Tracy remarked this morning about her interest in seeing where I swing from my current positions. When we met I was still in my rabid, dogmatic Republican days.
I was the former president of my local Young Republicans and still subscribed to all the conservative periodicals (Note: I’ve already discussed my journey to this point in this series. I don’t want to recount it now, but if you interested follow the link.)

Where I am at in my spiritual journey, I fear, looks just like that: a pendulum. And finding more in common on the political landscape with the Democratic party looks like I’ve swung between extremes. But I think that is a mistake and some clarification is in order:

First of all, my source of hope is not in a particular party. I have tremendous problems with the current leadership, but the answer is not in who sits across the aisle. I enjoy politics, but both parties are fallen in that they seek first their own interests. The GOP does not have a monopoly on God, and I can argue that much of what they view as being God-pleasing is nothing more than a distorted view of the Christ of Scripture. Conversely, the Dems have a history of marginalizing those of faith within their party. I see that shifting greatly but, ultimately, it too will fall short.

Secondly, my source of hope is not in the United States. I am blessed to live in this country. I love living here and I benefit greatly from what is America. But it is not the new Israel and my blessings in Christ are not geographical. Being in Christ, as Paul tells us, I have no borders, no nation above the Kingdom. That can be upsetting when we conflate the Kingdom and the nation-state. And I recognize that America is like all other powers of this world: fallen.

Third, I dispute the notion that the place to be is somewhere in the middle. That the desired location is some happy medium between two parties, picking and choosing the positions that best adhere to some muddled belief system.
No, I believe that the place that Jesus calls us to be is on the extremes, among the marginalized. Where the people are lost and forgotten. That true Christian living focuses first and foremost on love. That I view others not on whether they look, act or believe like me. But that I look upon others as children of God, my neighbor.

The answer is not, and can never be, political. Nor is the hope of this world whether or not we balance a budget, rid the world of terrorism or reach across the aisles.
The hope in this world is for the church of the Living God to be salt and light in a darkened, flavorless world.
To love our enemies, even when they want to kill us.
To turn the other cheek, even when it means we will get hurt.
To love unconditionally and sacrificially even when it means we will be taken advantage of.
To think first about others before we think about ourselves even if it means we don’t get ours.
To be like Christ even if it gets us killed.

So the answer is that I hope I don’t swing back to some moderate position. But that instead I will learn to follow Christ to the extremes, to where His children are. For the love of God is never moderate.