Beware of the Political Spirit

by Nathan Shaw

Note well: This article is not for or against COVID-19 vaccines. God has not trumpeted any specific warning to me—either to take the vaccine, or not to take the vaccine. This does not mean that He isn’t trumpeting those messages to others. I can only release that which God speaks to me. Of far greater concern than the vaccine is the political spirit that is attempting to sow discord in the body of Christ. Let me ask an important question: Is God more concerned whether we are for or against a vaccine, or is He more concerned whether or not we are succumbing to a political spirit?

A political spirit is not the same as politics. Many political parties operate under a political spirit, but refreshingly, some do not. A person becomes vulnerable to a political spirit when they lock themselves in to a certain position and then polarize the position even further by making gray areas black and white. The political spirit then attempts to force people to take sides for or against the position. Political spirits cause strife and contention to escalate very quickly. The strategy has three phases to it:

1. Lock influencers into sounding chambers that defend a particular position.
2. Force people to take sides.
3. Divide families, churches, institutions or nations.

It’s a simple, effective and very powerful strategy.

As soon as a person locks themselves into a position, they stop listening. James exhorts us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19). The political spirit does the opposite—it is slow to listen, quick to speak and quick to anger. Here are two important insights:

1. Political spirits multiply words, whereas God has a certain economy of words.
2. Anger disguises itself in many forms, including self-righteous zeal, frustration, anxiety and agitation.

Many “righteous” causes are actually empowered by a political spirit, not the Holy Spirit. James goes straight on to say that human anger does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20). Is it right to make a righteous stand about something? Absolutely! But when we fail to discern the difference between the Holy Spirit and a political spirit, the enemy can easily use us to further his agenda instead of God’s. Here is wisdom: Pray for the ability to discern the difference between the Holy Spirit and a political spirit, and don’t be quick to judge the actions of others.

We need to beware: Political spirits cause specific issues to consume people’s minds. While their minds are thus consumed their ability to hear God’s voice is drastically reduced. James addresses this dynamic when he contrasts demonic “wisdom” with heavenly wisdom. “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). The wisdom from above is peaceable and gentle. A person is unlikely to hear the gentleness of wisdom if they are agitated. Fear, stubbornness and rebellion all lead to some form of agitation.

If a person chooses to receive a vaccine the question they can ask is: Am I listening to the gentleness of wisdom, or the voice of fear? If a person chooses not to get a vaccine the question they can ask is: Am I listening to the gentleness of wisdom, or am I responding in fear, stubbornness or rebellion? Theological stubbornness (something which is all too common in the area of eschatology) can make a person vulnerable to a political spirit. Theological systems of thought so easily become idols that blind us from further or contrary revelation. Stubbornness and rebellion are not qualities we like to acknowledge, but having the humility to admit the truth is always the best option. After all, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

What is God really interested in? We can be so worried about whether we are doing the right thing or the wrong thing (think vaccine), or whether this bad thing or that bad thing is going to happen (think vaccine once again), and all the time God is looking for humility. If you have two people, one is vaccinated and the other is not, one is humble and the other is not, what moves the heart of God? I’m not trying to minimize the vaccine issue, but sometimes we make small things big and big things small. God is saying, “Beware of the political spirit and examine your hearts. The things that interest Me most are often quite different than the things that interest My people. Don’t get caught up in arguments and contentions and strife. Hear My voice and respond to the gentleness of wisdom.” Let’s keep the main thing the main thing. The most important question to ask is this: Am I in love with the Man Christ Jesus?

© 2021 Nathan Shaw.

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