Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat, so stop trying to make him one!

For about the last two months I have had a recurring prompting, “Write an article about how God is not a democrat or a republican.” Getting a prompting to write about something is nothing new, often I will receive direction on what I should address. I have woken up at 2 AM before with clear instructions, write an article about this topic, using these quotes to address this issue. But this time, the prompting only gave me the topic, no further instruction. Unsure how to precede I wrote down the idea and I got writer’s block, so I waited. That was until earlier this week when I saw the events unfolding in Washington DC and all my friends becoming extremely politically charged, that is when I had the prompting once again to write this article, but this time, the contents were laid out in my mind; so I hope this message is helpful to at least one person.

How we erroneously make God partisan.

As Latter-day Saints, we love applying the gospel to the world around us. The prophet Nephi taught us that we should liken the scriptures to ourselves by applying them to our lives, see 1 Nephi 19:23. But something we oftentimes overlook is the need to apply the whole gospel to our lives not just fragments. Francine R. Bennion taught:

We are accustomed to talking of fragments of theology—a topic here, an assumption or tradition there, often out of context with the whole. We are a people accustomed also to fragments of scripture out of context—a phrase here, a verse there, words that say something appropriate to the matter at hand, and ring with clarity and conviction.

Francine R. Bennion. A Latter-day Saint Theology of Suffering, March 1986.

Taking fragments of the gospel out of context is nowhere more present and visible than our desire to fit God into our partisan political ideologies. We want God to be a Democrat or a Republican, we want it so badly that we cling to our favorite scriptures, apostles, and doctrines, that reaffirm our beliefs and we reject the parts of the gospel that disagree with our politics.

I have friends and family who use Christ’s command to feed the hungry and take care of the poor as justification to have socialist systems of government to ensure that people are fed. And on the other side, I have friends and family who use quotes and scriptures about preserving freedom and fighting the evils of communism and socialism to justify their politics that reject the very same programs!

Both sides are convinced that God is on their side and that their interpretation of the gospel is the only valid one. But both sides could not be further from the truth that the gospel in context shows that God is not partisan, He is not a Republican, nor is He a Democrat. There is no salvation in political parties.

The Gospel MUST be in context.

I think the best analogy for maintaining gospel context comes from Boyd K. Packer, who compared the gospel to a piano keyboard,

“The gospel might be likened to the keyboard of a piano—a full keyboard with a selection of keys on which one who is trained can play a variety without limits; a ballad to express love, a march to rally, a melody to soothe, and a hymn to inspire; an endless variety to suit every mood and satisfy every need.

How shortsighted it is, then, to choose a single key and endlessly tap out the monotony of a single note, or even two or three notes, when the full keyboard of limitless harmony can be played.

How disappointing when the fullness of the gospel, the whole keyboard, is here upon the earth, that many churches tap on a single key. The note they stress may be essential to a complete harmony of religious experience, but it is, nonetheless, not all there is. It isn’t the fullness…

Some members of the Church who should know better pick out a hobby key or two and tap them incessantly, to the irritation of those around them. They can dull their own spiritual sensitivities. They lose track that there is a fullness of the gospel and become as individuals, like many churches have become. They may reject the fullness in preference to a favorite note. This becomes exaggerated and distorted, leading them away into apostasy.”

Boyd K. Packer, The Only True and Living Church, October 1971.

Within the analogy of the keyboard, it is easy to see how the gospel fragments or keys can be played out of the context of the fullness of the restored gospel. You can understand how active members justify supporting abortion against the Prophets council because they are pounding the ‘agency’ key. Or those who cling to the words of Ezra Taft Benson and fight for freedom pounding that key even at the expense of the second great commandment to love their neighbor. I have many friends who pounded on the key of ‘personal revelation’ citing that they did not need to follow their priesthood leaders who asked us to wear masks because they’ve received a personal revelation that their leaders were wrong, the key they were pounding was drowning out the importance of the key of obedience, Priesthood Authority, and covenants.

Another lesson we can pull from this analogy is that just because a key has not been played recently does not decrease its value on the keyboard. Many people get upset when the Prophet or General Conference talks fail to address the key they are obsessing over. Could you imagine complaining in the middle of a concert that the pianist has not hit a B flat recently? The same could be said when criticizing the Prophet for not addressing your gospel hobby key recently. On the flip side, some write off a doctrine as not important because it’s ‘key’ has not been played recently. For example, I had a family member who had declared to me that because the command to get food storage has not been repeated for years, it was therefore not applicable and she was justified in not getting her food storage. Much to her chagrin Elder Bednar reaffirmed Food storage at the next general conference, and then taught this principle,

“Some Church members opine that emergency plans and supplies, food storage, and 72-hour kits must not be important anymore because the Brethren have not spoken recently and extensively about these and related topics in general conference. But repeated admonitions to prepare have been proclaimed by leaders of the Church for decades. The consistency of prophetic counsel over time creates a powerful concert of clarity and a warning volume far louder than solo performances can ever produce.”

David A. Bednar, We Will Prove Them Herewith, October 2020.

How to use the full gospel keyboard.

Now that we have established the dangers of finding hobby keys in the gospel and pounding them out of context. The main question left to address is one of the most important questions for us today. How do we use the full gospel keyboard? And the answer to is surprisingly simple: The Spirit.

Is the freedom issue important? Yes! Is feeding the hungry? Yes! Are almost all the issues we are facing in politics today important? Yes, they are keys on the piano, and whereas every key is important, they must be kept within the context of the fullness of the gospel. Boyd K. Packer illustrated this when talking about the key of baptism, “We would never hold that baptism is not essential, absolutely essential, for it constitutes the official enrollment in the church and kingdom of God. If that key, however, is played alone, without the counterpart key of authority, the fullness and the harmony are gone and it becomes dissonant. And without the key of faith and of repentance, it is meaningless, and perhaps worse, it is counterfeit.”

The Spirit is like the conductor who shows us the notes to play if we are but willing to follow. The litmus test that each of us can administer to ourselves to find if we are playing a note of the gospel out of context is simple, “Am I feeling the fruits of the Spirit? Am I full of love, joy, and peace?” We have been promised that the Spirit will teach us all things that we should do. When we lose the Spirit we will find that we have failed to play the song we are meant to play on the gospel keyboard, the song of redeeming love.

I know for myself, I have pounded the key of politics out of harmony. I know this because I was starting to get angry and upset with friends, family, and politicians. And if posts on social media are any indication, I am not alone in those feelings. But we must remember, those feelings come when we are pounding our hobby key and we are not following the Spirit. So let us reset our gospel perspective on the Spirit and realize, that no single key is more important than the song we are here to learn, and that is the song of redeeming love that requires every key of the gospel keyboard.

If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy these.

Abortion, Agency, and two lies Latter-day Saints are believing.

Five major mistakes that Latter-day Saints make with politics.

When Satan Gives You a ‘Revelation’ That You Don’t Need to Follow Your Church Leaders