“Pick a side!” That’s the prevailing narrative raging across our headlines isn’t it? Our country’s a mess right now. I think most of you know this. And honestly, most of you would agree. But what I find truly fascinating is how many different ways my generic comment would be interpreted. I’ve heard from so many friends that are terrified that President Trump is attempting some sort of Coup and the events at the Capitol were a bonafide rebellion. NPR called it “one of the darkest days in American history.” The fear is a neo-fascist right wing takeover. (As an aside, while the events were shocking and truly vile…I can think of a dozen worse days off the top of my head…9/11…Pearl Harbor...Gettysburg…Presidential assassinations…the day the Capitol was burned by the British…my point is that hyperbole in this case rarely offers the necessary perspective.)
On the other hand, I’ve heard from many of a fear that President-Elect Biden is going to usher in a dark era of socialist reform. Our freedoms and liberties, so the narrative runs, are under dire threat and must be resisted. The election was stolen, the story goes, and America as you know it is ruined!
Can we just pause for a second and ask, “What’s going on here?” Honestly, how is it that so many of us have completely different perspectives on what’s happening? Because this is the crazy part – the actual facts are the same. I know this is hard to believe given the competing narratives but…there has only been one set of actual, real life events that have taken place. There is only one version of the Truth.
Good, well-meaning, rational people can differ in their interpretation of the meaning of various events. That’s often where different political and ideological platforms come from – differing opinions on how to best deal with the problems of reality. But the problem it seems that we have in our day is that we cannot even agree on what reality is…we cannot come to any agreement about what is basically true. And if you find that hard to believe, scroll through social media sometime.
If you’re a little unclear about what I mean, try to argue with a toddler sometime. It’s miserable! And it’s miserable because they don’t listen to reason and they don’t listen to Truth. And if you don’t have any common ground on the objective nature of Truth then you can’t actually have any constructive arguments.
Granted….what I just said is a little dense. And I think I’m even confused. So allow me a Biblical illustration? Thanks, you're too kind.
When Jesus was arrested, the Jewish Temple leadership (who effectively governed the hearts of the Jewish people) handed him over to the Roman Governor of Judea (who effectively governed the bodies of the Jewish people), a man named Pilate. Pilate was, understandably, confused by the claims presented to him. “This man,” claimed the Jewish leadership, “claims to be the King of the Jews.” Herein was Pilate’s problem: Jesus sure didn’t look like the “King of the Jews” and he didn’t seem to be a problem. Where was his Army? Where was his rebellion? But (and this is important) the Jewish leadership was spooked…they were very serious and Pilate couldn’t ever seem to really understand why.
All four Gospels record this interaction between Jesus and Pilate (which is noteworthy). Pilate questions Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” They go back and forth for a bit and then John records this exchange:
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37, NIV)
Why was Pilate asking these questions? Put yourself in the story. Why would you ask those questions if you were in Pilate’s place and had his responsibilities? Well, that makes it a lot easier for me anyway. He might as well be asking that age-old playground question,“Whose side are you on?”
And how does Jesus respond? Certainly not directly (which frustrates Pilate, the Jews, and modern readers alike). Instead he says, “Everyone on the side of Truth listens to me.”
Hold on…here I thought this was about the Romans vs. the Jews? The secular world vs. the religious world? Democrats vs. Republicans? Trump vs. Biden?
Jesus says this is about Truth. And he is on the side of Truth. As a point of fact, he is the Truth made flesh. The Kingdom of God is, at a very fundamental level, a Kingdom based on Truth. Which means what for us, exactly? That the opposing kingdom is one of falsehood. A kingdom based on lies.
The Satan is, as Jesus said earlier in John’s Gospel, the Father of Lies. His kingdom is one of deceipt. But here again is an important point – these are not equal and opposite Kingdoms. From Plato to Augustine to Aquinas, the great Philosophers have noted that lies, by their very definition, are a “privation” of Truth meaning that lies only exist when the truth is purposefully avoided or hidden.
So what’s the point here? The world will increasingly tell you to “pick a side.” And every side will try to claim the moral high ground. We are like Joshua before the walls of Jericho. When confronted with the presence of God, he dropped to his face and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” the Lord replied. “But as the commander of the Army of the Lord I have now come.”
It's not about whether or not we have the truth on our side, but whether or not we are on the side of Truth.
In the end, it’s always been about Jesus…about being on his side…about being for the Truth. And while civic engagement is important in its own right, don’t mistake any kind of political allegiance for your allegiance to the Kingdom of God.
I’ll close with a question: how might your life be different if you made a conscious decision to be on the side of Jesus and his Kingdom in the years ahead? What if he had your primary allegiance? How would that change what we consume? How we think? How we act?
So in the end, I suppose my suggestion to you isn’t all that different form the one the world is proposing: pick a side.
But as a suggestion, I’d side with Jesus.
Comments