The world is headed into Holy Week, the holiest of times for the worlds more than 2 billion Christians. Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth entered Jerusalem as a king on Palm Sunday; was tortured, crucified, killed and buried on Friday; and rose again on Easter Sunday. It is one of the defining weeks in human history. As we head there, it is an appropriate time to pause the politics and dwell on this.

The resurrection either happened or did not. There is ample circumstantial evidence. Christians believe “by faith,” but their “hope,” as referenced in the New Testament, is better phrased as their “profound certainty” in a resurrection backed by evidence.

Many Christians in the United States are fretful of the nations current state. A growing number have fixed their eyes not on a cross or empty tomb but on a ballot box. They are convinced that if they give enough, cheer enough and vote enough, they can save their nation. What they forget is that this is not their home. In elevating politics above the gospel, they have harmed their witness. Going so far into the world of politics, they reflect the world to the world instead of reflecting Christ.

God is sovereign. He needs no man to do. The Spirit does. The Spirit moves through men, and men might act. But many have decided there is no reason to wait on the Spirit, or they become deluded, thinking God told them to act in ways and with behaviors that do not reflect a love of their neighbor. The books of the Old Testament are filled with false prophets who claimed to speak for God but were only speaking for themselves, often out of a sense of nationalist fervor.