in living a Godly life no matter who you are or where you are. If I’m working in the church, then I should live out my faith. If I’m visiting a school, I should live out my faith. If I’m invited to someone’s house, I should live out my faith. No matter where I am and what I am doing, being a Christian should not be turned off and on, I should act Christ-like wherever I am. There are some jobs where expressing your faith becomes challenging. One area would be in the education realm where the department is becoming firmer on what teachers can personally reveal about themselves. However, politics would certainly be an area that would bring challenges to living out your faith. It often seems that you don’t necessarily have to stand up for what is right, you just have to stand for what is the contrary opinion to your opposition! And even when a group of Christians take the lead in creating a Christian party, they are condemned by the Christians for every little bitty detail of their policies.
But no matter where we are, what we do, or how we earn a living, God does not desire for us to have two separate lives, but a holistic life where He is the priority in all we do.
Prayer: Dear Lord, you promise to be with us wherever we go and yet so often we only want to invite you into specific areas of our lives. We re-invite you into our lives today, not just in our Church realm but in every part of our being. Amen.
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.