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The god of Making Politics Primary

David Sorn

Jan 26, 2025

1 Samuel 8:4-22

We must understand the risks when our politics become more important than our faith.

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPT

  1. INTRODUCTION

  2. (Series Slide)

  3. Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.

  4. We are in our final week of our America’s Golden Calves series where we are looking at the most common ways that Americans tend to revise God, and change who He really is.

  5. And these are tough subjects because it’s hard to look at the areas where we may have drifted from God’s Word.

  6. But we need to talk about it...often even.

  7. If Christians in our day don’t deeply understand how to navigate tricky topics like gender or sexuality (or today’s mystery topic), then we will very easily get swept away from Biblical truth and into the tide of the cultural moment.

  8. So let’s get to today’s mystery topic, which is probably not a surprise to most of you.

  9. It is this:

  10. (Title Screen)

  11. The (false) god of Making Politics Primary

  12. I see it in your faces, you knew it was coming 😊

  13. Now, let me say this, because I know some of you are thinking this.

  14. I realize we just had a Presidential Inauguration this week, and many people are thinking heavily about politics.

  15. I do want you to know that we’ve had this series on the schedule for months, before the election.

  16. And I was going to boldly preach this regardless of who got elected because it doesn’t really matter…

  17. …we’re just talking about timeless Biblical principles from Scripture

  18. But understanding how Christians should interact with politics is very important.

  19. And we need the Bible to be our guide.

  20. 1 Samuel 8:4-8

  21. Page 188

  22. 1 Samuel starts in the days before Israel had kings.

  23. And they were led by judges.

  24. Don’t think like a modern day judge in a courtroom.

  25. A judge was a leader raised up by God, who often led the nation through a time of crisis, and often led the people back to God.

  26. And Israel’s leader & judge at the time of this chapter was a man by the name of Samuel, who was an extremely Godly man who led the people to first and foremost follow (not Samuel’s leading) but God’s leading.

  27. But the people have grown antsy…and they want to be like every other nation…

  28. Let’s read.

  29. (1 Samuel 8:4-8) – NIV

  30. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

  1. HUMANS TEND TO GRAVITATE TOWARD EARTHLY KINGS

  2. (Title Screen)

  3. God’s people are asking if He can move to the side a bit so they can focus on the earthly political things instead.

  4. And what I want to do this morning is show you what the risks are when Christians today do the same thing, and they make earthly politics our primary focus and leader

  5. I’m going to say this about 5 times: I’m not saying politics are not important, indeed they are quite important

  6. But they are not the primary way that God wants us to bring forth His Kingdom.

  7. So let’s take a look at the first risk

  8. THE RISKS OF CHRISTIANS MAKING POLITICS PRIMARY

  9. #1: We risk putting our trust in earthy kings instead of our Heavenly King

  10. The Israelites no longer wanted just God as their king, they want someone they can see…they want an earthy king to lead them.

  11. Later, verse 19 tells us that they just want to be like all the other nations.

  12. But Samuel warns them that there will be tradeoffs if they give their hearts to an earthly king instead of a heavenly one.

  13. And in verses 10-18, Samuel tells them that the earthly king will:

  14. draft their sons into war and service.

  15. Take their daughters to be servants

  16. And take their money & resources for his own enrichment

  17. And indeed, if you read about Israel’s future kings in the books of 1 & 2 Kings, it’s a story of pain, not of glorious victory.

  18. But humans yearn for a leader with a face.

  19. And so, Christians all over the world, and century after century end up falling for this same trap of 1 Samuel 8.

  20. And we look not to God as our primary leader, but to political leaders, and political parties.

  21. And you might even be saying, “No! That feels like exaggeration. I’m not doing that! I’m not looking to a political leader or party over God.

  22. But the evidence is seen (not by what we say), but by the way we spend our time.

  23. Tell me: In the last 3 or 4 months?

  24. Have you spent more time in the Bible & prayer or in consuming political content on YouTube, social media, cable TV?

  25. In so many ways, we’re being led every day, not by our Heavenly King, but by earthly leaders.

  26. Let’s take a look at our next risk.

  27. WE RISK CHRISTIANS BECOMING SYNONYMOUS WITH A LEADER OR A PARTY

  28. THE RISKS OF CHRISTIANS MAKING POLITICS PRIMARY

  29. #1: We risk putting our trust in earthy kings instead of our Heavenly King

  30. #2: We risk Christianity becoming synonymous with a leader or a party

  31. Christianity is not a political party.

  32. Now, globally, and in history, certainly there are political parties that reflect the values of Christian teaching more than others do, right?

  33. But Christianity is not a political party.

  34. But when the average person on the street starts to think that Christianity is synonymous with a political party, or they can’t differentiate between the message of the political party and the message of Christianity, then we have problems.

  35. And it’s a sliding scale of problems.

  36. At minimum, it lowers our gospel witness.

  37. People of opposite political parties won’t want to hear about the salvation of Jesus because they will have determined that that’s just a part of your political culture, and they HATE your political culture.

  38. And on the more serious side of the scale, when the church in a country gets really enmeshed with a political party, the damage can get much more severe.

  39. Like in Rwanda in the 1990’s when certain churches fell in line with the Hutus during the Genocide.

  40. Or in the Balkans in SouthEastern Europe at the end of the 20th century.

  41. Still today, that’s one of the hardest places in the world to share the Gospel because people literally blame Christians for the war…because the political party and Christianity felt like one in the same to them.

  42. There are plenty of other more extreme examples around the world (from Africa to Asia to Europe) where the church becomes so synonymous and (even symbiotic) with a political party…and before you know it, the political party is telling the church what to do.

  43. So because this is true, and because this has happened SO many times in history…

  44. ….I think it would be prudent if I gave you 4 warning signs (it’ll be like a bonus mini message within point #2), that the church in America could be walking down the path towards merging with a political party.

  45. That doesn’t mean we are, or that we will, but if we don’t take the right steps to course correct, it means that we might.

  46. So we’ve got to take a look at the warning signs

  47. 4 Warning Signs the American Church Could Be Merging into a Political Party

  48. #1: When our political affiliation becomes our primary identity

  49. According to Pew Research & the American Family Survey, Americans are now more likely to marry someone of a different religion than they are someone of a different political party.

  50. In fact, only 4% of all recent weddings involved a democrat marrying a republican. 4%!

  51. In America, politics has become our primary identity & signal of our belief system

  52. And I see this creeping into even the church.

  53. Often, in conversations, I now hear Christians first describe themselves first as Conservative, not Christian.

  54. Or liberal if that’s what you wanted me to say in that sentence. 😊

  55. Twice in the past month, I’ve heard someone talking about someone else’s moral belief and then say the words, “Oh, they believe that’s wrong because, well, they’re conservative.”

  56. They didn’t say, “They believe that’s sinful because the Christian Bible says so, but because they’re conservative (and it’s currently on the Republican Party Platform I guess??”)

  57. One of the hallmarks of being Christian is that we are first and foremost citizens of another land

  58. (Philippians 3:20a) – NIV

  59. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven.

  60. So when you see Christians identifying themselves firstly by their political party and not their citizenship in heaven…we should start to get a little nervous.

  61. 4 Warning Signs the American Church Could Be Merging into a Political Party

  62. #1: When our political affiliation becomes our primary identity

  63. #2: When political parties become the main source of our worldview

  64. That is they become the institution (and not the church) that is mostly shaping how people view the world, morality, values, etc.

  65. And this too is something we have to watch out for.

  66. In part because of how much time people spend online consuming content not from the Bible, or pastors, or Biblical scholars, but from political celebrities, the Daily Wire, Fox News, MSNBC, whatever their cup of tea is.

  67. People spend HOURS a day on that stuff and minutes in the Bible, and so what are they shaped by?

  68. I have seen the results firsthand of people now getting their worldview from politics rather than Scripture.

  69. For example: It used to be that when people would disagree with something I said in a message, I’d get sent a Bible verse telling me to think about a different perspective.

  70. Now, I get sent Rachel Maddow and Ben Shapiro videos

  71. We are being discipled, our worldviews are being shaped, not by the Word, but by the political culture.

  72. 4 Warning Signs the American Church Could Be Merging into a Political Party

  73. #1: When our political affiliation becomes our primary identity

  74. #2: When political parties become the main source of our worldview

  75. #3: When we begin to fully accept political parties without critique

  76. One of the things that grieves me is how quickly Christians are fully accepting the platforms of their political parties. Without questioning them

  77. On both sides!

  78. But we are citizens of heaven…and our first allegiance is to the lamb (and his Word, not the donkey or the elephant.

  79. So, for example: If the Democratic party in MN wants to further the movement of transgenderism, Christians should oppose that (we just saw last week how destructive to lives that ideology is…and it’s a contradiction to the Word of God)

  80. When the Republican National Committee removed from its platform this summer that “Marriage is between one man and one woman,” Christians should oppose that.

  81. That goes against God’s Holy Word on Marriage

  82. But if we take in the party line without ever challenging it from our Christian perspective, then we must ask ourselves what is primarily shaping our worldview?

  83. Our politics or our faith?

  84. 4 Warning Signs the American Church May Be Merging into a Political Party

  85. #1: When our political affiliation becomes our primary identity

  86. #2: When political parties become the main source of our worldview

  87. #3: When we begin to fully accept political parties without critique

  88. #4: When the topics of the party become the topics of the pulpit

  89. As someone who studies churches and follows a lot of churches, I would say one of the biggest trends of the last 3-4 years has been the rise of the evangelical-political church.

  90. 10 years ago, you almost would almost never hear political talk in an evangelical church on a Sunday morning, but now there are churches whose weekly sermons almost seem like talking points from a political rally…

  91. And that’s not to say that churches shouldn’t talk about moral issues (we should if it’s in the Bible), but the church must learn from history here.

  92. I think often about some of Timothy Keller’s final words to the American Church that he penned shortly before he died a little over a year ago.

  93. He warned the Bible-believing Church, and he said:

  94. We’ve got to look at what happened in the middle of the 20th century to the Mainline Protestants (the Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, etc.) not only did they walk away from the truth of the Word…

  95. …but their Sunday services essentially were the exact same talking points as a Democratic Rally.

  96. And people started to say, “Why get up early, and go & feel guilty for my sins…it’s actually a lot more fun to just go to a rally.”

  97. And so they stopped going to church.

  98. And some of those denominations have lost millions upon millions of people

  99. In fact, some of them literally won’t even exist 50 years from now.

  100. And then Keller, in some of his last words, warned the evangelical church.

  101. And he said, “If we do the same, and our church pulpits become platforms that focus primarily on the talking points of the Republican party…

  102. …not only will the Gospel message of Jesus Christ fall to the background, but there will be no point to be here on a Sunday morning either…just stay in bed & watch Charlie Kirk on YouTube.

  103. And listen, the objections in your head are so loud right, I can hear them.

  104. You’re saying,

  105. “But David, but these commentators and politicians…their points are true!

  106. “But David, one party has candidates that reflect Christian character more”

  107. “But David, one party is more favorable to Christians and Christian ideas and policy”

  108. Sure, yeah, I completely understand those points.

  109. Buy I’m not actually talking about that…

  110. I’m merely saying that we are at great risk when the Word of God is no longer our primary worldview shaper…and also when the church starts to primarily preach party talking points instead of the Gospel.

  111. Historically, globally, when those things happen, trouble is ahead for the church.

  112. And I don’t want that for the American Church.

  113. POLITICS IS NOT THE PRIMARY WAY GOD’S KINGDOM ADVANCES

  114. And that brings me to our next main point.

  115. THE RISKS OF CHRISTIANS MAKING POLITICS PRIMARY

  116. #1: We risk putting our trust in earthy kings instead of our Heavenly King

  117. #2: We risk Christianity becoming synonymous with a leader or a party

  118. #3: We risk thinking that politics is the primary way God’s kingdom advances

  119. Which it is not.

  120. Many wanted Jesus to advance his Kingdom by obtaining earthly political power (they wanted Him to overthrow Rome) because they thought that was the best way to affect change in their society.

  121. Look what happens after the people saw Jesus miraculously feed the 5,000:

  122. (John 6:14-15) – NIV

  123. 14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

  124. Jesus knew His Kingdom would not be established through political power.

  125. THE RISKS OF CHRISTIANS MAKING POLITICS PRIMARY

  126. #1: We risk putting our trust in earthy kings instead of our Heavenly King

  127. #2: We risk Christianity becoming synonymous with a leader or a party

  128. #3: We risk thinking that politics is the primary way God’s kingdom advances

  129. The same is true in the Book of Acts.

  130. The primary way that Peter, Titus, Barnabas, and Paul brought God’s Kingdom to Roman Empire was not by making sure good local officials got elected, but by preaching the Gospel

  131. Please don’t hear me wrong: I’m not saying Christians should avoid politics.

  132. Quite the opposite!

  133. If we leave politics only to non-Christians, we will be poor stewards of this society God has given to us.

  134. And we will eventually reap an even more broken culture

  135. I actually quite admire the Christian men & women who have chosen to sacrificially serve by going into a life of politics…

  136. …and quite frankly we need more of them, and people to volunteer to help them.

  137. But what I am saying is that while most Christians don’t overtly say “Politics is the primary way God advances His Kingdom”

  138. ……but by the way that we spend our time, by what we worry about, by what we talk about, by the way we try and evangelize others on social media into our politics…

  139. …you’d be hard pressed to convince me that people don’t actually (even if it’s subconscious) feel that politics is the primary way God will advance His Kingdom.

  140. Over the last 5 years, I can’t tell you how many people have come up to me after a service and said, “What am I going to do if the other party wins?”

  141. I’m just worried about if they institute this, this, and this…

  142. And they tell me about their research and how they can’t sleep at night thinking about it.

  143. And in my heart, I just yearn for the day when people to grab me in the lobby and tell me that they can’t sleep at night because their co-worker doesn’t know Christ.

  144. And without a saving faith, they won’t spend eternity in heaven.

  145. What do we really want for America?

  146. Truly? Search your heart. What do you really want for this country?

  147. If we answer this question wrongly, we’ll take the wrong path to change society.

  148. What we should really want…above everything else for this country…is revival.

  149. Is for God to move in such a way that the Gospel goes forth and millions upon millions give their lives to Christ.

  150. Listen, as I’ve said from this pulpit for years, I believe laws are important.

  151. And we should work hard, really hard, to pass legislation that is just, protects children, and promotes freedom and all that is good. Yes, yes, and yes!

  152. But if we pass all the right laws, and Americans become even more moral, they’re still going to go to hell without Christ.

  153. I don’t know your political preference or who you voted for, but let me ask you a question:

  154. Does your candidate getting in this year or in 2028, does that increase the chances of your neighbor finding eternal salvation?

  155. What America needs more than anything is Jesus Christ.

  156. Listen to me very closely: The end goal of Christianity is not a moral and safe society, it’s a society full of people that glorify God!

  157. But unfortunately, what most of us actually want (even more than the salvation of our neighbors), is comfort & safety.

  158. …so we’ve end up fashioning a golden calf out of God, and we’ve made him this “god” that is primarily concerned with this political world..

  159. …because like the Israelites in 1 Samuel 8, we have deduced that the best way to obtain comfort & safety is through human political power.

  160. I see this everywhere in the church.

  161. I see every 4 years (of course different groups of people) celebrating, throwing parties, high-fiving each other…

  162. not because our friends & neighbors are being saved for all of eternity and finding life in Jesus Christ…

  163. ..but because our candidate got in…and we have deduced that God has accomplished his most important task, and He has made us SAFE!

  164. You say, but David, don’t we want safety and freedom and all of those things that politics helps us obtain?

  165. Why would you not want that?

  166. Why would you not celebrate that?

  167. Oh, I want it! I deeply want it!

  168. But if we primarily chase after this way, we won’t get it!

  169. Here is the nuance that the Christian church in America has got to rediscover, quickly, or we are in serious trouble.

  170. Revival produces Godly politics

  171. But Godly politics don’t produce a revival

  172. When the church once again emphasizes the primary tasks of God’s Kingdom: Prayer, Evangelism, Discipleship, the Gospel…

  173. We will once again see thousands, and then hundreds of thousands of people accepting Christ…

  174. …and as the Holy Spirit begins to indwell those new believers, and God starts to grow fruit in their life…

  175. …of love, patience, righteousness, and wisdom.

  176. They are changed, and many will rise up to lead…

  177. …as coaches, and principals, and business leaders, and even politicians…

  178. …who will then in turn create a more Godly and moral society.

  179. And the people within that society will live more safe, peaceful, and moral lives because the Spirit of God is in them!

  180. But if we emphasize things in the wrong order.

  181. Which, as I fear, the American church is starting to do, and we begin to think that change must first (and primarily) come through the political world…

  182. …and we as Christians exhaust all of our efforts, not into evangelizing our neighbor, but into getting our candidate elected.

  183. If we do that…

  184. …then I must warn you revival will not follow.

  185. You can get all the right leaders elected, and pass all the right laws…but legislation does not (and cannot) bring the dead to life.

  186. It just can’t.

  187. No, what we must rediscover is that good politics is an outworking of the gospel…a result of the gospel.

  188. …but it is not, in and of itself, the gospel.

  189. Or the church’s primary objective.

  190. So my prayer is that we heed this word.

  191. And we return to the primary work of the Kingdom.

  192. Because otherwise, the Lord will do what He did with the Israelites in 1 Samuel 8 when they kept insisting on having a king.

  193. (1 Samuel 8:21-22a)

  194. 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

  195. Because sometimes the only way that God can break our enslavement to an idol, is to let us have it…and to let the idol break us.

  196. Let’s pray that never happens.

  197. Let’s come back to the Gospel.

  198. Amen? Amen!

Copyright:

David Sorn

Renovation Church in Blaine, MN

You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.

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