By Eric Blauer
“God told Isaiah son of Amoz, ‘Go, take off your clothes and sandals,’ and Isaiah did it, going about naked and barefooted….three years as a warning sign…,” Isaiah 20:2-4.
God will go to some outrageous lengths to get the attention of a wayward people who continually put their trust in money, military might and religious idolatry instead of God. It must of been shocking to be confronted by a naked preacher but you’d probably never forget his message.
Maybe it’s time to bring in the Streaker Saints because by the look of the political landscape we Evangelicals have forgotten who we are. There truly is a gap between the pulpit and the pew and its widening with each generation.
- Among pastors who are Republicans, Cruz (29 percent) is in the lead, followed by Ben Carson (10 percent), Marco Rubio (8 percent), and Trump (5 percent). Meanwhile, 39 percent are undecided.
- Evangelical pastors prefer Cruz (18 percent), Carson (8 percent), and Rubio (8 percent). Mainline pastors choose Cruz (13 percent), Clinton (10 percent), Sanders (8 percent), and Carson (7 percent).
- Based on most other polls, rank-and-file evangelicals and church attendees are most likely supporting Trump.
“Simply put, it’s a bizarre election season,” said Ed Stetzer.
Reading the prophet Isaiah seems like a commentary on today’s political landscape. Idolatry is alive and well when you examine our conversations, listen to the debates and talk shows, read articles and roll through Facebook feeds. Isaiah warned our culture about what would grow in the soil of godlessness and lip service religion.
Isaiah said that dead, external, religious performance produces a cultural ethic characterized by a lack of concern for work and workers. Injustice in labor, economics, politics and international diplomacy is dismantled in Isaiah.
The people of God in Israel and Judah were continuously turning to man and the work of their own hands instead of trust and obedience to God. Isaiah’s preaching and writing ministry often focused on three things: God’s people’s trust and worship of wealth, military might, and idols (Wealth: Is. 2:7, Idols: Is. 2:8, Military/Leaders Is. 2:22). The combination of these three issues leads to increased injustice, unnecessary warfare and religious deception that erodes the justice and spiritual vitality of a community.
The poor, the marginalized and the foreigner become focal points of abuse in a culture where these idols are lord. We not only forget God but we forget the poor (Isaiah 3:8,13-15, Isaiah 5:8), which ultimately leads to abusing them. This theme is especially evident in our culture right now and it’s spilling out in ugly, fearful, xenophobic ways.
All these issues are front and center in this political season and understandably so in light of the challenges and opportunities we face as a nation and world. But I am alarmed at how easily us Christians, particularly evangelical ones, seem to be consciously overlooking the biblical values and ethics we say we base our own lives upon.
We are supporting presidential campaigns that are built on the very character traits and personal actions that the bible warns against. We are being lured by narratives and policies of greed, absolute power and the lusts of our own hearts instead of the vision and values of the Kingdom of God.
I’m not going to strip off my clothes this Sunday, but I hope to be bold and over-the-top enough to confront a religious landscape that seems unable to see or hear anything less outrageous.
