Seeing Beyond Politics

Marvin Olasky
Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800
Opinion

It's important to care about politics. It's even more important not to care deeply. As Gutenberg College professor Charles Dewberry notes, "If politics can fix a problem, then Christianity is a lie."

Christianity isn't about politics. It's about a miracle. "Rejoice! Rejoice!" the Christmas carol declares. "Emmanuel shall come to thee, O captive Israel."

Hmm ... when do people rejoice? I've been to baseball games where the home team clenched the lead and held on for a slim victory; that brought sighs of relief, but not rejoicing. Rejoicing comes when the home team is behind — a win seems out of reach — and then a ninth-inning rally concludes with a walk-off home run and victory. That's rejoicing.
Updated: Wed Dec 19, 2007

It's important to care about politics. It's even more important not to care deeply. As Gutenberg College professor Charles Dewberry notes, "If politics can fix a problem, then Christianity is a lie."

Christianity isn't about politics. It's about a miracle. "Rejoice! Rejoice!" the Christmas carol declares. "Emmanuel shall come to thee, O captive Israel."

Hmm ... when do people rejoice? I've been to baseball games where the home team clenched the lead and held on for a slim victory; that brought sighs of relief, but not rejoicing. Rejoicing comes when the home team is behind — a win seems out of reach — and then a ninth-inning rally concludes with a walk-off home run and victory. That's rejoicing.

We rejoice when we recognize that we need something like a miracle — and it comes. Christmas is about the miracle of God coming to Earth to save us from Satan's power.

Those rich in money or power or academic degrees often are reluctant to believe in Christ because it's hard to see yourself as needing a come-from-behind victory when the scoreboard says you're ahead.

J.I. Packer summarizes the Christian faith in three words: "God saves sinners." A person who sees himself as a sinner knows that he's trailing in the late innings.

Here's a story from a Christmas Eve two years ago: One fine young man I know was in despair about his inability to make emotional contact with a person both of us cared about deeply. He had tried all kinds of approaches, and so had I. Both of us had to acknowledge ruefully, "Nothing works."

Our only hope was in God's grace. And Christmas Eve was the appropriate time for this lowest of low moments because Christmas commemorates God breaking through.

Why does God at times take his time? When Elijah in the Old Testament despaired over Israel's political and ethical condition, why did God tell him that help would come only after a series of troubling events? Why, when the next-to-last verse of the book of Revelation ends with the plea, "Come, Lord Jesus," have two millennia gone by without his return?

Maybe we need to learn and relearn our lesson: Nothing works. Politics doesn't work all that much. Moral renewal by itself doesn't work. One biblical description of how the world works comes in the second book of Kings, when Elisha's servant fears enemy troops: Elisha asks God to "'open his eyes that he may see.' So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire."

What's striking is that those angels with their horses and chariots are there all the time. If we could see them, we would think differently.

Curiously, one of the best depictions of how seeing changes everything comes in the loopy but lovely movie "Field of Dreams" (1989). For those who haven't viewed it, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) uproots his lucrative cornfield and puts in a baseball diamond to which long-dead players mysteriously come. Ray, his wife, his daughter, and a disillusioned author can see the players, but no one else can.

Since the field of dreams is not producing a cash crop, Ray is going bankrupt. His brother-in-law pressures him to sell the farm. Through a startling event, the brother-in-law, who was blind, suddenly can see the players on the field. His immediately transformed advice: "Don't sell this farm, Ray. Do not sell this farm."

When we see the array of forces lined up against Jesus and those who try to follow him, we are often tempted to sell the farm. That's when we need especially to pray that our eyes be opened, so that we can see what Elisha urges: "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Marvin Olasky is editor-in-chief of World, vice president for academic affairs of The King's College and a professor at The University of Texas. For additional commentary by Marvin Olasky throughout the week, go to www.worldmagblog.com. To find out more about Marvin Olasky and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.