Wise friends.

This is from my friend Andy the teaching pastor at 707'sblog. I think it says a lot of what I believe about these issues. He's great.

I’m going to shoot straight with you. I’m not a liberal. I’m also not a conservative. I would also like you to know that I’m not a democrat, republican, libritarian, part of the green party or anything else.
Here’s what I am… I am a Christ follower. I am down with Jesus. I want to pledge my allegience to Him and spend all my time working to make Him known. I know this will upset some (almost everyone I know) but I don’t have a lot of time to waste when it comes to elections or political parties because I have been made new in Christ Jesus and because I’m new I’m part of His mission.

Not Obama’s. Not McCain’s.

You may be saying, “I saw you wearing that recycling shirt and I hear you’re not a big fan of war, you must be a liberal,” or you might be saying “you’re pro-life and have pretty well developed views on marriage and the family, you must be a conservative.” How can I be so confusing…

I think Rob Bell answers it best (yeah Rob Bell… I know what you’ll say about him too, but I like him so…)
The Kingdom of God is not a left or a right. The Kingdom of God is not a liberal or conservative…

'We are conditioned to think in dualities and so “is it liberal or conservative?” “is that a democrat or a republican?” “is that postmodern or is that modern?” “is that emergent or nonemerging?” or whatever.

The Kingdom of God is truth and life so the Kingdom of God plunders anybody’s agenda for good and true.

So even when people say “that sounds like a such and such cause…” IF IT’S TRUE IT BELONGS TO GOD! GOD OWNS IT, not that particular faction of people. And so when people say “you start taking care of the poor, what about Jesus?” or… “if you start studying the Bible you might not be active…”. The Kingdom of God is anywhere that the rule and reign of God is expanding on earth….

This would be an example [of the political edges]. Caring for the environment is not a Democratic issue, it is a Genesis 1 issue. If I met a woman here who’s pregnant and thinking about an abortion, I would instantly ask her if I could introduce her to 10 women who could tell her their stories because we are desperate for you not to make that choice. That is NOT a Republican issue, we want to affirm life and we believe that mistakes, in redemption, become opportunities for grace.

So any side that wants to say “well, we own this issue, or we own that issue,” YOU ONLY HAVE IT BECAUSE YOU BORROWED IT FROM GOD. So I’ve had people say “if you’re saying that you must be against the president,” or “you must be for the president.” I am simply trying to articulate the way of Jesus. I don’t care who’s for or against it, I just simply want to get the word out so everybody can do it….'