My friend, Joel Watts, is always trying to “out” me as a liberal. I love his effort. It’s futile, but it’s noble.

I am a fiercely political creature. I grew up talking politics and in my young adult years listening to talk radio. I still listen to political news, but with much more sarcasm than before. The days of an individual being able to actually engage an elected official with a meaningful discussion are long gone. No politician will listen to anything other than dollars going into their political campaign accounts.

To be honest, I’ve been a Republican. That’s so hard to type.

The main thing that has always kept me from being a Democrat is I am pro-life. And not just concerning the unborn. There are other key issues, but I am pro-life, and in the Democratic Party you don’t get higher up that city dog catcher if you let it be known you are pro-life. I understand over the last decade or so there have been many evangelicals try to be a part of the Democratic Party and hopefully influence them to a better conversation on the issues of abortion. And that has failed miserably.

The other thing that keeps me from being Democrat are people like Paul Krugman and Keith Olbermann. They are as vitriolic as Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, but just like conservatives who live Rush, liberals refuse to acknowledge the foolish things Krugman and Oblermann spew out. Krugman’s column today is a good case. The world would be SOOOO much better without Republicans! All we need are sensible Democrats because there are NOOO extremists in the Democratic Party.

But that’s an easy case to make for me. (And I prepare for the cannon fodder to come.)

But the Republican Party is such an incredible disappointment as well. A colleague of mine has a personal story about how the extreme right of the Republican Party sabotaged his brother’s job. It’s becoming utterly ridiculous.

I have gone through the years of the Republican Party promising the moon to evangelicals on issues like abortion and family values … and then delivering nothing. They would argue, “Well, if we had a SUPER majority in the Senate…”

That was the mantra the Democrats held out going into the 2008 election…

My point is this: They are all sounding the same now. That could have been said 30 years ago as well. The difference 30 years ago was they all sounded the same and stuff could get done. Today, when I say they all sound the same, I mean they are all divisive.

It’s Krugman on the left saying the world would be a better place without the Republicans. It’s Rush on the right railing against anything that sniffs of the Democratic Party. It’s stupid… and no one is stopping it.

Truthfully, as Christians we should have never hitched our wagon to any political party. Evangelicals did it with the Republicans and got burned. Post-moderns are doing it with the Democratic Party and they will find the same result. At first they will just blame the Republicans (like I did the Democrats), and then the realization will slowly sink in: no one is listening. And it leaves a hard knot in your stomach.

A friend of mine who studies Church History loves Francis of Assisi. He tells the story of Francis having friendships with the Crusaders AND the sultans. There were times when Francis would ride between the battle lines calling out prophetically to both sides, urging them to not fight.

Both Democrats and Republicans are incredibly arrogant with their political gamesmanship. It’s foolishness. It’s foolishness to think that if the other party just didn’t exist things would go better. It’s foolishness to think that only YOUR side has something of substance to add to the conversation.

We need healing from our blindness. I know I’ve needed healing from my own blindness.

I want to be able to pastor Democrats AND Republicans. I want to be able to ADD to people’s lives… not destroy them philosophically or with some political rhetoric.

I wish I could mount a horse like Francis of Assisi and ride between the battle lines of the Republicans and Democrats and cry out, “A pox on BOTH your houses!”

Instead, I will take the hits from those who have been offended by turning on the Republicans… or railing against the Democrats.

Such is life.