The Bible is a political book. It traces the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms, and makes crystal clear why they rose and why they fell. It’s politics at play, but not the superficial politics that we read in moment-by-moment news reports, where she said this, and he tweeted that. The politics of the Bible traces the governance of kings and kingdoms by God, the ultimate Ruler. Mankind’s little schemes are powerless before this God.
This is not to say that silly politics by self-important men and women are inconsequential. In the long view, they come to nothing, but right now, they affect the lives and livelihoods of countless people, at home and abroad. Their brains are not big enough to calculate the costs and unintended consequences. They are not up for the job, and they need to seek God’s leadership in their lives and decisions to even hope that they can serve well (if “serving” is even what they hope to do).
Psalm 2 makes the point clearly in poetic form: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.”
This is Biblical politics. Earthly politicians politic and pontificate. They work their plans, accomplishing some good; some evil. But then those that have risen fall, and something else fills its place. Only the historians remember them.
How many politicians spend time on their knees before the true King, seeking guidance and weighing plans and motives? Do we know of any? Surely there must be some.
But Biblical politics does not just apply to those who are elected to office, or to those who seize it. Politics applies to citizens as well. And in Biblical politics, there is something radically different from mere, human politics. You matter. You have direct access to the King. I couldn’t talk to the President if I wanted to, and if I did, I doubt that he would listen. But with God, and I know that the exact opposite is true. He, though His Son, Jesus, is the King who cares. What you do through Him, and for Him, will matter for eternity?
Or, you could live your life like an ordinary politician, and give God a good laugh.
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