The news here in the UK is flooded today with yesterday's argument between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Some people won't have heard about it, nor will they be interested; others will have heard aggressive comments, potentially on both sides, and maybe those comments have come from their friends or influencers or parents. How do we engage with news like this, without taking sides? Or does it even matter if we take sides?
Where do we start?
It's easy to think the Bible was written thousands of years ago and has nothing to say about Zelenskyy and Trump. And perhaps we think that allows us to let our political persuasions guide our thought, speech and actions. And yet, we do know the Bible framework within which God operates and within which he calls us to operate.
God's values
God has some key values and he never changes. Those include:
Goodness
Truth
Justice
Compassion and kindness
Righteousness
Peace
Humility
Values such as these guide God's actions. He wants them to guide us too.
God has strong words on how powerful people use their power
God cares passionately for the oppressed. When the Israelites were ticking the religious boxes but not caring about justice, God said through Isaiah:
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Isaiah 58.6-7
In the New Testament, the same idea emerges as Jesus challenges the religious authorities in Matthew 23.4:
They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
In other words, they use their power to oppress and they don't help the oppressed. Similarly, John the Baptist doesn't say having power is the problem, but how people use that power. John says to a soldier of an invading army (Luke 3.14):
Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.
These were powerful people, yet Jesus said they should not misuse that power to oppress people. Interestingly, at the same time, Jesus said it was right to pay the temple tax (Matthew 17.27), so as not to cause offence.
But the powerful and unjust always seem to win!
God's idea of success and failure is different to most of the world's. My Bible study notes (the Good Book Company's Explore notes) this morning were from 1 Kings 16.21-34 and talked about success and failure. Omri bought Samaria and reigned 12 years and Ahab reigned 22 years. Some of the earlier kings had only reigned two. Omri and Ahab might have considered themselves successful rulers, compared to their predecessors, and yet, God saw them differently:
But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him.
1 Kings 16.25
Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.
1 Kings 16.30
Sometimes we might think that powerful people are succeeding and the less powerful are losing. We can even be tempted to behave like them. When we feel like this, we need to remember that God sees what is happening (Hebrews 9.27-28):
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
People may look like they get away with things in this world, but God's justice and his salvation are coming.
How should we respond?
"Being right is not a fruit of the Spirit."
I said these words recently to someone who was about to be on a question panel. Think about it for a moment. When Paul wanted to say what God's Holy Spirit should be growing in the lives of believers in Galatians 5.22-23, he wrote:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
He never included being right. That doesn't mean truth is not important, but these fruit should shape the way we speak the truth. When we see something we don't like on the news, we might be in danger of losing our peace, forbearance, kindness and gentleness, yes, even our self-control.
Submission...
Paul said to the early followers of Christ in Romans 13.1:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.
And Paul lived out what he preached, even apologising in Acts 23.5 when he insulted the high priest!
... and yet speaking up for the oppressed
Submission does not have to mean staying quiet. The writer of Proverbs in 31.8-9 calls his readers to:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
How do these words guide our response to the disagreement yesterday or to cuts to foreign aid budgets?
Speaking positively...
We might think that unjust behaviour gives us licence to be rude. Paul disagrees in Ephesians 4.29:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Is politician talking to politician covered by these words? Yes! Is commentator talking about politicans covered? Yes! Is teenager sending a Snap about another teenager covered? Yes! Check out verse 31 for further guidance.
...and with gentleness
Paul writes in Philippians 4.5:
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
That's what Christians are called to. You might argue that Jesus was pretty strong in what he said, for example to his religious opponents in Matthew 23.37, calling them 'hypocrites' and 'whitewashed tombs.' I'd suggest that I'm not Jesus, the Son of God, so I will try hard not to call someone a whitewashed tomb or worse.
Living without fear
When disagreements between powerful people happen, like when President Trump says that Zelenskyy is 'gambling with World War 3', we might worry about the future, but one of the most common commands in the Bible is: "Do not fear!" Phrases like 'Do not fear', 'Do not be afraid' and 'Do not be anxious' are all over the Bible. Check some of them out in this video. Psalm 34.4 reminds us to spend time with God when we're concerned about how the world is going:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Jesus is on His throne
Even when things look shaky, Jesus is on His throne. He is the rightful king. He won the victory over injustice on the cross and one day every knee will bow before Him (Philippians 2.9-11):
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
There will come a time when King Jesus reigns supreme and there will be total peace. Isaiah 2.4 pictures it like this:
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Revelation 21.4 goes on to say:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Peace will come to the earth through Jesus. In the meantime, we do not need to fear when wars come, or when it seems that bad people are winning, whether that's on a global stage or bullies in our schools.
Don't be afraid to talk about what's going on in the news, even about politics, but:
Try to avoid taking sides and alienating people. Instead,
Focus on God's character.
Try to focus on one key issue.
Be clear about how we can respond in a godly way to what is happening, not just speaking negatively about others.
Point people towards Jesus and our eternal hope.
Often, we don't even need to say what we think about any item in the news. We simply point people towards Jesus and his word, and let them speak into the situation. If parents, youth pastors, young people or Christians generally handle news stories like the Oval Office argument carefully and biblically, we might help others to do the same.
If you want to improve your Bible teaching and application to current events, read chapters 'The Big Idea' and 'Preparing a Talk' in my book, 'Raising the Bar: Nearly Everything You Need to Know about Christian Youth Ministry' which you can buy here.
Spoiler alert: pastors will find it helpful too. You'll just find most of the illustrations are from youth ministry.
You can find out here what other youth leaders think about the book.
And please let me know what you think about this blog through the link at the bottom of this page.
Breaking news photo by Pete Linforth, Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben is actually the bell) by Ron Porter, fruit by Jenő Szabó, boy on phone by Kathy Bugajsky - all on Pixabay.
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