Building Bridges & Burning Ships: Part 9
“Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.” - Mark 12:17 NIV
This is the beginning conclusion of my “Burning Ships & Building Bridges” series. The next three parts are actually going to pull you into the final chapter of “How God Led Me to Start a Home for Teen Mothers”.
What I hope you learn from this is that there are topics that are important here on earth. They are important for us to understand and learn how to build bridges versus burning ships. All of the topics I’ve discussed have been temporal issues - gender, race, sexuality, pro-life, and more. The final issue that is most temporal of all that I want to discuss is everyone’s favorite topic, politics.
Here in America we place a lot of faith in our politics. There are a variety of political issues all over the world. Yet, here in America I have frequently heard statements like “America is God’s favorite place” and “You can’t be a Christian if you are a democrat”. Many Americans have been misled to believe that they’re political affiliation or involvement is what determines their fate in eternity. I am here to burn that ship.
On judgment day, you will not be asked if you were an American citizen. That won’t get you into Heaven. You won’t be asked if you voted Democrat or Republican. Instead, you will be asked if you believed in Jesus. You will be asked about the actions you took to lead people to Jesus. You will be asked how you built bridges that brought people into the community of God and eternity. That Facebook post, you know the one that said you voted for Trump or Biden and that meant you did God’s will? God is going to ask how you stood up for His values, not your nation or your political candidate.
I am not saying don’t vote. You should vote. However, recognize that you are living in a fallen world. The reason politics exist is because it is an earthly solution to the problem of sin. Our leaders have been appointed to us, whether Democrat or Republican, to govern the land, because “we have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God”. When you vote, research the candidates, not based on whether or not they proclaim they are Christians, but instead on their actions and the actions they will further for the Kingdom.
One of the most interesting decisions I ever saw was by a woman named Abby Johnson. I am a huge fan of her and have watched her journey almost from the beginning of the spotlight where she went from working to Planned Parenthood to being one of the biggest pro-life advocates in the world. She announced that one day she was going to start voting Democrat. Abby stated that she was making this decision because she knew that if she voted for a Pro - Life Democrat they really were standing for the value of life because they were not the “norm” of their party. I thought that was such an interesting decision and she was not wrong that it is super atypical for a Democrat to stand against the general party rule that abortion should be legal. I am not stating that anyone should devote themselves to this rule or stance - I just think it shows that she was standing for a decision that was for the Kingdom (the issue of abortion) and what the Lord had called her to address on this earth.
On the opposite of the previous story, I’d like to share a story of a woman I once knew. Nobody wanted to be friends with her. She yelled at all the Christians and stated that if they didn’t vote they were going to hell. I watched her alienate people in a rather large church. She touted America as God’s sacred place. In her will to push politics, she forgot about the love of God. I rarely see or hear from her these days, but she only wants to discuss my political views and whether or not I voted. She alienated Christian friends & community, as well as burning ships. If only she had paused, she could have kindly educated people about voting, instead she pushed people away with her political beliefs.
So, now that you’ve learned about my many viewpoints on different issues faced as a young leader. I hope you’ve learned how many challenges we can face leading the culture in a Godly way and transforming the church towards Godliness. There are so many traps - especially through social media. Utilize everything the Lord has given you to build bridges and, in the right situations, burn ships (sometimes this is necessary).
Stay tuned next week for how burning ships in my own life built bigger bridges than I could have imagined.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alycia Marie is a free-spirited wanderer learning to find roots. She currently resides in Milwaukee and serves the community of southeastern Wisconsin. You can typically find her outdoors, as long as it’s warm, hanging out with family/close friends and meeting soon-to-not-be strangers. In her spare time, she writes, drinks chai tea, and builds non-profits, homes, families, and people. Some people like to call it missions. She prefers well-digging.