Political Parties & Idolatry

Like most conservatives across the country, I am elated to see the election of Sen. Scott Brown in the state of Massachusetts. As my wife mentioned this week, I only wish I still lived in MA so I could have cast a vote for him. =) And if it is true, and it is, that God raises up kings and removes them, then surely He has the power to raise up Senators and any other elected official and remove them, with or without our approval. And you could definitely make the case that the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts as a United States Senator, taking the seat that had been held by democrats for decades, could only happen through the power of God. Maybe that is indeed what the Lord has done in placing Scott Brown in the Senate to potentially halt a health care reform bill that would have greatly increased the possibility of more and more unborn children being slaughtered through abortion.

Having said all that, as a conservative and, more importantly, as a follower of Christ we need to curb our enthusiasm and hopes and aspirations as to the significance and importance of this election. For in fact we do not want to become worshipers of Sen. Brown. We are worshipers of Christ. And we do not want to put our hope in a political ideology to solve the ills of society, but rather our hope, and the society's, is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

In his book, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters, Tim Keller warns of the idolatry of politics.

One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life. When we center our lives on the idol, we become dependent on it. If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic. We do not say, 'What a shame, how difficult," but rather "This is the end! There's no hope!"

This may be the reason why so many people are now respond to U.S. political trends in such an extreme way. When either party wins an election, a certain percentage of the losing side talks openly about leaving the country. They become agitated and fearful for the future. They have put the kind of hope in their political leaders and policies that once were reserved for God and the work of the Gospel. When their political leaders are out of power, they experience a death. They believe that if their policies and people are not in power, everything will fall apart...

...In the biblical view of things, the main problem in life is sin, and the only solution is God and his grace. The alternative to this view is to identify something besides sin as the main problem with the world and something besides God as the main remedy. That demonizes something that is not completely bad, and makes an idol out of something that cannot be the ultimate good...