What No Political Pundit Will Say About Liz Cheney and Other Politicians

I’m going to tell you something you won’t hear on any news network.

As I’ve told you before, I don’t spend a lot of time watching the news anymore. The reason is, I don’t like dwelling in a perpetual state of depression, and that’s what happens when I’m too focused on what’s happening in the world. Besides, the news isn’t even news anymore (if it ever was). Putting the networks in one heap, it’s a 24-hour cycle of political attacks. From both sides of the spectrum. Attack! Attack! Attack!

I am telling you that because when I arose from my guilt-free slumber a few days ago, I noticed that the number one story was that Liz Cheney, the Wyoming congresswoman who voted to impeach Donald Trump, had lost her reelection bid to her Trump-backed opponent. 

I don’t have any interest in addressing the political aspects of this race — or any other race for that matter.  I haven’t lost a lot of sleep thinking about it one way or another. My goal, as a follower of Jesus Christ who happens to live in the United States of America, is to go deeper than the political arguments. 

Since I made the decision to forgo my former obsession with the political world, I’ve had a lot of time to think about what my place is in the political process as a believer in Jesus. The truth of the matter is, with every passing day, I am more certain than ever that I made a wise decision to try and think about our culture from a spiritual point of view rather than a political one.  More and more, I’m convinced that we can’t have a political resolution to the spiritual problem that really ails us. 

So, I’m looking at this Wyoming race as if it kind of symbolizes everything I see wrong with the process right now. One of the candidates committed herself to destroying the political influence of Donald Trump while the other one built her political fortune by hitching her pony to the influence of the former president.

I’ve met Donald Trump on several occasions, and I’ve found him to be a fairly nice dude. I was definitely pleased with his commonsense approach to governing. And I was certainly happy with his appointment of three originalists to the Supreme Court which led to the horrible Roe v. Wade decision being overturned. 

But this is where I want to separate myself from the majority of political pundits and the average voter. Rather than aligning myself with a particular person, I want to align myself with a particular idea, and that idea is that it is our Creator who has endowed us with certain unalienable rights, not a particular politician or political party.

I don’t know if there are too many politicians out there who really get this. Most of them are arguing for why they would be the best woman or man for the job. They promise a better economy, lower gas prices, enhanced rights for this group or that group. But I don’t hear them making their appeal to voters that they will promote and protect the same natural, God-given liberties and rights that our founders promised to protect.

You may be wondering what’s a person to do when it comes to voting, since there aren’t many politicians who really get this whole God-given rights thing. That’s a good question. My answer is that all I can do is search for the candidate who is closest to getting it. That’s who I vote for. Then I just trust the Almighty who told me that he “deposes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21). Ultimately, God’s in charge of this thing one way or the other. I’ll just trust him on that.

What I refuse to do is get involved in the pettiness of party politics. I’m not saying that I won’t attack the foolish ideas that we see floated around the political stratosphere. I am willing to attack bad ideas with vigor. What I won’t do is make politics personal by making sarcastic and personal attacks on other human beings. I am all for destroying bad ideas, but I don’t want to be found guilty of destroying another human being. That’s because, no matter how much I disagree with them or how silly their ideas are, they are still image bearers of Almighty God.   

Most importantly, I will phrase my political statements to reflect the reality that God is the ultimate ruler of the entire universe, and he is the one who has assigned value to every individual. My politics will always fall under that umbrella. 

In other words, my political views aren’t determined by the former president or Liz Cheney or anyone else.  If they all take a sharp turn to the left, it won’t affect me at all. I’ll still stand firm in what I believe because what I believe is rooted — firmly rooted — in the God who created the cosmos. He’s the one who guides my thoughts and actions, not some flawed politician.

The way I figure it, I’m on solid footing. Making the Almighty the foundation for my views on politics and culture keeps me from being confused about what is right. When my thinking about God is right, my political views are right because it is never about the political climate but about the Spirit that lives within me by the grace of God.