Notable Quotable: David Gushee on Being Faithful in Times of Election

I am a huge news junkie, and since I have (God help me) discovered Twitter (@madpadre1 if you care to follow me) I have more hot breaking news, especially election news and opinion from the Excited States of America to the south, than I can fully digest.

It was with a sense of gratitude, then, that I came across this quote from ethicist and theologian David P. Gushee, which appeared in Christianity Today in 2007.

To affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord is to acknowledge that no political leader, party, flag, nation, or ideology can share lordship over my life. The one who confesses Christ alone as Lord cannot simultaneously affirm utmost loyalty of another idea or person.

This realization has constricted my understanding of politics. I’ve learned to fear the seductive power of political ideologies, the temptation to idealize political leaders, and the amoral bloodlust of partisan politics. Perhaps I have overreacted.

My study of German churches under Nazism has certainly formed my understanding of how disastrous the confusion of loyalties to God and country can become. But especially around election time, I feel my blood run hot for politics once again – so a reminder that Jesus Christ is Lord is very timely.