{"id":77,"date":"2012-10-26T06:26:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.95\/~redletu4\/politics-will-not-save-you\/"},"modified":"2012-10-26T06:26:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-26T12:26:00","slug":"politics-will-not-save-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics Will Not Save You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

T<\/a>hank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0<\/span>Living in a \u201cSwing State\u201d has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of phone calls, telephone calls, radio and tv ads, and billboards.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
There\u2019s much passion on both sides. People of good faith and conviction stake out positions, often on opposite ends. That\u2019s the nature of humankind. We\u2019ll never really agree on anything. But something I remind my friends is that even if the election goes their way,\u00a0<\/span>all of their troubles<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>won\u2019t be solved.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Think about it. When have politics ever saved us from harm, let alone saved us from ourselves?\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
\nFor centuries, God\u2019s faithful believers have lived through despots, knaves and fools as kings and rulers. The Church has survived tyrants, dictators and simpletons at the helm. Since we are in the world, but not of it, our purpose transcends politics<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>Our forefathers simply went about, doing their job. They preached the gospel. They cared for the\u00a0<\/span>poor, the needy and the disenfranchised of this world, following the Christ\u2019s admonition to help \u201c<\/span>the least of these.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>But something happened along the way. The government stepped in and offered to take on that role. They promised they could do it better. And the church responded by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>washing our hands<\/em>. Our tithe money was diverted to taxes. We quit caring.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Is it possible that a big government<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>is a direct result of a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>little church<\/em>? How much of our focus is not on the lost, but s<\/span>taff and buildings, programs and \u201cministries?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
The Gospel message is this \u2014 We are a body of believers, living in community, effecting change in the world. This mission, given to us by Christ Himself, does not depend on government or\u00a0<\/span>institutions\u00a0 It really doesn\u2019t even depend on\u00a0<\/span>individual\u00a0churches. It starts with me. It starts with you.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
That\u2019s the city on a hill we should long for. The Kingdom of God transcends any party, any platform, any body politic.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
How many Christians willingly display plaster yard signs and bumper stickers for their favorite candidates, argue for a bill or a position, but wouldn\u2019t dream of sharing their faith?<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cSome trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
\nRead all past issues at http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a \u201cSwing State\u201d has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of phone calls, telephone calls, radio and tv ads, and billboards. There\u2019s much passion on both sides. People of good faith and conviction stake out positions, often on opposite ends. That\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,133,431],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-politics","category-christians-in-politics","category-involvement"],"yoast_head":"\nPolitics Will Not Save You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a "Swing State" has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Politics Will Not Save You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a "Swing State" has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-26T12:26:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rupzip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rupert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/\",\"name\":\"Politics Will Not Save You\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-26T12:26:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-26T12:26:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\"},\"description\":\"Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a \\\"Swing State\\\" has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics Will Not Save You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81\",\"name\":\"David Rupert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Rupert\"},\"description\":\"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com\",\"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Politics Will Not Save You","description":"Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a \"Swing State\" has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Politics Will Not Save You","og_description":"Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a \"Swing State\" has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/","og_site_name":"David Rupert","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","article_published_time":"2012-10-26T12:26:00+00:00","author":"David Rupert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rupzip","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rupert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/","name":"Politics Will Not Save You","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-26T12:26:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-26T12:26:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81"},"description":"Thank goodness the elections are drawing down.\u00a0Living in a \"Swing State\" has seen an amazing volume of daily mail, accented by an unprecedented blitz of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/politics-will-not-save-you\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics Will Not Save You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/","name":"David Rupert","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/1ee971d3244e1f67a487a31f55d37c81","name":"David Rupert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47e7c27dc78a66ace4b19bb00da8bccc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Rupert"},"description":"I am a communication professional who has a passion for people. I dream big and with that comes even bigger prayers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.redletterbelievers.com","www.facebook.com\/davidrupert","https:\/\/twitter.com\/rupzip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/author\/drupert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davidrupert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}