Over the past few weeks I have asked various people that I ran into in my neighborhood, at church, at the gym, just about everywhere I could, this question: So what do you think about the republicans and democrats? And if that question leads you to cringe right now, or say “Beau, why would you do such a thing?” rest assured as the answers I got were not as easy to listen to as I naively thought they would be.

I heard a lot of different things, some pro-Democrat, some pro-Republican and some decisively against both. Conversations went everywhere. People shared their philosophies/ideologies, they attacked the “other side” and they shared personal testimonies of how government helped them and how government made their lives harder. It was obvious that people do think a lot about politics and it showed in their passion. Did I mention that it showed in their passion?

However, I did began to notice a trend. Most, if not every one of those conversations led to one topic. Now don’t get me wrong, people discussed different topics, most very briefly, but one topic was always discussed; one topic that all political discussions in this day and age seem to get to… Have I got you thinking? Well if so, you may be thinking of topics like: tax cuts and tax increases, defense spending, Medicare, Obama-care, Wall Street and Main Street, the rich, middle class, capitalism, recession, stimulus, jobs, unemployment, homosexuality, or God. Well, although these words were used, albeit usually very divisively, the one topic that everyone I spoke to eventually talked about at length was…MONEY.

Sometimes I think Satan has done a great job getting us so focused on ourselves, what we have worked hard to make, what we have earned, bought and own, that we begin to see others (what God would hope are/or would be our brothers) as the enemy. The media we consume and the world in which we live constantly remind us and invade our lives to tell us that we could be better if… We are marketed, sold and drink fear — yes I said FEAR — as though it were the best tasting drink that ever existed. We are pitched, handed, and consume hate as though it was the only food with any nutritional value. And when the cup is empty and the plate is clean, we seem to look for the next logic to fear and the next group of people to hate.

We cannot let fear lead. We cannot let the divisive language of rich and poor, democrat and republican, middle and upper class, rule our tongues and polarize our lives. We all, self-included, may need to be reminded that Jesus says we cannot serve two masters. We cannot be afraid to lose our money, our stuff as Christians we know that we are going to lose all the material things of this world. As Christians, we cannot lose our focus by being distracted by fear mongering and hate. We aren’t aliens in this foreign land for just any old reason. We are not disciples who bring with us just any old kingdom. We are Christians. The world will know it by our love, not by material things or by our American lifestyle, but our love of GOD and our love for each other.