Jamin Bradley

“I thought about defending you by saying that I know how little you know about politics,” a good friend told me, which gave us both a laugh. He was right, though his point wouldn’t have been helpful, since that’s exactly why people were frustrated with me again.

I speak politically, not because I know the game. I speak politically because, like you, I live in a political world. When political ideals or politicians say or do something that is against the heart and mind of Jesus, I use my pastoral voice to speak out. I speak out especially to Christians when I feel their political ideals and motivations counteract those of Christ.

If you are following my political posts because you think I know everything about politics, I will be the first to tell you that I don’t. Perhaps you might even find some value in that, as I may be coming to some conversations without all the baggage that others carry. Maybe sometimes you need someone like me to step between the Montagues and Capulets and say, “What the heck, you guys?”

If you are following my political posts because you think I have the answers, I will be the first to tell you I don’t. I will instruct people to treat the strangers among us like Jesus would. I will call people out when they dehumanize or stereotype such strangers. I will remind people that Jesus was a refugee. But I will not have a solution as to what proper border control looks like.

If you are following my political posts because you want to consider how Christ might live with us in this political world, then maybe you’ll find my posts helpful. But if my not knowing all the details of politics makes my teaching fraudulent to you, please know that I don’t know everything about politics or politicians.

The modern church culture that I was handed was a political one that was deeply ingrained in Christian nationalism. I speak out because I see much of this as biblical heresy. I speak out because I cannot bear the ways that we Christians often represent ourselves politically. Even if my speaking doesn’t affect anyone else in the world, I still must speak to at least affect myself, lest I get swept up in the mess.