Politics Renewed

I've been watching the presidential debate tonight and thinking about a book that I read in college by John Howard Yoder entitled The Politics of Jesus. One of his central theses is that there is no way that we can separate the Jesus of the gospels from the politics of his day. Because of his mission and his ministry he was thrust into the limelight of the political scene. He was constantly asked, who do you agree with the Pharisees or the Saducees? the Herodians or the Zealots? The Republicans or the Democrats? Similarly, I often feel pushed into fitting into one label or another. I tried to shed that stigma by registering as undeclared, but in conversation, even tonight with our church staff, I always find myself putting other people into dichotomized categories and thinking in them. Jesus had this amazing way of getting above the fray and getting to the heart of what is really going on. A simple example is when the Pharisees (who were more anti-Rome) and the Herodians (who were extremely pro-Rome) came to question Jesus about where our money goes. This is something hotly debated in the political world, especially among your average Joe. Should the government get to spend my money? Should I get to spend it the way I want? Should I be forced to pay for programs I don't agree with? This is a similar question that they asked Jesus, "Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" What they were really asking was who do you support? Do you support us or them? What was his response? A new way to look at it beyond the two-sided rhetoric of either party. "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." In some ways he was siding with the Pharisees because as you think about it, you quickly realize, everything is God's in th end, something that would have pleased them greatly. But at the same time he does not completely deny or support either party, but rather brings the topic to what it is really about, where our ultimate allegiance truly lies, not with a party, not with one side or the other but with God. We need a renewed vision of politics that steps above the polarization that occurs in our world today and while I'm sure we may rarely find one voice as to what this looks like perhaps Jesus' call to give to God what is rightfully his (all things) is a great place to start.