Being Too Involved in Politics
“You have greatly helped me let go of senseless and foolish anger towards my husband who was always a good man. You showed me I was tearing down my house with my own hands. I also gained peace when I stopped obsessively following politics. I think women, who are easily riled up and I speak for myself with that, would do well to hold to politics more loosely. God created a beautiful world and loving relationships, and I try to pay more attention to that. It’s made me grateful and content since I don’t see my purpose as engaging in endless battles.” (Tabby Charles’ comment from this post)
Did you know that in 1903, women didn’t even want to vote? They knew their highest calling was in the home and raising the next generation. They wanted their entire focus to be upon this and not concerned with things that they weren’t involved with like fighting wars, being policemen, or going out and making a living for the family.
Being too involved in politics can easily steal our joy. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t watch any news. I see a lot on Twitter and that’s enough. It’s good not to dwell on the wickedness in our culture. It’s much better to dwell on the good and lovely around us. Minister to your family and those around you instead. I bet if you simply focused on those things in your life, your life wouldn’t be that bad. Are we supposed to know all of the evil happening in our culture? I don’t think so.
Someone asked John MacArthur why he speaks about politics so much. His answer was that it’s no longer about polities. It’s about morality. Many are trying to force their deviant lifestyles and murder of the unborn upon all of us. They not only want us to accept them but to celebrate them. Even concerning this, we need to be willing to speak the truth in love, then pray and leave it in God’s hands. We live in a wicked world. We are called to be salt and light in it. We can’t be salt and light if we are always negative and have lost our peace and joy.
Dear women, focus upon your family, friends, and neighbors. It’s not your responsibility to fix everything in this world. It’s your responsibility to shine the light of Christ on all those in your life. Our lives on this earth is short. It’s a vapor. Spend your time here wisely. Speak more about God’s Word and His Truth rather than all of the godliness and politics happening around the world.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8
54 thoughts on “Being Too Involved in Politics”
This post is spot on. I am very opinionated and I’ve alway been interested in news and politics, even as a teen. My husband has political views that are quite different from mine. We watched the debate together and our discussion got a little heated. It tainted the feel of what had otherwise been a nice evening. I have made a promise to myself not to do that again. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months feeling so upset over what I’m seeing in the news and it’s a waste of my precious time. I’ve decided to leave the mess in God’s hands, stay away from the news as much as possible and concentrate on the family He has given me to care for.
My husband keeps up with American politics a fair bit. (Ironically, more than our Australian politics. ) I found there’s certain topics I have to avoid a fair bit because it just causes more stress and confusion that I don’t need while trying to run a home and raise children (politics, certain theological topics like OSAS and so on) I know enough to keep me somewhat informed, but I ignore getting into details. I also find I have to calm my husband down when he stresses about it. Good post!
Amen! And ditto what Tennesseegirl80 said!
American Christians, especially of the evangelical persuasion, are far too enamored with partisan politics. If they put a fraction of the time and emotional energy into sharing the Gospel and strengthening their churches as they did the latest GOP political campaign (a party that treats them as the useful idiots that they are, routinely exploiting them to get candidates elected to office, then betraying their values once elected) the Christian faith might actually make something of an impact on contemporary American society and the churches might be something more effective than lukewarm Jesus fan clubs.
The purpose of the church is to bring people into the fold. Living out our lives in a Godly way, the way He has ordained is to make the gospel attractive to non believers.
Believers should focus on God’s will for their lives to make the gospel message effective. As for governments, vote your conscious but ultimately it is God who appoints governments Romans 13:1
This post really spoke to me. Over the last couple of months, I had found myself feeling out of sorts: sad, irritable, anxious. I finally realized that this was happening because I was following politics. All of the ugliness had really taken a toll on me.
I decided to just stop reading/watching the news and concentrate on my domain; my home and family and what I need to be doing and I am once again back to being myself.
Buckets of wisdom in this post. I pray it goes viral.
Thank you. Your points are explained so beautifully.
Ditto here for removing oneself from all of this “news” and the conditions of the day. God has tomorrow covered. I learned how to quilt this year and now spend my free moments creating useful and pretty things while listening to music instead of sitting in front of the tv getting stirred up or anxious!
Women shouldn’t be “ministering” to anyone. That’s the job of men.
Ministering isn’t being a minister. It’s loving and serving others, meeting their needs and caring for them.
Fine, but they must be closely supervised in doing this. I’d use a different word than “ministering.”
I think it depends on your husband. My husband and I have political views that align completely. If we ever disagree, I defer to him and change my thinking, as he is the leader. As a result, we very much enjoyed watching the debate together last night as, while our overall perspective was the same, each of us brought attention to details that the other had missed. My husband would be very disappointed and displeased if I was not showing an interest and following a topic that is very important to him I don’t let the news and politics get me down, I know it is all in God’s hand.
Just my 2 cents.
Tennesseegirl, Good for you! You sound like an amazing, godly woman. You did the right thing, by watching the debate together. Guys enjoy debate and discussion with their spouses! This has been so encouraging to me.
There is a balance in this for me. I love keeping up with politics and believe it’s my Christian and American duty to fight for and share truth and righteousness. I am a door knocking/phone calling volunteer for Trump. But I most of all know prayer is most important and that we are at God’s mercy alone. And I do have to put a limit on my involvement in politics and be sure I am being refreshed in Christ and keeping my eyes on Him. If not, I definitely get bogged down and anxious.
After watching about 30 minutes of the debate last night I felt sick. Looked more like a boxing match. Told my husband this morning I’m done with all of this politics. I’ll go vote however he tells me to and I’m just done with watching and hearing about it. Having this 24 hr news cycle just steals so much joy from our lives. There is hardly anything positive being reported on. I have too much to be thankful and happy for in being with my family and that’s where my focus should be. Praise the Lord that he’s got all of this under His control! Focus on the good and the lovely.
Also, I can completely understand why women wanted no part in voting. That is a lot of weight to put on ones shoulders and seeing how things went last night it puts me completely out of my element. I found it hard to separate logic with emotion. And that’s the problem with women voting. Most women that I have talked with vote with their emotions. Not with logic.
My Dad taught me one thing…
He said ‘The person who wants it more wins.’
Interpret that as you may.
We read in the gospels that Peter’s mother-in-law and multiple women who followed Jesus ministered to Him, so it is quite clear from Scripture that to minister is quite different from being a minister. Minister the verb is not oft used nowadays, but any old dictionary defines it as “to give” or “to supply.” So women should indeed minister to others as God gives them opportunity.
Any woman who doesn’t want to vote has the liberty and freedom to not do so.
minister:
1.
attend to the needs of (someone).
Mothers “minister” to their children. No supervision is needed by a man. Breastfeeding is ministering to an infant. Again, no supervision needed. God gave women the sphere of home and children to minister to. Why would you need to supervise God’s perfect plan?
Again – fine, but they require supervision in everything they do (regardless of what you call it). Men do not. This is an important difference.
Very true.
My Nan told me a poem once called “My neighbours Bible.” It ends with: “he may not even know my name, but he is reading me.” It’s about living a Christian life and bringing others to Jesus with the way we live. There is no room for arguing about politics in that.
I’ve been spending less time on social media and watching the news recently because there is so much negativity and anger about politics and most of it isn’t constructive.
God is still in control. Whoever ends up in parliament is there because God either chose it, or allowed it. We don’t need to worry. And ultimately, we probably can’t make a difference by arguing politics or campaigning or protesting, anyway.
I live in New Zealand so our political debates involve different people and different issues, but I can’t watch the debates for long because the talking over the top of each other and the interrupting and going in circles to avoid answering questions just frustrates me.
I like to go online and read the policies on each parties website to get a feel for them, because if I used the debates to decide who to vote for, I wouldn’t be able to vote at all, because it’s just arguing and no actual policy information.
My husband very rarely votes, so politics aren’t discussed much in our house, aside from our children asking questions.
There is an important difference between ‘ministering’, ‘preaching’ & ‘teaching’. Women can minister to their husbands,children and fellow believers. And without supervision. Older women can teach younger women. Women cannot preach or teach men. With or without supervision.
They cannot nor should not do it alone. This is supported in scripture and God’s plan.
In Australia, we are required by law to vote. However I just go along with my husband when we vote because I really don’t want to get into the details
Women serve in the home. They do not minister – their husbands and fathers do, because they have the authority to do so. They do not “minister” to their children. Ministering refers to being an authority, which women do not have according to God’s perfect plan. Do you see the difference?
I barely follow politics anymore. It was making me angry and anxious about things outside of my control. Without those unnecessary worries I am free to focus my sphere of influence – my home and children. I’ll vote the way my husband votes. My life feels simpler and quieter without the news constantly in my face. God is in control and He is my Lord and King, not any man. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Your Grandma’s poem sounds wise. I always try to be conscious of my words and actions out in public. (Obviously home too!!) .
My best friend said they were like two 6 yr. olds fighting. She said she was waiting to hear, “I know you are but what am I?”
I didn’t watch.
Sorry KAK. I was responding to TN Mtn Girls comment about the boxing match.
Men are busy earning a living (mine works 12+ hours days), and aren’t available to supervise women. Their jobs are to be the providers, which takes them from home and means they cannot supervise me cleaning the toilet.
Why…? Do women need supervision in going shopping? Grabbing a coffee? Or just when it comes to sharing their faith? Where does the supervision end? After reading your comments it seems like you have serious issues with women. As a women who has been missions trips I have seen women share their faith and bring others to Christ with no “supervisor” in sight. I believe you need to look at your problems with women and freedom.
I’m not sure what your point is here as one cannot expect the husband/father to be home to supervise their wife and daughters 24/7
Well said Michaela
“And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.” (Luke 8:1-3)
Watching politians debate is very much like a boxing match here, too!
Stan – Women absolutely have authority over their children! The Bible is very clear in telling children to honour their father AND THEIR MOTHER.
God’s perfect plan *is* for us to minister to our children. It is literally our job.
In Australia, we are required by law to vote.
Ugh, how perfectly totalitarian. Even the USSA hasn’t gone that far (yet).
I hope your ballots have a “None of the Above” option.
Lori…
I don’t believe in getting children involved in politics. Especially girls, as I didn’t even read the news until I was forced to in Highschool and then when I did prepare my government history report..it was VERY Liberal because I was parroting what I read
But I do remember my parents would see something on TV and make a disapproving comment which stuck with me as a child…I would go ‘Oh that’s not good…’
At the same time, Times Have Changed! I feel like if I was raised from 2000-2020 I would be in a lot of trouble.
In this current time…when would you advise sitting down and going through politics with kids?
Proverbs 31 does not mention male supervision. Neither does Titus 2. I think you are taking on a burden that God never meant you to. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that women require supervision in all that they do. God gave women their domain and the gifts to minister to those he places under their care. You don’t need to worry about it, He knows what He’s doing.
Good insight Michaela!
Lori, I want to write this for the sake of other readers, not necessarily to argue with Stan. I hope you understand.
I think the issue here is with the word “minister.” While I understand what Stan is trying to say, I think he’s being a bit unfair in saying that we can’t use the word minister. Any old dictionary defines ministering as serving and supplying, which doesn’t necessarily require authority to do. He said that women can serve, but cannot minister, which is contradictory given the definition of the word. I think there is an issue in general with changing the meaning of words over time. I think this can be dangerous because then we have people changing words like “beat” in Proverbs 23 and “submit” in Ephesians 5 to something that is more modern and comfortable so that they can wheedle around the more “sticky” parts of Scripture that they don’t like. Going back to this conversation with Stan, I perceive that he is stuck on what the term minister means and not actually on whether women should minister or not. And as for his comment about women needing supervision in everything, I’m curious to see what Scripture he has to back that up, but I understand if you don’t want me to go there Lori. Thank you for posting this 🙂
1 Timothy 2:12: I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[a] she must be quiet.
Proverbs 5:6: For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it. So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house!
1 Timothy 5:13 And if they are on the list, they will learn to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in other people’s business and talking about things they shouldn’t.
I have more verses, but I’d say these very clearly show that women should be entirely under male authority. It’s true that husbands/fathers cannot be around all the time to supervise every action; that assumption And application is entirely too literal. (Although multi-generational families are a big plus for ensuring male supervision!) But women are not an authority over anyone, including their children or themselves. Their home may be their environ, but they do not and should not wield any kind of authority there. They are very clearly meant to serve.
Stan, what you are describing is something different entirely. The verb minister by definition means to serve. Look it up. You say that women are supposed to serve, but then you contradict yourself when you say that they cannot minister when it literally means to serve! It is not being too literal to say that men simply cannot supervise their ladies at all times because that’s just reality.
Stan, other than 1 Timothy 2:12, I fail to see what the verses have to do with male authority over women.
Of course mothers have authority over their children. Not only is it biblically commanded for children to obey their parents (parents, not father), how on earth do you expect a mother to be a keeper at home and raise children if said children are not required to obey her?
Also, please address Proverb 31 and show us where it says the woman is working under the supervision of her husband? How is he pulling this off when he is: “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.”
Either he is home supervising, or sitting with the elders.
Your theology is both faulty and dangerous. I will pray for you.
I got interested in politics after Trump won election. Obviously I didn’t vote for Hillary, wait maybe I shouldn’t say obviously since a lot of people did, haha! But I also didn’t vote for Trump because I was unsure about him. I did find that after I got interested in the politics and started listening to podcasts everyday / watching political commentaries online, that I had a huge spike in anxiety. It just made me lose faith in fellow man. Obviously this world is largely wicked but there are still people out there who are “good” people, (good meaning they aren’t all antifa thugs) but you wouldn’t really know that from ingesting too much politics/news.
Hi Christine, I’m not Lori (obviously LOL) but I do have 3 teenagers. They are in (and went through) the public school system so they hear their peers talking, and they cover very basic stuff in class. They also have a “student council” for those who want to be more politically involved, including petitioning parliament.
None of my children have been overly interested in politics so far, beyond the occasional question.
For the most part, we shield them from politics, and much of the rest of the goings-on in the world. We want to let them be carefree for as long as possible.
But we answer their questions, and they know who I’m going to vote for and why (my husband doesn’t generally vote and they know that, too). But we keep political (actually most topics) child-led. So what they’re interested in, we discuss.
It is my job to care for the home and carry out my husband’s wishes towards raising the children and maintaining some semblance of authority over them so he doesn’t have to come home to a quiver of screaming brats. He has enough to worry about while he is at work. The bible verses you have shared prove nothing. If the home has gone into disarray and the kids running amock, it is his job to talk to me about it and #1work out if there is a genuine issue making my role difficult (sickness, injury etc) and #2 rebuke me if I’m just being plain old lazy and rebellious and #3 if there is a genuine issue, work out a solution to help me get back on top of things. When a child knows that a parent has no authority, it’s a recipe for a brat and training a criminal. The bible talks about honouring both father and mother. (Ephesians 6:1-3) what you seem to be suggesting is controlling and lording it over a wife. And there is no biblical backing for such behaviour
Hi TN mtn girl, want you to know that I understand what you are going through. I have never had any interest in politics whatsoever. I have no idea the difference between senators and representatives (nor do I care) and my husband had to remind me the other day who the vice president was. My husband chose me to marry just a few days after I turned 19. 24 years later my entire life’s focus has always been to have babies and raise them, love the Lord and submit to and obey my husband in everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. He tells me what and if I need to know anything about politics and the only reason I vote is because I go with him to the voting place and he shows me exactly who and what to vote for. He tells me that at least strengthens his vote so I do it without question. I don’t even think women should be able to vote. I know that many think I’m an uninformed, uneducated, never worked, lead around by my husband little housewife and I couldn’t agree more and I love it!!! I’m sure the feminists REALLY can’t stand me, and I could care less!!!
Men invented politics. I don’t mean this to sound egotistical, it’s a simple truth: our political system was invented by men as an extension of men’s hierarchy – the normal and natural tendency to fight each other for dominance.
Men are comfortable in this world. They can fight each other, establish the winner, then shake hands and be friends afterwards. Women are not able to this, and never will be.
Men can go into politics, fight like crazy, and not worry about it later that night. That is our nature.
Women however can’t do that. Women aren’t naturally built for this fighting “in the ring”. Women are made to live in love, with family and children. To seek relationships and harmony with neighbors.
So yeah, women are never going to be happy as long as they follow politics. They wonder why modern women are so depressed? They’re in an angry place they are not meant to be!
Women, just walk away and let your husband fight for you and your children, as he has vowed to do. Let him fulfill his purpose in life, to be the hero that he has dreamed his life of being. You can live in safety, shielded by his strong arm, he greatest and most cherished treasure, as you have always dreamed. By doing this you honor yourself, you honor your husband, and you honor God above all.
That is the ultimate freedom.
I completely agree with this:
“Women, just walk away and let your husband fight for you and your children, as he has vowed to do. Let him fulfill his purpose in life, to be the hero that he has dreamed his life of being. You can live in safety, shielded by his strong arm, he greatest and most cherished treasure, as you have always dreamed. By doing this you honor yourself, you honor your husband, and you honor God above all.”
But nothing going on in the US today bears this out:
“Men can go into politics, fight like crazy, and not worry about it later that night.”
While it might be the easy solution, I would caution against such swift withdrawal. Many men find it valuable to talk over ideas with their trusted companions in order to solidify or define them. I think the issue here is not the difference in opinion but the method of discussion. I would encourage you to learn how to disagree while maintaining respect, and to help your husband to learn likewise, for he will encounter many of differing opinions in the world and it will reflect badly on him if he cannot speak with them with decorum. Your whole self, including your ideas and opinions, were created to help
The two party system is now working as a tool to antagonize each other and act to divide the country and pit us against each other, with name calling ,grandstanding and the media actively pushes agendas and the checks and balances are all broken. Lawlessness is the order of the day.
It’s good verses evil. These two can never work together.