Introduction
I grew up in politics. My father worked in the Congress, ran numerous political campaigns and eventually worked in the White House. As a young boy I attended President Kennedy’s inauguration. In my teen years I worked with my father on several political campaigns and attended political conventions. In high school and college when most kids were cutting lawns or flipping burgers during the summers, I was working in Congressional offices. Most of my parents’ friends were politicians. After graduating from law school, I worked in the House of Representatives and later the United States Senate, serving as counsel to the Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate and Chief Counsel of a US Senate Subcommittee. In 1988 I left the political world behind, went to seminary and became a leader of a Messianic Jewish congregation in Richmond, Virginia.
Growing up in a political family my goal was to enter politics and someday run for political office. Things changed when I became a follower of Jesus the Messiah as a senior in high school. Now, the goal became to serve the Lord and follow His calling on my life. I remained interested in government and politics. When in college I was active in student government, and then following law school, as explained above, I worked in Congress. But my focus while working there was on honoring God. One of my guiding verses from the Bible was from Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Messiah you are serving.”
I didn’t see my role there as trying to pass legislation supported by some religious agenda. Rather, I saw myself as a representative of Jesus by life example and speech. I started and led a popular Bible study attended by Congressional staff from both parties. The only rule was that politics was to be left at the door. In this way all felt welcome.
I was working there when the Moral Majority formed. This was the beginning of the modern rise of Evangelical Christianity into the political arena. The goal of the Moral Majority was to return America to her Christian roots. I will examine the formation and impact of the Moral Majority in a later chapter. Suffice it to say, I didn’t agree with their vision. I found many of the founders of the so-called Religious Right to be politically naïve and biblically off-base. I felt the amalgamation of politics and religion to be a huge mistake. In fact, I began writing a book at that time, similar to what I’m writing now.
As I stated above, I left the political world in 1988, went to seminary and eventually moved with my family to Richmond, Virginia to lead a then fledgling Messianic Jewish congregation. I served there for twenty-two years. Despite my long political experience, with one exception, I never discussed politics from the pulpit. The most I would do was to encourage people to vote when elections occurred. During the 1990’s one of the Evangelical political organizations wanted to place voting guides in our congregation. I read the guides and found them very biased and misleading. I prohibited them from being placed in the congregation. The congregation was supposed to be a welcoming place for all.
By the time of Barak Obama’s first campaign for President, politics was beginning to spill over into our congregation. I heard some people saying a follower of Jesus could never vote for Obama. I was appalled. Divisions began appearing. I finally addressed the issues in a sermon in 2008, called “Religion and Politics.” I discussed the historical experiences of merging religion and politics, most of which resulted in disasters. We examined the Scriptures as to how Jesus responded to political issues. I then outlined what I believed to be a Biblical view of the subject, and what was appropriate for believers to do and/or not to do. I made it clear that the congregation was to be a political free zone.
In 2011 my wife and I moved to Israel. In Israel I practice law and have been involved somewhat politically. We also attend a large Messianic congregation in the Haifa area. I continue to be involved in the Messianic Jewish movement worldwide.
Of course, when I spoke about the subject of religion and politics in 2008, I had no idea of what was coming, exemplified by the Evangelical support of Donald Trump. I watched in horror as Evangelical leader after Evangelical leader supported the Trump candidacy. Excuses were made about his character, arguing that with Trump in the White House, Christians would finally have a warrior. The liberal agenda would be thwarted, and policies supported by the Religious Right would be implemented. While I was no fan of Hilary Clinton, I voted Democrat for President for the first time in forty years.
During the Trump presidency, I became disconsolate how Evangelicals fawned over him, excusing incredibly ungodly behavior. It seemed like Christianity had merged with a certain political agenda, which often seemed at odds with values highlighted in the Bible. When I visited and spoke in the United States, I never referred to the Trump presidency, but I did warn about adopting ungodly speech and behavior and watching highly biased news commentators that promoted societal division.
As the 2020 Presidential campaign launched, I began writing articles about the dangers of merging religion and politics. At one of my daughter’s urgings, I started doing video blogs about the subject and posting them on YouTube.[i] The 2020 election came and went, but then incredibly the then occupant of the White House refused to concede and started an unprecedented campaign to overturn the election results. Then came the riot at the Capitol. Most of the crowd claimed to be Christians. Some of those in attendance I knew personally. Many Evangelical leaders began backpedaling about their support of Trump’s claims of election fraud. But very few recognize the tremendous damage they have done by merging religion and politics. Much of the Millennial and Generation Z populations are appalled at the hypocrisy of religious leaders supporting someone who is ungodly in speech and behavior and who is a danger to the future of democracy. Worse, these generations are turning away from organized religion in droves. The good news of Jesus the Messiah has been contaminated by politics and power.
I’m writing this now to warn about the future. Untold damage has been done to the gospel message. The simplicity of the life changing message of Jesus the Messiah has been merged with a version of conservative politics. Apocalyptic warnings flow from mouths of Christian leaders about the onslaught of the “leftist agenda,” while not recognizing that the Jesus they preach is full of division, judgment and nationalism. The news most of these people listen to is distorted, biased and often lacking factual accuracy. The so-called cultural divide is caused mainly by followers of Jesus. The United States is facing a crisis comparable to that of the Civil War. Will we be the dividers or the uniters?
The remainder of the book will describe how we got to where we are, the historical experiences of merging religion and politics, what Jesus has to say about the subject and what is a proper relationship between religion and politics.
[i] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbkvZXD-Gckms3swSP2_edg
