I have never met a Christian who was both politically partisan and spiritually mature.
me
I posted this on social media a while ago. I had a conversation with a friend about those who profess Christ and are hostile toward those who disagree with their politics. It was a good conversation. In it I made this observation based on many years as a follower of Christ and as an observer of human behavior. After the conversation I decided to post this succinct statement of the observation I made.
This is something I have observed over many years. It was on a social medium that invites interaction and I suspected there might be push back, and there was a small bit. I was surprised, however, where the push back was aimed: it was aimed at what it means to be “partisan”. I immediately thought of Mortimer Adler’s observation:
There is no more irritating fellow than the man who tries to settle an argument about communism, or justice, or liberty, by quoting from Webster.
Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator, and author (1902-2001)
To be fair, I was the first to reference the plain meaning of the word, so perhaps I was the irritating fellow. I found it interesting that the concern was over the meaning of the word partisan. I suspect the real disagreement over my observation should not be the meaning of “politically partisan”, but the meaning of “spiritually mature”.
For many the very concept of spiritual maturity is focused on behavior. A spiritually mature person is one who doesn’t sin a whole lot. That’s a negative characteristic so some might add a positive characteristic: a spiritually mature Christian not only avoids sin but engages in spiritual disciplines such as personal devotions and private prayer, or perhaps even fasting on occasion. We tend to equate spiritual maturity with greater generosity. There is a significant problem with this understanding of spiritual maturity, for one can do these things without even being a Christian! By definition, a non-Christian cannot be spiritually mature!
Think of the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6 Jesus says to be generous to the poor, but to avoid giving like the hypocrites give, for they give to be seen (Matthew 6:1-4). He says to pray, but do not pray like the hypocrites pray, for they love to be seen praying (Matthew 6:5-6). He says to fast, but don’t fast like the hypocrites fast, for they fast in a way that they make themselves seen by others. Clearly one can be generous and pray and even fast without having any faith in Jesus, and therefore, without any sense of spiritual maturity.
He takes it a step further later in that sermon when he declares that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Pay attention to both what he says and what he does not say:
On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Matthew 7:22-23 ESV
Again, notice what he says and what he does not say. Many will claim to have done good works in his name. He will say in response that he never knew those people. He does not say, “No, you did not do those things.” He also does not say, “Yeah, but you were really sinful.” Instead, the good works they did were “lawlessness”! How often do we equate “Christian service” with spiritual maturity, as if doing a thing equals maturity? How often do we equate avoiding sin with spiritual maturity, as if not doing a thing equals maturity?
A spiritually mature person will avoid sin—not altogether, for in this life we must live by faith. A spiritually mature person will serve the body of Christ. A spiritually mature person will engage in spiritual disciplines. A spiritually mature person will be generous. It is clear, however, that these are not the same as spiritual maturity, for even an unbeliever can do these things. What, then, is spiritual maturity?
In First Corinthians, Paul writes about his ministry as one not focused on human wisdom or the highly valued rhetoric of the day. Instead, he “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). His message, rather than relying on clever words and polished oratorical skills, relied on the Holy Spirit of God for its power. He then contrasts spiritual things—things of the Spirit—with earthly things. At the end of verse 16 he makes this incredible statement: “But we have the mind of Christ”.
The word “mind” refers to a way of thinking, a disposition to have certain kinds of thoughts. To have the mind of Christ is to think like Christ, to perceive the world from his perspective. It is a way of thinking. Paul moves immediately to criticize the Corinthian church for not acting like spiritual people but as people who were merely flesh (1 Corinthians 3:1). To say this another way, though they have the mind of Christ, they weren’t thinking like Christ. How so?
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
1 Corinthians 3:2-4 ESV
Paul had to treat them as infants when they should have been spiritual adults. They were being spiritually immature. How was this spiritual immaturity manifesting itself? There was jealousy and strife among them, for some were claiming to follow Paul and others were claiming to follow Apollos. Spiritual immaturity was evident in their partisanship! Rather than uniting around God’s workers collectively, they were allowing their “favorite preachers” to divide them, resulting in jealousy and strife. This is spiritual immaturity.
It is not a stretch to apply this same thinking to the world of politics. If anything, being politically partisan would show an even greater immaturity. At least Paul and Apollos were preaching the gospel of Jesus! It was immature to align themselves with one of these men over and against the other. Surely it is a greater immaturity to embrace partisanship when it comes to those we would elect to public office!
I am not suggesting one should not hold to one’s political convictions. There is a difference between holding to one’s convictions and being partisan. How did the Corinthians’ partisanship show itself? It showed itself in jealousy and strife! Those who are politically partisan are loyal to a party and are critical of those who dare disagree or who dare hold different priorities. There is a simple test to discern if you merely hold to your convictions or if you are partisan: when you find out a fellow believer votes differently than you, do you immediately suspect he or she is less faithful to Jesus or is less mature in his or her faith for voting differently?
The word “jealous” there refers to an intense interest, “one marked by a sense of dedication” (BDAG, ζῆλος). If you feel a sense of betrayal or concern for another voting differently, you are experiencing the sort of jealousy Paul mentions. The strife he mentions has to do with rivalries and “to positions taken in a matter” (BDAG, ἔρις). If your heart quickens when someone disagrees with a political view you hold, this is the sort of strife he mentions.
In my own life I have had to let go of partisanship—to the point where the only person at New City who knows who I vote for is my wife, and she ain’t telling! When I say I had “to let go” I mean I had to repent. In order to grow in spiritual maturity I had to let go of some deeply held political convictions and repent for the way in which I held and expressed them. I’ve experienced a significant shift in my political views as I have allowed Scripture to inform my understanding of how the world should be. When I say I have never met a Christian who was both politically partisan and spiritually mature, I’m including myself in that list, for when I was politically partisan I was most certainly not spiritually mature.
This brings us back to the very concept of spiritual maturity. To be spiritually mature is to have the mind of Christ, to think like Jesus. If you think for one second that Jesus prefers one party over the other, your thinking is quite faulty. Is Jesus concerned about justice? Yes. Is he concerned about caring for the poor? Yes. Is he concerned about war and the horrors of it? Yes. Is he concerned about stewardship of God’s good world? Yes. Is he concerned about crime? Yes. Is he concerned about the unborn? Absolutely. Is he concerned about who has a majority in Congress in the coming session or who occupies the White House next year? What does Paul say Jesus’ primary concern is in this world?
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ESV
He doesn’t say, “If anyone destroys God’s Congressional majority”. He doesn’t say, “If anyone votes for the wrong candidate”. To have the mind of Christ is to think the way Christ thinks. His work in this world centers around building his church and completing the good work he began in his people (Philippians 1:6). In his letter to the Philippians he writes about his change in thinking. The things that once gave him value and meaning and purpose he now counts as essentially worthless. Who he had been mattered! He had lots of reasons to boast, for he was not merely a Jew: he was a Hebrew of Hebrews! He was blameless according to the law. He was filled with zeal for the “things of God”—or what he thought were the things of God. Now, in Christ, he knows that all that matters is the righteousness that comes through faith.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Philippians 3:12-16 ESV
Those who are mature can let earthly things pass, for they press on to something greater. To think like Christ, to have the mind of Christ, is to be spiritually mature. I have never met a Christian who was both spiritually mature and pursuing earthly things. Surely political partisanship is an earthly thing. Let those who would be spiritually mature think this way and pursue Christ. As we’ve been seeing throughout our sermon series in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, spiritual maturity is found in being like Christ and therefore is found in unity with his body.