Jesus Doesn't Have a Political Party

Jesus Christ is one of the most influential figures in the history of the world. He is the head of the immense religious belief in the world, Christianity. Thirty-one point two percent of the world population identify as Christian. (Hackett and McClendon, 2020). This means that many individuals believe that they have a good understanding of the man who is also fully God. Many different Christians who are strong in their political opinions will sometimes argue that Christ believed in those ideas.

Christianity, the teachings of Jesus, means loving God with all of your mind, body, and soul. From Christians for Social Action, Stephen Mattson states that "No political party has the market cornered on Christian beliefs and despite each side's religious rhetoric, faith-based endorsements, and passionate attempts to secure Christian voters, neither has God's best interests at heart." (, 2017). Political parties are concerned with many different things such as policy, running for elections, and lobbying for various causes. These other parties' goal is not to make sure that the different tasks are for God's purpose. Sometimes the different political parties will try to pull at different individuals' religious beliefs. Still, the first amendment free exercise clause and the establishment clause hold more weight than the various parties push to the public.

Some believe that Jesus was a proponent of Social Justice and holds left-leaning beliefs in American Politics. One example that individuals quote is found in the gospel of Luke 12: 16-21. This is the parable that Jesus Christ gives of the rich fool. In this parable, a wealthy farmland owner realizes that he is producing so much extra grain that he needs to build bigger barns. He believes that he will relax, drink, and be merry after he builds these bigger barns. God then asks the man who will get the surplus grain when he dies. Jesus states in verse twenty, one that "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." [NIV]. Many individuals believe correctly that this scripture pushes against the idea of cronyism. Individuals get this scripture wrong when they think that it goes against the idea of a business owner making a profit. There is nothing against an individual making money when reading this parable, but there is something against an individual against giving to God and the needy. As Christians, we are called to give tithes and offerings to those in need. There is a balance that is found in this parable.

Some individuals may argue that Jesus was a libertarian. Oxford Languages Dictionary defines Libertarians as "an advocate or supporter of a political philosophy that advocates only minimal state intervention in the free market and the private lives of citizens." The evidence used to support this belief is found in Matthew 17: 25-27. In this section of the Gospel of Matthew, we can see that Jesus did not get involved in a matter of citizens' discrepancies with their government. In this specific case, it was dealing with tax rates. Jesus just paid the tax because he was not concerned about the governmental issues of the day. Jesus is more concerned about the religious leaders of the time. He was more concerned with the problems of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Individuals that argue this point also say that Jesus gave to the poor, but voluntarily not "charity through compulsion," as stated by beinglibertarian.com. (, 2017). Charity through compulsion is the idea of individuals paying taxes, and then those taxes get pushed toward social programs to help individuals in need. This is considered to be under compulsion because the government makes sure that individuals pay taxes or be imprisoned. It is charity because parts of the funds are pushed toward social projects, whether it be a new park in the local community, a welfare program for people in need, or money going to schools in the area.

Jesus was an individual who believed in following the law. In chapter five of the Gospel of Matthew, verse seventeen says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Jesus was a follower of laws. However, the rules that Jesus supported in his coming are religious rules and regulations. These are not the laws of a government, even though these are laws of a governing body. God is a governing body in some way, but he is a just and divine ruling class. Jesus also did not want to go against the prophets. The prophets were messengers of God. When prophets spoke foresight, they were saying the word of God. They were putting verbal contracts out into the world. Jesus did not come to remove those oral contracts; Christ came to fulfill some of the prophecies. He also set some of his own into motion. One example of a prophecy he put into action is the second coming.