Is God On Our Side, Or Are We On His?

Question: 

What would make any political party think that they would have the right to claim God as their own?  God does not belong to a political party, especially not to one full of crooks and swindlers who start unjust wars.

My Reply:

Is God on our side or are we on His?  There have been many battles in our world's history based this question.  Even during the American Civil War, armies often attacked claiming that God was on their side. But President Abraham Lincoln once mentioned that the question is not whether or not God is on our side, but whether or not we're on His.

The Bible also mentions a time when Joshua and the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan River, and were about to wipe out Jericho. “Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as Commander of the Army of the Lord, I have now come.”

I think the reasons politicians and governments often claim God as being on their side is because:

1. Selfishness
2. Confusion about God and His mission
3. Pride and stubbornness 

They’re selfishness causes them to believe that God is only their God, and not the God of all creation. I know, many religions claim this too.  But the problem arises when one group of people claim that God is only ABLE to be the God of one group. For by doing this, they're actually discluding the possibility of God being anybody else's also ("He's ours, and you can't have Him"). This also turn God into an idol, versus the God that He is.  
They're are also ruling out any chance for peace, for if God is on their side, then He can’t be on their enemy’s side, therefore making them His enemies also, and so they think it’s their responsibility to do away with God’s enemies.  They don't realize that God doesn't belong to a people, but that a people belong to God, which brings us to the next point, confusion.

They’re confused about God because they don’t realize that God is above all of humankind’s problems and conflicts.  In fact, the New Covenant that Jesus left us with was to go out and “make disciples”, not kill people for not accepting Him.  They’re also confused on the point of judgment, for the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 that judging people outside the Church is God’s job, not ours.  And if we were to avoid them, then how would we be able to witness to them?  Our responsibility in the judgment-job is to keep each other (within the Body of Christ) accountable for our actions and behaviors.  But the judgment of people not of our “people” (or God’s People) is left to the Lord alone. 

They’re also full of pride and stubborn because even when this Truth is revealed to them, they don’t want to believe it.  Keep in mind that the one who creates conflict and divisions is the real enemy of God…not Man, but Satan.  So if we wish for God to be on “our side”, then we should fight HIS enemies with HIS weapons. But these weapons, as Paul said, "are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  We also fight God’s enemies through prayer, fasting, and standing up to the spiritual powers of darkness with the name of Jesus Christ.  For this war is with darkness, and not against flesh and blood.

But in all this, keep in mind the Lord’s words to Elijah when he thought that he was the only one left who served the Lord (1 Kings 19:18): “Yet I reserve 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Though we don’t hear much about them, there are some in our government who are on God’s side.  Here's a site that might help you see that: http://www.findroom219.com/  I think you'll find it interesting.

---Pastor Andy