But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Titus 3:9-11)

‘Tis the season. As I sat in my office writing this article, there was a constant stream of people coming into the building to vote in this year’s primary elections. Thinking about our national elections brings to mind all kinds of issues that are constantly paraded in front of us, inviting us to get involved and to pick a side. As a matter of full disclosure, I am not against voting. I think it is important to let our voices be heard, and to take advantage of the opportunity to “have our say.” Also, as a matter of full disclosure, I don’t believe that which political party or issue wins is any surprise to God.

I do think that it is a good time to remember what is most important, and the call that we have as people of God. While various issues are important, and while the direction one political group may lead as opposed to another may be seen as more favorable to Christians than the other, these are not the most important things.

We see this in the life of Jesus. All throughout is ministry, people were constantly trying to pull him into the middle of one issue or another. The religious leaders quarreled with him over how to keep the Sabbath (John 5). A lawyer asked Jesus to weigh in on what should be considered the most important commandment (Luke 10). Two brothers wanted Jesus to arbitrate their inheritance (Luke 12). He was asked about whether or not it was good to pay taxes to Rome (Matthew 22). Over and over, people tried to draw him in to various controversies over various issues. And over and over, Jesus refused to get involved in the controversies, but pointed people to what was most important.

I think there is a great lesson here for us. Our focus is to be on joining God in his mission to reconcile people to himself because of what he has done in Jesus and not on issues. The reason is simple. Issues tend to divide people. Look around and see. It is everywhere. People are divided over all kinds of issues. They are at one another’s throat over the various issues of our time. Focus on these issues leads us to label and categorize other people, to dehumanize them and treat them as less than us because of our differences on various issues.

Unfortunately, this bleeds over into the church. People are looking for hope, for community, for real purpose in life, and for something that really makes a difference in the world. In short, they are looking for Jesus. They are looking for all that Jesus came to bring. It doesn’t take much imagination to think of what happens when someone is looking for Jesus and instead finds a group of people fixated on issues that are of far less importance.

Jesus wasn’t content to settle for a position of the issues of the day. Instead, he pointed to something bigger, something better. It’s not about whether or not a man could carry a bed on the Sabbath. It was about God’s care for people, that suffering could be relieved no matter the day of the week. It wasn’t about setting one law above another; it was about loving God with all we have which leads to loving people the way we should. Life is more important, people are more important than to fight over an inheritance. Life is far less about paying taxes to Rome and much more about living up to the image of God in which we were created.

The early church was faced with a litany of issues that threatened to stop the movement. In Acts 6, there was a complaint that the Grecian widows were being neglected. In Acts 15 a council convened to come to a solution as to how to deal with the Gentile converts. Paul wrote to various churches with various issues that had the potential to do real damage to the spread of Christianity and the mission of God. In each of these cases, the apostles took their cue from Jesus. People were more important than one’s personal view on a particular issue. Attention to the mission of God is the big issue.

My prayer is that during this particular season when all kinds of people are trying to draw us into all kinds of issues that we remember what is most important. The good news of the Gospel of Jesus is that we can have hope, a future, and a place of belonging. We have been called to partner with God in his work of reconciliation, to carry the news of what he has done because of his great love. And that we continue to prioritize that mission as we carry the Gospel to people for whom Christ died, regardless of their position on any particular issue.