I often get complaints when I address political issues. People want me to stick to the spiritual realm.
Impossible.
Because love is political.
Because religion is political.
Because what is true must apply to all of life.
Love is indiscriminate. Like the sun that shines on everyone, the rain that falls on all, and gravity that pulls everything. Everyone is included. All means all.
But when people respond with anger and say that all doesn’t really mean all, that some must be excluded because of who they are or what they believe, I say, “See? Suddenly we’ve become political. You’ve voted on who can be a citizen of love and who can’t.”
Love refuses to stay in a neat little corner of life called “spiritual.”
What we believe about people always spills over into how we treat them. Every thought, when believed long enough, eventually trickles down into behavior, systems, and policy.
In other words, if you believe some people are superior and others are inferior, even quietly, eventually that belief will show up in how people are treated.
History proves this over and over again.
The end result can be horrific, like genocide. But it never begins there. It begins with small divisions. With drawing lines between “us” and “them.” With deciding who belongs and who doesn’t.
Like the proverbial gun at the beginning of a story: at some point it must be fired.
Jesus understood this.
He thought positively about the marginalized: women, sex workers, tax collectors, the poor, refugees, and people from other races and cultures. But this couldn’t remain a just lofty spiritual idea.
So he acted.
He ate with them. Drank with them. Talked with them. Sat beside them.
He loved them.
The message wasn’t just “I love you,” but “I love you in the face of a society that rejects you and pushes you aside. You deserve a place at the table just as much as anyone else!”
And the authorities hated that message.
Because when love crosses the boundaries society has carefully built, it threatens power. It challenges privilege. It disrupts the systems that keep some people above others.
Jesus’ message was, “This is how it should be!”
And those in power responded, “No. We’ll keep things the way they are. And if necessary, we’ll eliminate you to make sure it stays that way.”
Love IS political!
