The Church, Politics, and Alternative Facts: A Quest for Truth

It's fascinating that the political debate has dominated the news cycle and I think it will continue to do so as we approach the election that's coming. But one of the things that I'm always interested in is what does the church have to say about this issue? What does the church have to say about politics? What does the church have to say about what's going on in our secular world today? Hello and welcome to this episode of the words or change podcast. What a podcast we have for you today, man. We're gonna dive deep into a very poignant parable from Jesus, coming from Matthew, chapter 13. Well, in recent weeks, most of you know that Americans have been dealing with the debate over election integrity. Can you trust one, a group of people, can you trust one political party over the next? Can you trust your political opponent? And this has become a main issue, says it has saturated the social media and a saturated our local news, and it feels like everybody has their own opinion because, according to a recent poll done by US Gallup, about eight in ten of individuals in the United States foresee that we are approaching economic struggles, that we are approaching high taxes, we are approaching a budget deficiency. About 90% Believe that political conflict is on the rise. Democrats seem to be more optimistic than Republicans in 2023. But the argument you can go on many different social media platforms and listen to arguments as people are in a upheaval about where this country should go in the future and right here in 2023 and September of 2023, it is one become one of the most gloomy outlooks that the US has had in a long time as it presses forward to its political future economically, politically and socially and in international affairs. And so we, as those who are listening to this podcast, I want you to know, first and foremost, that you need to open your eyes to what's happening in our world. You need to be aware of what's happening in our world. I give you another example about eight in ten Americans think that we are on the brink of economic disaster. Many people believe that the pandemic or that happened three years back, that we're totally not over that. As you, as I'm recording this right now, covid cases With this new strand is on the rise, so there are a lot of different issues that we are addressing and dealing with in our social order. More than six in 10 people think that prices will rise to a higher rate, that the stock market will fail in years to come. About 90 percent of Americans right believe that political conflict is inevitable, that crime will rise. Listen to this show. This is where we are as an American society and one of the worst situations that we have been in in a very long time, and the last thing we need is that the church not be silent, or that the church has something to say to be relevant to this topic, because this is where people live every single day. Who look at the economic affair? 18% of people believe that taxes will be positive in the future, versus 81% believe have a negative perspective. Right 20% have a positive perspective versus 79% believe that economic difficulties are on the rise. Let's look at politics Well, 9% believe positive versus 90% believe that that political conflict is inevitable. Crime rates 28% have a positive perspective versus 72% have a negative perspective, believing that crime rates will rise in America. And as it relates to international affairs, right 14% have a positive perspective versus 85% believe that we are having an international trouble in years to come. The international discord is inevitable. Right 73% have a negative perspective. They believe that when that China will increase in power in the world and as China increases in power, they, there will be negative consequences upon the American society. So if we look at politics, economics, local crime, international affairs, we are in for a rude awakening. And I'm always interested in the gospel speaking to the issues that are happening in our world today. That's that's important, because if our gospel can't speak to what's happening in the world today, then we lose our relevancy, right, we lose our relevancy. So I want to share a verse from you to you with. In Matthew, chapter 24, through verse 30, it's a story about the wheat in the tears. So it goes like this Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a man who goes out and so good seed in his field. But when the men are sleeping, after they've gone out and done the work, the enemy comes and soars in tears among the wheat and then goes away. So when the plants grow up and become full bear, or when they become mature, the tears also show up. In other words, the good and the bad grow up together. Just imagine walking in one day and finding that amidst all the good, there is suddenly a proliferation of bad. Think about that, much like today, when almost everything, amongst all the genuine news, there is information, that there is falsehood and there is misinformation. Think about that, just like the story of the parable that I just talked to you about in Matthew, chapter 13, that sometimes, when you have good, you also have bad right next to it. And so we're living in a time where people can't be trusted. News information cannot be trusted, whether you are Democrat, republican, independent. A lot of individuals in our world, within our social order, in America in particular, have problems with all of these major news organizations. This is when we start talking about alternative facts. In other words, we don't even believe in such a thing as facts anymore. Instead, we believe in alternative facts. In other words, there is no such thing as facts. Everybody, everyone, has their own facts. So when we go back and look at this text, this text really helps us to understand that we are approaching a time in American society where upheaval is inevitable. Right that good is coming with bad, that, just as you have people out here doing wonderful things helping the homeless, helping people rebuild their lives, bringing families back together you also have falsehood and myths information on the rise as well.

Both sides explore what problems unite us instead of laboring those problems which divide us. Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

So this has always been a problem that evil will rise with good, that as you see good things happening in our world, you also have very negative things that are happening at the same time and it is problematic, right? So if you go back and look at the text, the servant said to his master as he came to the house, he said, master, did we not so good seed? How is it that terrorists came? And the master said well, the enemy came in in the middle of the night and sold bad seed. So he said well, what should we do? Should we cut them all up? Should we just bring, you know, take up the tears with the wheat? So he said. The master said no, let's gather up the tears, root them up along with the wheat. Let's let them both grow and tell the harvest, and when the harvest time comes, I'll tell the reaper to gather first the tears, put them in bundles to be burned, and then we will gather up the week. The underlining message here is amidst the confusion, disinformation and misinformation going on, the church needs to be a voice of clarity and truth, son of justice. We can't be reckless, we can't just, you know, align with one political party. Like I always say God doesn't ride on the backs of donkeys or elephants. God has God's own kingdom. And what this parable is teaching us is that good and evil, truth and lies do coexist. And it is upon us to discern and wait and trust that the time of justice will come and justice will be served. But that also implies that we must play a part in it. It's not just justice will not happen unless, as JFK said, you know what happens evil proliferates when good people do nothing. So we must be proactive in this process as well. So our patience is not a dormant patience, but it is an active patience that we must participate in the processes that will let truth and justice have the last call of the day. It also implies that we have the sermon in faith that, despite the challenges we face in our world, despite what people may believe, we got to trust that as we go about doing the good work, reckoning will come. But it's going to come as we do our part in the process. We can't just leave it out. We can't let lies stay when the day. Evil persists when good men and women do nothing. So it is about having faith. We have to think about the larger scheme. We have to be a voice of reason, we have to be a voice of clarity and a voice of truth. That's what this podcast is all about. That's what you, my audience, this is what we're all about. Yes, we want to engage in spiritual growth, we want to engage in personal growth, but your personal growth and spiritual growth, people, has to lead to making the world a better place In your own time, in your own space, in your own community. You have to participate in making the world a better place, and that means different things for different people. You have to find your way around it. You have to find your way to participate in this process. Think about all the good you can do to help people right, not have such a negative outlook about the future, because, think about it, there's individuals at your job, at your work, in your community, who have these thoughts. The information and stats that I read out to you at the very beginning, these are stats and answers that people from your community, from your neighborhood, are responding to Right. So they need a voice of clarity, they need people of faith and people of good will to step in and speak truth. And that doesn't mean that we have to align with the political party in order to do that. Now I know I have people who are listening to this podcast, who are all across the political map. There's some Republicans, I understand. I understand how you believe about physical responsibility, and there are some ethical and ways of being in the world from past times past that are valuable to the American society. I also understand the other side, that we need to open our borders, so to speak. We need to be open to the viewpoints of people who are traditionally marginalized groups, right that America is made of immigrants, people who come from different countries and different parts of the world that add to making America the beautiful place that it is. And then I understand those who are so frustrated with the political bickering that they don't want to participate at all or they decide to join with others who are also disgruntled by the current political divide that has been happening in our world. But I want to say thank you to those of you who call yourselves, who are religious, who call yourselves Christians or whatever faith group you are a part of. You have a part to play in this process. We have to. We have to be people who stand in the gap and don't sit on both sides, don't sit on either side, but give a viewpoint that seeks to bring people back to a place of centering. They give us a place of where we allow political attention, attention to subside, and that is most important. I believe, for the church, that we must be in a place where we don't allow politics to rule the day. That's what's most important here. So when we talk about the parable guess what? When we talk about the parable of the wheat and the tear there is, there always will be good and bad coming up together. And I think what Jesus was saying in this text was that, amidst the political divide, amidst the good and evil existing in the world, there has to be a voice of clarity. It's a message that we need to hear amongst political tension, amongst people who are discouraged about what's happening in our world today, whether you're on the right side or the wrong side, right, with the lines of blurred, that there needs to be a voice of reason, faith and people who are able to speak into these circumstances and into these situations, bringing clarity and truth. So listen, here's what I want to suggest to you. Right, because this we're talking about the future of our world. We're talking about the future of our society. We're talking about the future of our community and we're talking about what is it we're going to pass on to the next generation. So I want to encourage you to do through this text. I want you to do three things. That's going to help make this situation more bearable. It's going to help us to bridge the gap amidst the wheat and the terrors of our current social climate. Number one I'm going to ask you to educate yourself. If you're a believer, you should be educating yourself in the scriptures, familiarize yourself with the parables, understand and be able to discern right from wrong. Number two I'm going to ask you to engage, start conversations with your friends, and I want you to do that in a on social media platforms as well, and the whole goal is to try to find unity. If you're in a conversation where people are arguing politically, try to find a middle ground right, and you can do that today Then I want you to be empowered. I want you to encourage gatherings and discussions centered on bringing clarity and understanding as we move toward these, this political climate. I think it's it will be critically important. And then I want you to maintain your center. Know that your whole goal is to make the world a better place, not to sit on one side of the political aisle and blame the others, but I want you to have a mission. I want you to try to bring clarity, hope and be that light in a mist of darkness. So, to all of my podcast family, hey, I thank you so much for listening. For the month of September, we're going to go over a few hot topics. We have Mark, a side. He's coming through on in September. That's going to be a live stream, as well as Scott LaPair. He's going to come through. Mark is going to focus on health and how your health can help make the world a better place in it. And then Scott is going to come through as well this month and he's going to talk about how to use the gospel in a way that is upbuilding to your local community and to your world. So, listen, I am grateful for you once again for listening, as we continue to bring you relevant topics during the month of September and we want you to be in the conversation and know what's going on. So let's keep searching for truth, let's keep patience, let's let justice rule today, but, more importantly, let's continue to make a world a better place. Talk to you next time.