By Bunni Pounds

Evil is manifested more clearly in politics than in many other professions or activities in our culture. The shades of grey seem to be darker. Ethics are twisted to produce the results that politicians desire.

We know instinctively that lies and deception are not within the moral code, yet we see these activities in campaigns all over the country. Backstabbing and wounding friends with what I call “whisper campaigns” are not healthy activities. But sadly, they are common occurrences in local races, from city to rural communities everywhere.

Obnoxious pride or unchecked power, manipulated through wealth and political influence, can corrupt an individual person, a whole family, or even an organization.

We see the destruction brought by unhealthy politics every day when we watch our favorite news channels or read our local and national newspapers. We see the plethora of stories where a leader attacks another leader. Why would any sane human being want to get involved with this?

So how are we supposed to deal with our hearts, especially as believers, when engaging in the mudslinging and dirty world called politics?

We know we must be engaged if our world is ever going to get better, but how many of us really want to get into the mud pit?

Over the decades of teaching others to engage as a Christian in politics, I have identified three major enemies of our souls that are at work daily in the political arena. These three try to make us ineffective and steal our spiritual fruit. These enemies are pride, anger, and fear.

Pride

“For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” - Galatians 6:3

The first day I got my new business cards clearly showing that I was the Campaign Manager for Congressman Jeb Hensarling, my heart naturally filled with pride. I had worked so hard to get here – night school for three and a half years, countless conversations asking questions of political operatives in order to gain wisdom, and many, many hours of volunteering. It had not been an easy road to get to this place where I now had a title – but that day was finally here. I had created these cool linen business cards with blue and red lettering and with the Congressman’s campaign logo printed on them. They came to my front door, beautifully crafted in a box of five hundred.

I opened them almost reverently. Feeling the edges and even smelling them. I was proud that as a mom, wife, and former business owner – I had made it. I was in politics full-time and was the campaign manager for a United States Congressman.

When I went to church and people asked me how I was doing, I said, “Great, I am the campaign manager for a U.S. Congressman now.”

“Wow. Amazing!” – they exclaimed.

I loved passing out my cards, making my new job known, and hinting to others in a subtle way that I had access.

It is clever how the enemy of pride likes to sneak into our lives – and pride enters quickly within political activity. I have seen citizens who were sweet, humble believers get their picture with the Governor, or get a cellphone number of a Member of Congress, and all of a sudden they think really highly of themselves.

Pride manifests when we try to cut others out of our space of influence, keep others down, and constantly compare ourselves to other people. Eventually, what is in our hearts will come out. It will manifest through our comments, whether verbally or in writing, in aggressive or condescending ways. It will come out in how we address someone on social media, as a cutting remark or as a slight attack against another person behind their back.

If we don’t identify pride in our hearts and deal with it, this enemy WILL take over.

Have you seen a person from your church who has gotten involved in politics become an ugly, horrible person on social media – so much so that you don’t even want to see their posts?

Through the years, I have seen activists who love God and love their country get called into this arena – people with good hearts. But then, ten years down the line, they become such hateful people that I don’t want anything to do with them, even if we are engaging on the same side. This should not be!

Unfortunately, this happens because we don’t remain diligent in dealing with the pride that so easily fills our souls when engaging in politics or media. There have been many times in my career when I have had to take my heart to task in this area, and war against pride in a real, clear way.

One Sunday, I went to worship at a mega-church in my area. I wasn’t a member there, but I knew my heart was cold and full of pride and I needed to worship, so I went. At the end of the message, I was the first person at the altar – kneeling before the Lord. They didn’t know me, and I didn’t care. I knew I needed to get this pride out of my heart by any means possible. The physical act of kneeling before the Lord broke something open inside my heart.

When I am feeling like I am better than others because of all the powerful people that I walk with – I will remind myself that I am only here because God has enabled me and empowered me by His grace.

I will often go into a public place and begin talking with someone, then ask them how I can pray for them. In this simple act of obedience, whether I feel it or not, the chains of pride come off my heart as I share the Gospel with the person before me. As I do, I am reminded that I, too, am “saved by grace through faith.”

Anger

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” - Ephesians 4:31

Carrying burdens on our own, or in our own strength – even righteous indignation – can cause anger to take over our souls. This is another reason why getting into a quiet place with Jesus for solitude and reflection is so important.

Many of the same people in politics who have been eaten up by pride have also had anger eat them up, too. These two enemies like to move in a pack together, devouring wherever they go. Though pride is a little more subtle, anger feeds off the first. Many times, anger is created against another person when we think we could do better in a certain situation than the person we are angry with.

As we look at our national political climate, we get angry at injustices, but then we direct that anger to individual people and attack them with name-calling. We react in a spirit of anger, forgetting that they, even in a fallen, sinful state, were created in the image of God. We forget that God still has it in His heart to redeem them and to redeem the situation around us.

Anger can start as a small root of bitterness that then becomes a wellspring of pain and hurt. We get offended by words spoken and actions taken, or when we are overlooked or not acknowledged. This root called bitterness can start small, but if not dealt with, it can consume our hearts to the point that it colors everything we do.

We cannot permit anger to reside in our hearts if we want to move forward in our lives and work to bring true change.

Fear

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10

We see fear on most every political mailer and communication. From text messages, emails, or those slick postcards – they tell us that we must get involved because our country is going to fall apart if we don’t. The bad guys will regain control, and what will we do? Or they highlight this policy or that policy that would take away our freedoms. Though there is truth in most of these political statements, fear over the long run will never motivate people the right way. I have seen very many people begin careers in politics, but most of those who were motivated by fear to begin their journey failed to remain involved for long. And those who have continued are not heading consistently in the right direction. Fear holds them captive and leads them down the wrong paths. Few ever break free from their fear.

I have seen others – motivated by conviction, revelation, and hope – get their hands involved in civic engagement and do incredible things to impact their communities. The right motivation matters because it impacts the way our souls react when we are in the fight. If we are being controlled by fear, we will always react in fear.

When push comes to shove, political people who are led by hope and faith have a better chance of responding the right way during a hard situation. Their choices may hurt their careers in the short-term, but they will have longevity and will keep their testimonies intact by having the clarity to see things through to the other side.

Fear propels short-term thinking. Hope propels long-term thinking.

What is true in politics is also true in life. Fear may motivate someone for a short victory, but faith and hope are the only things that will sustain a person for the long haul in this journey called life.

As a political consultant for years, there were always decisions to be made and a common question I had to ask myself was – Am I being motivated by data and clear thinking, or by fear when making this decision?

I have seen members of Congress who were conflicted and uncertain, but who then saw clearly to make the right choice after this simple question was asked: Are you being motivated to vote this way out of fear?

If we can analyze the state of our heart, it will help us identify where faith is, or is not, leading us to choose a faith-based choice.

Following faith brings joy. Following fear brings destruction in both government and life.

The most successful national leaders who motivated the nation for change were people like President Ronald Reagan and President John F. Kennedy. They moved the people through hope and faith – not fear.

We cannot let fear hold us back from stepping out and choosing a hard path. I once saw a young woman step into a political club, and in less than a year was asked to be the president of that club. If that young woman had operated in fear, she would have said “No.” But faith says, “Why not?”

Watch for the Enemies

Christians must be engaged in the spheres of politics, government, and, frankly, every space of influence in our culture. But we have to guard our souls as we engage (Proverbs 4:23).

Wisdom means being watchful for the enemies that are lurking around the corner to make us ineffective. The garden of our hearts must be tilled and watered so that we can produce the greatest fruit. If we are diligent to be on guard – then we will be ready when these opponents start attacking our hearts. Our Christian faith will make us more effective and it will be seen by many, as we keep our hearts right. Above everything else – God will be honored by our lives.