I’m pretty good at seeing connections. I took the Graduate Record Examination twice, and I remember questions like this:

“Dog is to peanut butter, as cat is to _______________.”
a. Apple butter b. Martha Stewart c. The International Space Station.

I won’t tell you what the answer is, but I got it right.

Thus starts Michael Spencer’s commentary at internetmonk.com, “Looking For The Jesus Connection: How did Jesus Fight the ‘Culture War’?” Michael clearly is smarter than I. Not only does he see the connection in the opening question, but he can explain the connections between Jesus and the confirmation of circuit court judges.

Jesus is Lord. He teaches us to live by Biblical values. Christians, i.e. “people of faith,” want to apply those Biblical values to public life, especially here in America where we have the right to do so. Judges affect our public lives by their many rulings on important issues, especially issues related to life and marriage. Republicans have nominated judges that are people of faith, and their rulings won’t go against what people of faith know is right and good. But the Democrats are against people of faith, and are using filibusters and other tactics to stop those Republican nominated judges from being approved. They are not just stalling the process; they are actively disqualifying these judges over issues of religious faith, and that’s wrong. Therefore, Jesus is for Republican judges being approved, and Jesus is against the Democratic filibuster against people of faith.

I suspect I don’t have to tell you that Michael is writing with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. But I will, because I’m only excerpting his commentary and I don’t want you to misunderstand. After all, those “connections” sound like the statements of some people I know.

Michael concludes his commentary with the statement:

I can’t make the connection between the ministry of Jesus and the political methods and agendas of partisan conservatives. Maybe because the connection isn’t there.

So how does Michael get from A to B, from start to end? I’m not going to tell you because I want you to go read the whole commentary. It’s required reading for those who think we’re not in a culture war and for those who do, but may not be using the right tactics.

Hat tip: Crossroads.