Column: Being a disciple of Jesus, first and foremost

By Pat Arensberg
For The Catholic Week
I am writing this on October 28th.  As I write this, I have no idea who will win the presidential or any other election.  As you read this, you will know.  But I do know this.  Jesus Christ is the Lord of all.  In the person of Jesus Christ, God entered into our fallen world.  He demonstrates that we matter and what we do matters.
My dear brothers and sisters, I think we have become too political.  We have way too much allegiance to earthly powers.  I have an informed conscience and I know who I think is a better choice for me to vote for.  But, I am a disciple of Jesus before I am an American.  I am a disciple before I am a Democrat or a Republican.  I am a disciple of Jesus and this relationship should inform my politics.  It should inform the way I manage my finances.  It should inform the way I treat my neighbors.  It should inform the television I watch.
I fear that too many of us, and I myself at times, let our politics inform our theology or our religious practice.  We are first and foremost, and for all eternity citizens of God’s Kingdom.  We should do all that we can do to foster the building of THAT kingdom here on earth.  Any political party, movement or philosophy may serve the purpose of building God’s Kingdom, and to the extent that this is true we can ally ourselves with it.  However, it is a means to an end.  We must always keep the end in sight and not mistake the means we are using with the end.  
I long for the days when people of good will were explicitly, or at least implicitly, building the Kingdom of God.  With this shared value in place people would disagree on specific policy questions, but are always trying to achieve the same value.  
So my advice to you and to myself is to do what Jesus commanded, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  (Matthew 28:19-20)
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life.  Email him at [email protected] 
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