Mosaic Study Guide

Teaching Series: Christians Behaving Badly
Teaching 2: Christians are Too Political
Texts: Matthew 22.15-22, Ephesians 4.29-32

Matthew 22.15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Ephesians 4.29-32
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Christians Behaving Badly
Some of the Christians I watched as a child were more concerned with being right than being good. 

UnChristian
Christians behaving badly is more than a few bad apples ruining it for the rest of us. 

Christians are Too Political
“Christians are now perceived among Mosaics and Busters as too involved in politics to be more precise, they think of us as motivated primarily by political goals and as promoting a right-wing agenda” (UnChristian).

Every time the church has made an alliance with powerful political forces the church has always been compromised. 

My point in all this, whether or not, you agree with my political/theological reflection is that blue political power and the red political power need a word from the Lord from time to time and they’re not going to get it if the church and those powers are too cozy. 

Shaped by Ideology and Seduced by Power
“Doug Coe once told me that the best way to get religious leaders together was to invite them to a meeting with a powerful political leader—hence the sold out success of each year’s prayer breakfast” (Jim Wallis, God’s Politics) 

Jesus and Caesar
So the question as to whether or not a good Jew should pay tax was fraught with difficulties.  

Gracious Words
“We must realize that our political activism, if expressed in an unchristian manner, prevents a new generation from seeing Christ. . . .” 

“ . . . . so that your words may give grace to those who hear. . . .”

Next Week: Christians Hate Gay People

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