The Verse of the Day in Bible App was Matthew 28:19-20 on Wednesday. I really wanted to write this post then, because it had been on my heart already and I took the verse’s presence there outlined with special formatting in my phone as an affirmation. It’s taken a bit longer though because of the thousand ideas connected to it. At least half the purpose of Fire and Whisper is to practice the discipline of distilling and communicating one thought at a time—this probably does have some kind of spiritual parallel to it, but I will leave you to tease out what that is while I go over here, exploring my One Thought.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20
It’s a verse I’ve thought about a lot lately because of the heretical conflation of religious and political identities here in the United States. This is not directed at any one believer as a rebuke, but as an exhortation for the Church: we as Jesus-followers need to be on our guard. Political power is a principality reporting to the Accuser, who loves nothing more than slandering Jesus’ name and making Him distasteful to the lost through our compromised witness. Be good soldiers of Christ, as Paul exhorts, and live to please your commanding officer, Jesus! (2 Timothy 2:3-4) We have received our marching orders and battle strategy already, and it is not, “Therefore go and seize political power by any means possible.” Our Lord and Master has made His priorities known:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
John 13:34-35, 17:20-23
Remember our beloved Jesus, who resisted Satan’s temptation of political power (Matthew 4:10), who refused to let the people make him an earthly king (John 6:15), who died at the hands of the state, who like a lamb before its shearers was silent (Isaiah 53:7). Perhaps He knew the futility of adding words upon words to those determined not to listen. Or perhaps He knew the Way of the Suffering Servant, the way of tenaciously loving the people around us, even unto death, was so radical and beyond the possibility of counterfeiting it would snap the drowsy to attention and the wounded to wholeness and the wayward cynic home, consistently, for hundreds of years.
Surely there are believers called to participate in the political arena, and they should continue to do so courageously and prayerfully. I’m speaking rather to the vitriolic segment arguing on social media in full sight of the world about things that happen to fall along American political party lines. Consider, brothers and sisters, what kind of speech brings glory to Jesus and what delegitimizes our witness. As Paul says: Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5). Most of all, trust in Jesus’ leadership, and don’t birth Ishmaels when it appears that the Kingdom and promise are under siege. Just as the Crucifixion appeared to be a game-ending disaster, so the stubborn Way of Love will appear foolish right up until the return of our Savior.
Stand firm in the Lord. Pray. Rejoice. Love. Give thanks. Be salt and light. Leave social media well alone.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:8
Fire and Whisper 
One reply on “Marching Orders”
This is a powerful reminder and exhortation. “Political power is a principality reporting to the Accuser, who loves nothing more than slandering Jesus’ name and making Him distasteful to the lost through our compromised witness.” Well said! Thank you for writing through your “One Thought” with clarity and conviction.
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