Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. --Groucho Marx

We often hear the phrase, “the art of politics.” What can this mean?

Politics has to do with what we value as powerful and authoritative in our society and over our lives. Politics is a means of influencing and changing social behavior toward a specific goal.

Art also seeks to influence social behavior. Art, however, aims for a vastly different kind of goal.“Art is a lie that enables us to realize truth,” says Pablo Picasso. Perhaps this is why Jesus always taught in metaphor and parables.

If anyone deserves kudos for the “art of politics” it’s Jesus, for Jesus isn’t interested in “doing” “politics,” but he understands politics enough to use the a…