No matter where you fall on the political spectrum in America, every four years there is an autumn full of opportunities to fear, to be angry, and to forget Who is really in charge. And it’s getting harder not to fall into that temptation.
I clearly remember when Clinton challenged Bush in 1992. The teenage years were upon me, and so, I was told, was the end of the church in America if Clinton got elected. My mom, in particular, lived with a surety that this was the most important election in the history of elections. On election night, we watched the results with sinking dread, while my mom ran back and forth to her room, getting on her knees to beg God to elect the only hope for America…Bush. Needless to say, I spent my teenage years subconsciously worried that any moment our democracy would be plunged into ruin.
Here we are again, fearing for our nation and its freedoms. Tempted to believe that our only hope is a human being who will make things right for everyone within four years time.
And for sure, there are concerns. Anxiety, depression, and suicide are on the rise. Lifestyles that we used to consider mental illnesses are being offered to our children. Christian values are not only discounted, they are openly mocked and regarded as naive. People are calling evil “good” and good “evil”. The world is worlding.
But you know what, watch any historical documentary and you will find that the world has always been worlding. Evil is just not hiding as well anymore. It used to duck behind pretty church faces and a Christian nation label. It used to slink off to the bedroom or the hotel room or the 7-11 down the street. The world has always been worlding.
Good news! If you’ve surrendered your life to Christ, you are not of this world (Jn 17:16). You aren’t. You have been bought with a price (I Cor 6:20) You have been rescued from darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Love (Col 1:13). The enemy knows that there is nothing He can do to separate you from that Love (Rom 8:39), so instead, he works to trick you into believing that you are still of this world. Election season is prime time for him to use Christians against Christ.
When we believe that we are still “of the world” and not just in it, we try to control narratives; we rely on culture; we fight, not to represent Christ, but for specific outcomes; we focus on “what might happen if”, instead of “even if that does happen”. We tell ourselves that it’s righteous anger that makes us lash out at our opponents, that it’s not really sin for a political candidate to lie or slander or act pridefully, that alls fair when you’re trying to win an election. In doing so, we take God’s Name in vain, claim we know who He would vote for, speak and act in ways that ostracize others from the Kingdom.
How do we uphold and stand for God’s design and His Ways in the season of “survival of the rightest” (or “leftest”)?
We cling to the foundation of Christianity. Love is the point. (Matt 22:39-40)
We guard our tongues (and our fingers) with diligence. (James 1:9)
We choose to be peacemakers. (James 1:18)
We listen more than we rant and rave. (James 1:19)
When we show up in the political atmosphere, we make sure that we are light. (Matt 5:14)
And above all, we remember that God exalts kings and humbles them (Dan 2:21). Even when the leader we put our hope in loses or disappoints, we have a promise that God protects those who hope in Him (Ps 91:14; Prov 30:5).
We can rest in His faithfulness, Church, when we entrust this season to Him.
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