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Thoughts on the upcoming election

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Election 2016For the first time in my adult life, I don’t like either candidate that the major parties have put forward for the office of President of the United States. I see more harm than good coming from either candidate being elected to that office.

I wish we could have a do-over for the primary elections, but alas we cannot.

So, what to do about it?

I don’t have a great answer to that. It seems that the only three options are:

  1. Pick whichever of the major candidates makes you less nauseous, hold your nose and vote for him/her.
  2. Pick a third party candidate as a protest vote (which does nothing to bring change in a two party system)
  3. Don’t vote at all

Of the three, at this point, option #1 seems the best to me, but I wouldn’t blame anyone for choosing one of the other two options.

But, the one thing that we should not do is fret or panic over this.

I challenge you to search the letters of Paul in the New Testament and find any complaint, lament or critique of the government. You will search in vain to find one. Paul wasted no ink on the Roman government. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

When he mentions the government at all, it is to encourage Christians to obey the government.

Here is the interesting tidbit in this. Do you know the name of the Emperor who was in power when Paul wrote his letters (with the possible exception of the book of Galatians)? That Emperor was Nero. When Paul appealed to Caesar, he was appealing to Nero. Yes, that Nero, who had no sympathy for Christians and the one who ultimately had Paul killed.

My point is that no matter who wins the election, God remains in control and his plan for us (individually and collectively) cannot be thwarted.

Taking this perspective will allow us to do two things:

  1. Let go of the panic about our less liked candidate getting into office. The world will not end if your preferred candidate does not win.
  2. Allow us to take stock of the candidates more objectively. There is much to criticize in what we know about both candidates. We don’t have to turn a blind eye to the shortcomings of the one we would prefer to be in office. We are called to trust God and to speak the truth in love.

God will not abandon his church not matter who is in office. Remember, the promise to Peter was that God will build the church, if he did so under Nero, he can certainly do so under Hillary or Donald.

I’m not saying that it won’t be painful or disruptive, but it will not be outside the plan of God.

Take a deep breath, pick your candidate and trust God for the rest.

Maybe true but hardly helpful

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HelpfulI tend to hang with people who subscribe to reformed theology, which emphasizes the sovereignty of God over his creation. This should not be too surprising given that I attend a PCA church. But one of the struggles that I have with such people is that sometimes truth is given in a way that is hardly helpful.

A friend of ours was in a Bible study with some other ladies where she expressed concern for her brother who is not a believer in Jesus. One of the ladies (I can only assume in an effort to be helpful) informed our friend that perhaps her brother is not one of the elect and will never believe in Jesus.

This is like saying to me, “tomorrow you could be diagnosed with cancer.” While this is a true statement, it is certainly possible that I might receive such a diagnosis, it would not be a helpful one. What good would result from such a declaration?

In the same way, it is certainly possible that her brother will never respond to the claims of the Gospel, but this statement was not helpful and quite frankly was an affront to what we see in Jesus.

Jesus declared that he represented the Father and that to see Jesus was the same as seeing God (John 14:9). So the way that Jesus interacts with believers and unbelievers gives an indication of how they are viewed by God the Father.

At the Last Supper, Jesus announced that one of the disciples would betray Jesus (Matt. 26:21). The disciples did not automatically know who Jesus expected to do the betrayal. Notice the next verse:

“And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”” (Matthew 26:22, ESV)

We all know that it was Judas was the betrayer, but when Jesus made the announcement, the disciples did not automatically think of Judas. Each disciple suspected himself and questioned Jesus, “is it I?”

From this I concluded that Jesus did not treat Judas any differently than he did the rest of the disciples. Jesus offered Judas the same evidence and opportunity to exercise faith that the other disciples had. Yet, Jesus knew when he chose Judas as a disciple that Judas would be the betrayer.

What is my point in this? The understanding that God knows who will respond to him and who will not does not give us permission to write anyone off as being beyond the power of the Gospel. There are too many examples throughout history of people thought beyond redemption who Jesus touched and changed.

A Biblical example of this is the story of the Gerasene Demoniac in Mark chapter 5. If any man seemed beyond the power of the Gospel, it would have been that man, yet we know that Jesus cast out the demons and that man became a missionary to the residents of the Decapolis.

While it is true that not all will respond to the Gospel, and while it is also true that God knows who will and who will not respond, we do not have such knowledge and need to interact with everyone as if they will respond. In other words, we must follow the example of Jesus and relate to everyone as if they will come to faith while knowing that not all will.

We cannot know the outcome for any person and to act as if we do is an affront to the Jesus that we claim to worship. We are called to make disciples and we cannot know ahead of time who will and who will not become one.

So while telling our friend that her brother may not be one who will respond might indeed be true, it was certainly not helpful.

On the Church and politics

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politics 2I am not a political junkie, nor is this a political blog. I have tried to avoid any hint of partisan politics in my posts. It is my intent to continue on this path. While keeping this intent, I want to make a few observations about the recent election for the benefit of my brothers and sisters in the Church.

The Church is not a political institution

History shows that every time the church has gotten political power, it has turned out badly for the church and the culture at large. While the statistics may show that people who identify themselves as Bible believing Christians tended to prefer one candidate, they also show that this preference was not universal within the Church. Therefore we must be careful to not alienate our brothers and sisters whose political preference does not agree with our own.

God has neither a D nor an R behind his name. You may feel that you can make a case that the policies of your preferred party are more closely aligned with your understanding of Scripture. But I would remind you that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of Scripture transcend party platforms and political strategy.

Government is not the answer

No matter whether you are depressed, elated or ambivalent about the election result, I want to remind you that the government cannot fix the problems that we face. The fiscal and social problems are not the disease, they are merely the symptoms of a larger moral and spiritual problem. The root cause goes much deeper.

The trajectory of our government is determined by the moral and spiritual climate of the country. In short, we get the government that we deserve because we (collectively) select our leaders. The leaders therefore are reflective of the desires of the people they lead.

For example, we continue to spend more than we have. We do not have the moral discipline to tackle the difficult fiscal problems that face us. We reject the Judeo-Christian ethic of self control and responsibility and have nothing with which to replace it. Consequently, our government does not have the mandate to make the hard decisions which will cause discomfort in the short run but will provide stability moving forward. We are living off of next year’s seed and will have nothing to plant in the spring.

Government cannot hinder God’s plan

Galatians 4:4 tells us that Jesus came “in the fullness of time” which happened to be during the reign of Caesar Augustus. Augustus was followed by a string of emperors that were at best neutral to the propagation of the Gospel. Many of them were hostile to it and persecuted the Church. They had nearly absolute political power but were unable to thwart God’s plan for His Church.

Conclusion

If you are elated about the election results, I would caution you to temper that elation with the understanding that Government, big or small, cannot cure what ails the world. The only cure for the moral and spiritual problems of America is a Holy Spirit led revival and return to a commitment to the moral code that God revealed to us in Scripture.

If you are depressed about the election results, I would offer you the hope that government cannot thwart God’s plan for you or His Church.

For all of us in the Church, I would offer Paul’s words of encouragement found in Romans 8:38-39:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NASB)

Daniel and regime change – A call for perspective

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The call to panic

Daniel and the lionsIt is tempting to get caught up in the rhetoric because it is presented to us that the outcome of this election is the most important of our lifetime. Talk show hosts, advertisements, commentators, musicians and actors all speak with breathless emotion about what is at stake and how a wrong choice will cause the demise of America.

Call me a cynic, but it seems that every election is presented that same way. Yes, there are important issues, and I have decided for whom I will vote. I do think that it is important to exercise the freedom we have been given to participate in the selection of those who govern us. In America we get the government we deserve because we put them in office.

It is right to be concerned about how our nation is governed and to speak up when things are not as they should be. But as a Christian I know that I must maintain a larger perspective.

The call to perspective

I recently read through the book of Daniel. In Daniel we see a man who was taken by force from his own country and transplanted in an alien land. He survived and thrived under three different regimes: Israel, Babylon and Persia.

I am encouraged by the fact that Daniel did not see any of the these Earthly kingdoms as his ultimate authority. It did not matter which person or country had the upper hand. God still remained in control.

The text does not say, but it is implied that when Daniel was in Judah, he worshipped God. When Daniel was under the King of Babylon, Daniel worshipped God. When the Persians took over, Daniel still worshipped God as the ultimate authority.

God had a plan for Daniel, he had a plan for the nation of Israel and he had a plan for the rest of humanity. Nebuchadnezzar could not derail that plan, and neither could Belshazzar, Darius or Cyrus. Daniel’s God stayed the same throughout Daniel’s lifetime therefore Daniel’s worship of God stayed the same.

No matter how the election turns out, God remains in control and no-one can thwart his plan. God will not change, and our worship of him should not change.

We can learn from Daniel and find comfort in his example of one who was steadfast in his worship, even in the midst of social and political chaos.

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