Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (NLT)

Are you Red or Blue? Do you follow a Donkey or an Elephant? Which one of these two groups makes you excited and which makes you angry?  Where do your allegiances lie? About every four years, starting about summertime, we begin to feel something rising up in us. Even if you’re not a registered voter, these questions take center stage in our lives and the closer we get to November and election day, the deeper we dig in and the more passionate and committed we become when it comes to supporting “our political party,” right?

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Do you want to hear something crazy? The party that you follow today looked a lot different after the Civil War in the 1860s. In other words, the Democratic party was known for their staunch conservative views while the Republican party had what were considered to be extreme liberal views. Without jumping into a history lesson, it’s safe to say that the social, economic, and political views back then were much the same as they are today with the difference being opposite names of the party affiliations we have today. The parties have switched! Kind of mind blowing, don’t you think?

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But what if I told you there is One that will never change? One that sees both sides of our political affiliation. One that asks us to commit to him alone, and if we do that, we will have grace for a fellow creation of God, even if they may not have the same political views we have. In the book The Party Crasher written by Joshua Ryan Butler, he talks about the King of Kings Commitment, or what his church more commonly refers to as the “Ten Political Commandments.” Paralleling the biblical Ten Commandments given to Moses, the first political commandment is Worship: “I commit my allegiance to King Jesus over all idols and ideologies.” (ref. Exodus 20:2-3, Psalm 115:1-8, and our key verse Phil 2:9-11).  

What does this mean? Simply this: put God and Christ first. If you can do that, then perhaps next time you find yourself having a political disagreement with a friend or family member, or a party that does not align with your ideologies, you can show patience and restraint before a brother or sister. Perhaps you can see the same Christ in them as you see in yourself.  

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Give this a try. In John 13:34-35, Christ gives us a new commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (emphasis mine). Will we obey this command? If our country’s political parties can entirely flip over the last 150 years, certainly God can change our hearts too!  

Heavenly Father, election season has become a turbulent time in America. Forgive us when we let our political beliefs divide us. Father, help me keep you first in my life – first over my ideologies and political views, first over any disagreement I have with another. I pray that I would show grace and love to others, just as you commanded. Amen.