2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
We are called ambassadors and soldiers in the scriptures. We are representing and fighting for a kingdom. It is not a worldly kingdom. Those who do not know Christ have only the things of this life to care for. They busy themselves with many activities to preserve their way of life. The word “affairs” in this verse means transactions and negotiations. We are told that to be successful in the war we fight, we must not entangle ourselves in the world’s affairs. The key word here is “entangle”. I believe this to mean I’m not to be so interwoven and dependent upon this worlds’ affairs that I am hindered from bearing spiritual fruit and seeing people come to the saving knowledge of Christ.
This brings me to the subject of politics. There’s nothing that involves more transactions and negotiations. The word politics means “social relations involving intrigue to gain authority or power. The activities and affairs involved in managing a state or a government.” More than ever before, the church has to decide how it will fight the spiritual war for souls and not become entangled in the destructive politics of our day. Elected officials have passed laws and are considering more laws that can potentially harm our freedom to share and practice our faith.
The future for our children and grandchildren may be in a culture far removed from the one we have lived in. Antichristian groups have negotiated themselves into positions of political power. The same freedom that has enabled us to preach the gospel of Christ and raise our children in His admonition is the same freedom that the enemies of the cross have used to convince others of a different way. Is it wrong for the Christian to become politically active? Is it entanglement for us to speak out on political matters or speak about the character of elected officials? The enemies of the cross would say yes.
In my lifetime I have seen the church reduced to insignificance in political matters. When I was a young preacher I was told that religious institutions were tax exempt because their ministries helped with the needs of the poor, provided positive moral influence and helped sustain a stable society. Also, I was told that the money people gave to religious institutions was already taxed through the person who earned it. Now we are told that it is because of the separation of the church and state. As a part of this separation ideology the church is told it cannot speak about political matters. The tax exemption has become hush money. The church is threatened with the revocation of their tax exemption if it speaks about politics or politicians.
In 2 Corinthians 4:8 Paul states that they were troubled on every side. The church is troubled on every side today. Secular lawmakers have attempted to censor the church by the separation ideology. Secular education institutions have censored the church by revisionist history, secular humanism and science that has closed its mind to any thought of the supernatural. The entertainment industry has undermined moral values by glorifying sin and presenting it as having no destructive consequences.
The message for the church today is that it would be entanglement with the affairs of the world to accept things as they are. We are to be light, salt, ambassadors and soldiers. How can we be these things to the world we live in if we accept the secular worlds premise that we should remove ourselves from politics? Everything is political. Everything impact our lives. We are in a spiritual battle for our existence. The church is no longer being accused of trying to run the government, but rather it is being systematically removed from any significance in society.
Will we pray? Will we stand? Will we be willing to suffer? Revival comes in the midst of hardship. Our message is worth fighting for. We must not get entangled in the false philosophies that have kept us silent while the enemies of faith have secured their power. American Christians have been privileged to have freedom of speech and religion. No other kingdom has offered so much freedom to so many. May God preserve our constitution and way of life. May we be what we should be for Christ.
