Not long ago I passed a house with a shocking photo on display in the front yard. It showed a man holding up a middle finger above a caption that used the ugliest epithet to suggest what viewers could do if they didn’t vote for this guy’s presidential choice.

At first I couldn’t believe it, but quickly I realized how typical this is of what’s happening too often today. But here’s the worse part. Behind this unpleasant middle finger soared a huge white cross, the symbol of Christian love and sacrifice, also on display in the yard. But I doubt many who saw the photo noticed the cross, and those who did certainly received no clue of what the cross of Christ is all about.

When we put our political views in front of the cross of Christ, we hide it from a watching world. When politics becomes our praise, our effectiveness for God in this world is diminished, if not ruined.