The Bible says to trust God, love your enemy, interact with others, and seek justice.
In a June 2024 survey, more than half of all Americans of all political stripes said that “the future of American democracy” is “extremely important” in deciding their vote for president (you can see more by looking at the national poll cross-tabs from Fox News and an analysis by The Washington Post).
These high concerns about the future of American democracy suggestion that the American people are unsettled about the political situation in our nation and anxious about the future.
Joseph is always listening for God’s guidance for how to deal with political uncertainties
Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, did not have the good fortune to live in a democracy, but he knew all about being concerned about the future due to political turbulence.
Most people are familiar with the story, from the Gospel of Matthew, where an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:18-25). But that is just the start of a roller-coaster life that quickly turns political.
In another dream after Jesus is born, an angel tells Joseph to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15) because King Herod “the Great” wanted the child dead. Politics have suddenly become a direct threat to him and his little family.
Later, in Egypt, an angel again appears to him in a dream to tell him it is time to return to Israel because Herod has died. But where in Israel should he settle, with his family?
As they come back into Judea, the southern part of Israel, Joseph learns that Archelaus is the new ruler of Judea, so he is afraid to return there (Matthew 2:22). The Bible doesn’t tell us why, but Josephus the historian does: Just before Herod the Great died, a Roman eagle was mounted at the Temple gate in Jerusalem. The Jews there naturally considered that to be an intolerable sacrilege, and a group of Jewish scholars and youths tore it down. Herod the Great responded by directing that the scholars and youths be killed, which enraged the local populace. Herod then died, and Archelaus assumed power in accordance with Herod’s will. Archelaus met with Jewish leaders, and crowds began to agitate in the city. Archelaus tried to negotiate with the leaders but also sent troops to deal with the crowds. When the crowds stoned the troops, killing some of them, Archelaus responded by killing 3,000 Pharisees.
With that introduction to Archelaus, you can understand why Joseph was afraid to settle in Judea. He was probably thankful when a fourth dream warned him to stay away from that part of Israel.
It is after all of this political turmoil that Joseph goes to the district of Galilee in the northern part of Israel and settles in Nazareth, outside the jurisdiction of Archelaus.
In summary, Joseph, every step of the way, seeks God’s guidance as he tries to figure out how to deal with the political uncertainties of his time. We are called to do the same.
What does Jesus say to us if we think we have political enemies? Love them.
We may not hear from God in our dreams, but we have the advantage of having the Word of God at our fingertips day and night.
Our Bibles tell us what to be concerned about. Jesus tells us to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
What are those “good works” that others should be able to see?
With people so anxious about what their political opponents might do, the most useful word from Jesus might be this: “I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:44-45). To “love” our enemies includes praying for them, but notice that praying is not the first thing Jesus tells us to do. Praying for your enemies is not the totality of Jesus’s instruction here. He first tells us to love them, and “love” is an action word that involves doing.
If there are people we think may be an “enemy” or may be supporting an “enemy” in these political times, Jesus calls us love them – and that means doing loving things for them. That’s the first thing he tells us to do. And – i.e., also – pray for them.
But the sentence continues: “that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” Love them and pray for them so that you can be children of God. Jesus appears to be saying that if you are not loving your enemies, you are not being a child of God, because that is what children of God do: they love their enemies and pray for them.
So in these troubled times, look for opportunities to show love to those who make you concerned about the future of democracy.
Stay open to interactions with people who are not like you
Now let’s take the story of Joseph one step further.
Because Joseph settled in Nazareth in Galilee, Jesus had a much different upbringing than he would have had in Bethlehem or nearby Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was always filled with political tension. The religious leaders of the city were focused on religious purity and any attempt by the Romans to interfere with their religious practices. Many Jewish nationalists also lived in the city, and they were extremely serious about their faith-based opposition to Roman rule. So living in Jerusalem meant living in a boiling cauldron where everything was “us vs. them.”
Nazareth was different. Although it was a small town, it was not a backwater. It was only 5 miles from Sepphoris, the city that the new ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas, was developing into his capital city.
Furthermore, it was at the crossroads of two regional trade routes, with one road running from Ptolemais on the coast of the Mediterranean through Nazareth to Samaria, and another running northeast through Nazareth to another city founded by Herod Antipas: Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee (see “Palestine in the time of Jesus, 4 B.C. - 30 A.D.: (including the period of Herod, 40 - 4 B.C.),” Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2009579463/).
In addition, it was only 15 miles away from the major international north-south Roman highway that ran through Israel along the Mediterranean coast from Syria to Egypt.
As a result, Nazareth was probably less insular and more open to people of other cultures than the big city of Jerusalem.
God chose to have His Son grow up in a place where He would be exposed to people of other cultures and the wider world. We can follow the example of God’s Son. We don’t need to be afraid of those who are different from us. God loves everyone, and He wants to love other people through us – including people who see the world differently from us. Through us, He even wants to love people we might perceive to be our “enemies.”
So, especially in this time of concern for the future of our democracy, look for opportunities to interact with people who think differently than you. With love and respect, listen to them and share with them. Love them as well as praying for them. And see where God leads you.
Keep your eye on justice
Finally, make sure your political judgments are in line with biblical teaching.
The purpose of government is to do justice. We can see this implicitly in Paul’s teachings about governing authorities (Romans 13:1-7), and explicitly in the Old Testament (for example, Psalm 72).
On what basis should we judge politicians? See Justice and the Bible on this website for a short but wide-ranging summary of what the Bible says about justice. Those biblical principles can guide our thinking.
In modern America, no political party, and probably no individual politician, is fully aligned with the Bible’s teachings about justice, so we often need to make relative choices (like a teacher identifying the strongest student when there are no A students). Don’t imply that your side is totally right and the other side is totally wrong when it's not true. As Christians, we are called to speak the whole, honest, complicated truth.
Speak up for policies that are consistent with the Bible’s call to justice – such as the commands to care for the poor, the migrant, and the dignity of all and to oppose injustice, fraud, and oppression. Speak up against policies that fail to meet these tests.
But as you do so, don’t forget the first point, to “love your enemies.” That also means to love your political opponents. If you aren’t doing that first, the rest of what you say and do will not bring God’s light to the political world we live in.
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