Getting on the Right Side

By Bishop Kaye Kolde

Some of us remember the days when gym class and neighborhood games began with the two most dominant players or personalities out of the group being either named captain or claiming the role, and then they would begin to choose their teams. As someone who was usually in the middle of the pack to be picked, I just hoped to get on the side with the stronger team. Especially for dodgeball.

These types of scenes often become profound moments in movies when the strong or popular one defies the way of the world and chooses the one who is considered weaker or weirder first. This is also when some parents might interrupt their children’s viewing pleasure to teach a lesson about Jesus and point out the parallel to how He chose us, weak and weird as we are, to be a part of His victory.

We all want to be on the winning team and the right team. At humanity’s best, that looks like the side of truth for a better world, and, at our worst, it looks like the side that will win at any cost to secure a place of power and position. World history proves both of those options true through examples like Gandhi and a nonviolent civil rights movement on one hand, or the appeal of violent criminal gangs for those with little power or hope on the other hand.

In our current polarized culture, that looks like choosing the right political party, and the right candidate to lead us. We want to be on “the right side of the issues,” and we consciously and subconsciously define that in many ways, with endless voices loudly telling us the one we need to choose. As followers of Jesus, our mandate is to listen to and follow the voice of God by the Spirit and the Word telling us the true path to victory and the only way to get on the right side of all things.

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“We are all tempted to join with what seems to provide the easiest path to freedom without sacrifice or suffering.”

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Whose Side?

An interesting story in the book of Joshua speaks to us about picking teams and where our hope lies. The Lord, who fulfills His purposes through human history, has brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and made a covenant with them that promised they would inherit the land in Canaan and a life of blessing. The Mosaic Covenant was intended to create a theocracy, where the people of God would live differently than the rest of the world as citizens of a different kind of kingdom, one where the Lord reigns. They had been moving, albeit slowly and unsteadily, toward the blessings of obedience in the promised land. The time had come for Joshua to lead them in a military campaign to possess that land flowing with milk and honey, beginning with the city of Jericho. This always brings fear and anxiety about our ability to prevail.

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”  Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

(Joshua 5:13–15)

Joshua basically asks this mysterious figure, “Whose side are you on?” The reasonable expectation is that he would say he is on the side of the Lord’s people, Israel. After all, they are doing what the Lord has commanded them. Surprisingly though, the commander of the Lord’s army says, “neither,” and makes it clear that God is not getting on the right side by fighting for their team. Instead, the Lord called them to His side and to the purpose of establishing His kingdom. When we read that Joshua fell face down in reverence, it’s a reminder to us that we submit ourselves to Jesus as King. It’s the only way to get on the right side, even when we are anxious and fearful for the sake of His will being done. It’s where we stand on holy ground.

I believe seeing God’s will done is a genuine desire of many with strong political allegiances who are looking for a human government to advance His cause. Others are mostly anxious and fearful about securing power and authority for themselves and their personal interests through the government. We are all tempted to join with what seems to provide the easiest path to freedom without sacrifice or suffering. Any of those motivations would suggest that God’s kingdom, or even a secular life of peace and love and joy, will come through an exterior force upon human wills, rather than an interior submission to the Lordship of Jesus.

Politics and (Kingdom) Perspective

Today we are frequently confused about these things as God’s people, expecting that God will be on our side. Certainly, He is “for us” (Romans 8:32), yet when we put hope in the teams we have created with our human systems, they are inherently plagued by the sin of the fall and very distinct from the kingdom He rules. In the world of U.S. politics, many Christians, both Republicans and Democrats, believe that they are choosing the side where we will be able to do His will, or at least the side where we do less to disobey His will. Of course, being less disobedient is too low of a bar for those who have been called to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

God hasn’t called us to trust in the lesser of two evils. He has called us to trust in Him alone as King. We make difficult decisions with the wisdom of the Spirit, acknowledging that biblical values — like caring for the poor and oppressed or valuing the sacred image of God in all human life — are not neatly contained in one political platform that is holy.

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“First and foremost, the church has a call to be a witness of the gospel’s power to transform the world, not the government’s power to make things right.”

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There are many wise theologians and Christian authors reminding the church that we can be politically engaged without being deceived and divided by politics. However, it is so much easier to listen to social media or the news, take a side, and urge others that they better get on the right side with us, than it is to humble ourselves, immerse ourselves in the Word of God, and learn from good books that help us navigate politics from a kingdom perspective. First and foremost, the church has a call to be a witness of the gospel’s power to transform the world, not the government’s power to make things right. That witness has always been through the holiness of the church, a peculiar community that is created and formed by the Spirit of God, and evidenced by the fruit of His Spirit.

What side is the church on, and where do our loyalties lie? We are on Yahweh’s side, the Commander of angel armies, and the only One we trust to work all things together for the good of those called according to His purposes. May we be a humble people of love who demonstrate that our greatest hope is in His kingdom coming as we invite all to enter in with us by faith. In the meantime, we seek the welfare of the place where we are in exile through prayer (Jeremiah 29:7) and service that makes the kingdom coming visible through us.

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