In Matthew 10:34-36, Jesus describes that He will bring division within a household and even with a family.
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
Since shortly before and after the last election and inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, I have been observing some of the chatter online. Some of it borders on vitriol and hate toward anyone who doesn’t share an extremely Right opinion on matters such as Immigration and don’t you dare say anything that might possibly be of a questioning nature about the picks for the Trump Administration. He must not be touched.
I am not writing with any intent to run the administration down. The past four years were pretty awful. We had an out-and-out assault on kids and an affirmation of mental illness as a physical condition that saw many youths physically mutilated and scarred both physically and psychologically, for life! Lawlessness has increased exponentially and it’s as if we’re in Judges, where everyone does what’s right in their own eyes.
My concern is that we may face a new problem, which should have been left behind with the old administration. The problem? “Don’t question the method.”
If we cannot question, or raise concerns about methods for change, we’re back where we were a short time ago. If we cannot speak in measured tones about topics that we’re passionate about, without flying off the handle, we’ve just changed sides for another wing of the same bird.
My concern is that Jesus may not have come to just be the sword between us and unbelievers, but between some of us who believe in God above all else, and others who but put their government before God.
The issue I am speaking of is idolatry. We can only serve one God. It’s either God, or political figure. It can’t be both. You can appreciate and support a political figure. Unless God permits it, they don’t get to be in charge. But there is a hierarchy. God must always come first and His second commandment is to Love One Another. There is no room for vitriol.