The Real TEA Party Origins ...

The simple acronym ascribed to the TEA party is “taxed enough already”.  It is a very simply idea, whose premise is easy to understand.  We, the people, don’t like taxes.  We do like roads, and our service men and women in our armed forces.  We do like infrastructure and anyone who has an entitlement is likely to die before ever voting to lose it.  In short, we the people, love our services, but hate having to be taxed to pay for them.  Don’t get me wrong, we understand that “some” taxes will be required.  But the rate we pay (no matter what it is) is always something that just feels too high.  This feeling is only aggravated when we see spending by the government on “stuff” we would never buy ourselves.  It does not matter what the “stuff” is, only that it conflicts with our preferences, and common sense.  When I think that my tax dollar paid for “that”, it makes me nuts.  Therefore, I am taxed enough already, our government will simply have to learn how to pay for the stuff I like, with the money they already have (preferably by stopping the spending on the stuff I do not like).

As it turns out, a simple idea becomes complex in execution, because the stuff I like, does not agree with the stuff my neighbor likes, and so … resolution becomes illusive.  But we have things in common.  We are both Americans, paying taxes into an American system.  We are not a conquered country paying taxes into a foreign government system.  Imagine that.  In the time of Christ, the average Jewish citizen was paying taxes on multiple fronts.  Chief of all, they paid taxes to Rome.  They hated Rome.  You can keep your Roman roads, and Roman aqueducts.  I would rather keep my money.  But even absent Rome, taxes must be paid to Herod (the king), who “governed” the province to the extent that Rome allowed it to be governed.  So more money gone.  Then finally, tithes and offerings, must be paid to the Temple, to secure the favor of God (I mean the priests who say it is the same thing).  Talk about taxed enough already.  We do not have the copyright on that idea, the Jewish people in the time of Christ must surely have invented it.

And the TEA party in the time of Christ had a plan.  They got their plan from their scriptures.  The Messiah above all other duties, was supposed to free them from Roman bondage.  In effect, the Messiah, was to be the first Republican, who could solve the problem of ending taxes, while at the same time, provide the nation with anything it needed (or rather wanted, again the same thing).  Every law abiding Jewish citizen shared this belief, even His disciples.  There were no accusations of racism in this early TEA party philosophy, as freedom from Roman taxation would be universal to men and women, of any color, as long as they resided in Israel, and subscribed to a belief in the Messiah.  Jesus had done a ton of wonderful things.  He had proven He could feed the nation out of near nothing.  He could resurrect fallen soldiers in His army and put them right back in the fight even though they may be killed a few times.  His power was certain, but His intentions were not.  He kept talking about dying.  He kept talking about loving.  It was aggravating, and frankly it eliminated Him from being the Messiah from a priestly perspective (or Godly perspective as the priests reasoned, again, same thing).

So if a trap was to be set, to trip up this new Messiah, it must surely be anchored in the one task He is refusing to do.  Question Him on taxation, reveal He has no plans to end it, and the people will lynch Him faster than anything.  It was a good plan.  It was well thought out.  They had Him.  He refused to end taxation, so this was sure to be the topic to trip Him up, and get the people to dump Him.  After all, the entire nation of Israel was a solid member of the TEA party in His day.  This was the context for the story Peter recalls to John Mark, in his gospel in chapter 12. 

Mark picks up in verse 13 saying … “And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.”  Notice here, the ruling counsel the Sanhedrin was bent on killing Christ, but needed the people to dump Him first.  So in this instance not only do they send Pharisees to set up the trap, they are sending Herodians as well to witness what He says.  This is one of the first unions of church and state.  Every time church (even the right one), unifies with state (no matter which one), persecution and death of truth is to follow.  Today will be no exception thus far.

Mark continues in verse 14 saying … “And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”  OK folks, when you see the flattery open the conversation you should pretty much infer, a trap has been set.  In effect what the Pharisees were just about shoving in Christ’s face was the idea that He was supposed to tell the truth, even though the Herodians were present to witness what He says.  Other men might complain about taxes in private, but to do it in front of the guys who collect it, and for the local king, was a really bad idea (for long life that is).  In addition, they are taunting Christ, that He must tell the truth now, when it is not convenient for Him, or the people will dump Him as a hypocrite or liar.  The Caesar question of taxation was more than red meat for the TEA party folks, it was nearly a question of national loyalty.  Anyone who expressed favor for Caesar was not likely to have Jewish friends long.

Mark then records the remainder of the exchange picking up in verse 15 saying … “Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. [verse 16] And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. [verse 17] And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.”  So there are quite a few things we need to focus on in this passage.  First, notice that Christ knew it was the religious leaders who were the hypocrites in this situation.  It was they who hated Roman taxation above all else, as it ate into their Temple offering profit lines.  Yet none of them would ever admit it publicly or risk the wrath of the Roman empire.

Second, notice that Christ does not own even a penny of His own.  He needs them to bring Him one.  He is too poor to have one Himself, as He gives EVERYTHING He owns to the poor.  Instead of accumulating wealth through a job to provide for Himself, and His merry band, He relies on God for everything, because He does not even have a penny to His name.  It is a Roman penny they bring.  Then without advocating taxation, He reveals what priorities should matter in the believing heart.  Give away what the world considers wealth, it does not matter.  And embrace what God is offering, a new life, a new way to think and love, give Him your will, your desires, your submission … and watch what happens to you.  Watch what real wealth looks like.

Finally, the Pharisees are simply awestruck.  They have no words.  They have no response.  They just stand there marveling, not only that He escaped their trap, but that He so concisely summed up the law and the prophets in a simple declaration of priorities.  The Pharisees are not ignorant men.  They are well studied.  They know scripture better than most.  And the beauty of what Christ teaches is based in the purity of His truth.  They do not lack understanding; they lack will to believe.  They know He is the Messiah.  They know He speaks only truth.  It is simple.  It is life altering.  But they would rather have control, than to submit to His authority and be humbled before the people.  As if the people cared.  The Pharisees have the curse of arrogance, holding themselves up to be better than the people they are supposed to be serving.  In this curse they think the people actually care about every detail of the Pharisee’s life.

It is the modern equivalent of Pharisees posting pictures on Twitter, and Instagram, and Facebook every time they do anything at all.  And then expecting the entire world reads these posts with bated breath, sitting in eager anticipation of the next one.  Sound familiar?  The reality is, no one cares.  No one reads the posts of Pharisees until and unless it is convenient for them to do so, and then after they read them, they forget them almost immediately.  It is only in the self-involved, self-obsessed head of the Pharisees where the entire world cares about them, and what they do.  Had they humbled themselves before Christ the people would not have cared.  Instead it might actually have raised the opinions of the people for the Pharisees that they could finally “get it”.  But alas the Pharisees had no room for humility in their hearts, only a ton of self-obsession.

There would be no victory for the TEA party this day.  But in our day, perhaps the lesson of Christ is just as poignant.  We focus on our taxes, and resent our government for what they ask of us, always believing it is just too high.  But our God, the one whose name we proudly call ourselves after, asks us not to worry about taxes at all.  In fact by His logic, we could give ALL our money to the government.  Note that the Roman empire did not worship the right God, or believe the right doctrines, or value life.  They were wicked through and through, yet Christ makes no distinction about this hindering giving them all the money we have.  The God who was so poor, He had to ask to borrow a penny for illustration, asks us to look beyond our money, and to what is real wealth.  He asks us to give our hearts (the most valuable thing we own), to His Father to be transformed.  Once this occurs, we will not value money anymore any way.  That we cling to our pennies, is only a sign we still cling to our hearts as well. 

Jesus could care less about His finances.  He relied on God to meet His needs as He had them.  Jesus cared deeply about our priorities, our lives, and our ability to love others as He loves them.  Giving our desires to God can fix this for us.  What will our TEA party say in response, what will we value?  In whom will we trust?

 

Unto Caesar ...

There is a debate in this country regarding the separation of church and state.  Surprisingly the debate is not over the particulars regarding the state encroaching on the rights of a minority religious viewpoint; rather, it is over whether this nation should choose to remain with the powers of church and state separate at all.  Christians at large, believe their rights are trampled on when prayer is eliminated in public schools, or statues of the ten commandments are ordered removed from public courthouses.  Are they right?

We have been called a Christian nation.  Muslims around the world view us this way simply because the overwhelming number of religious people in the U.S. claim Christianity as their basic religion.  Though next in line would be Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths respectively.  Atheists and agnostics make up only a small percentage of the nation.  Occult and Satanist religions even smaller than that (though occult is defined in the eye of the beholder).  So even though Christians make up the majority of the population to date, they are not the fastest growing belief system in the U.S..  Muslims hold this distinction.  It might be better to call us a nation of faith or beliefs than a truly Christian nation.

Going back to our beginning we find that our founding fathers were largely Christian believers.  They applied Christian thinking and morality to the nation’s first set of founding principles and laws.  They publicly talked about their devotion in speeches to both private and public audiences.  In essence, religious speech was not uncommon in governmental bodies as the nation first began to define itself.  They prayed in Congress, put chaplains in the military. and were unabashed about speaking publicly about their faith.  They were not perfect, nor are we, but they did believe.

However with the inquisition a not so far away phenomenon; and having recently emerged from the dark ages, our founding fathers did see the wisdom of allowing for the freedom of religion, by keeping the state out it.  When religious and political power were united (as they were first in Rome, then in England) great persecution arose in the name of God (but more accurately for the greed of gold).  Many died for no other reason than a differing faith or belief system, their wealth forfeited to either state or church or both.

So our nation became founded on Christian attitudes and prevailing morality, but chose to make the distinction between the church and the state.  In point of fact we were the first country to make such an issue of this.  But we were not the first advocate of it.  Christ Himself, while here on earth, answered one of those meant-to-trip-you-up questions by saying … “render unto to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”  This was the first admonition to separate how we think about government and religion, and was ironically proposed from within Christianity.  Christ Himself laid out for us our proper priorities.  Money was to go to the government, and our hearts were to belong to God.  Oh that we could learn that lesson, rather than so often reversing it.

A study of Biblical prophesy talks a great deal about the Beast, and his image.  Many characteristics of the Beast are articulated throughout scripture, but the most compelling trait was his desire to control the conscience of men on pain of death.  The Beast (an enemy of the church throughout scripture) tried to make men think a certain way.  He wants and demands worship and adoration.  And according to the scripture, a great many people follow after the Beast and his image.  Why is this important?

Because scripture also refers to a new nation that rises up in the world and helps the church.  That new nation is us.  Our country arises across the sea and restores freedom for religion to the world.  Those that believe can live here free from persecution, inquisition, and death.  The church is free to grow here at least for a while.  But alas, we do not remain true to our values according the same sets of prophesy.  Eventually we begin to speak just like the Beast.  Note this does not mean we are forsaking religion, rather the contrary, it means we are uniting with it to compel the conscience of man.  Sound familiar?

It is NOT a gradual slide into liberalism, or atheism, that causes us to become like the Beast.  It is the unification of religion and political power that attempt to control the will.  Christ never compelled anyone to follow Him.  He authored freedom of choice for all creation, even when that creation made the wrong choice back in the garden.  There was no forced will then, and there is no forced will now.  There is an offer extended to man, but nothing to force him to accept it.  Satan on the other hand, is all too happy to enforce his will on your mind, heart, body, and soul.  The very nature of evil is to corrupt and control the mind of man.  And so like its author, the Beast begins to speak like Satan.  Uniting the spiritual with the political under the name of “good” but with every action resulting in pure “evil”.

And worst of all, Christians are driving the truck.  It is the siren call of Christians who want to reclaim our nation’s morality that are responsible for speaking like the Beast and the Dragon that preceded him.  What is it they say about good intentions paving the way to … hell.  And this is the road we are on today.  Republicans, though wounded by the results of the last election have not softened their positions on social tolerance in any way.  Rather they believe they lost because of their LACK of firmness to their values.  Today’s Republican party is emerging from defeat even farther to the right, than to the center.  It’s most popular spokes people prove this point again and again.

Ironically it is not the entire Republican agenda that is a problem.  Fiscal responsibility, small government, strong defense, wide personal freedoms, and local oversight are excellent principles upon which to build a political party.  But mix in extra helpings of hate posing as religious fundamentalism, and you excite a base to take “mob” action, rather than deliberate tolerance.  Homosexuals and abortionists are no more enemies of Christ than are adulterers and gossip mongers.  There is no compelling spiritual reason to single out a particular set of evil for a zero-tolerance policy when this is not universally applied to every other set of bad behavior.  It is the devil’s work to try to legislate morality.

It is not the duty of the Christian to try to stamp out sin in the world.  It is the duty of the Christian to love his enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you.  In short, it is the duty of Christians to love.  There is no mention of sin in our list of responsibilities.  Those that wish to call sin by its proper name often use this language to hide their true meaning – they wish to call other people sinners, or hold people accountable publicly for their sins.  To truly call sin by its right name would involve only defining it as it truly is – PAIN.  All sin is inextricably linked to pain, whether felt immediately or over a longer term.  To point out the destructive nature of sin, without accusing anyone else or condemning anyone else, is to truly define sin.  Condemnation has never been our responsibility, nor has it ever saved anyone.  Whereas love has done more, and accomplished more than you could possible ever fully define.

Rather than spending our energies in trying to legislate sin out of the world, and God back into our nation.  Why don’t we exert the same energy in submitting our prideful will to God’s control and learn how to truly love each other as well as those who disagree with us and our beliefs.  There is still time to redefine Christian values from out of the mouth of the Beast and back to the source of all love.  Let us learn to emulate our humble leader, who though He was God on earth, He was servant to us all ...