What Are We To Do?

Here in the US, we have a new President. He is extremely controversial, either loved or hated. Very few presidents in my lifetime have been as polarizing. What is disturbing to me is that, among Christians, the divide is as wide as it is among the non-Christian community. And, yet, according to Jesus, the single criterion for the world to determine whether or not we are Christians is love being shown to one another. Sadly, at least in this country, that has largely been usurped by politics, particularly the person and the policies of our new President.

On of the great dangers to the church here in the US is to believe that one political candidate is God’s choice, the other not. Over the past 6 months I have heard a disturbing number of Christians declaring that “God is going to put Trump in office” or that “God revealed to me that Trump will win”, while vilifying any others who would believe or vote differently. When we do that, we seem to forget that, although we are citizens of our nation, we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God. As followers of Christ and citizens of the Kingdom of God, we have  the responsibility of loving others with the love of Christ. That love is to be unconditional, that love is without prejudice. But, is that what is happening in our churches? Are we able to look beyond the political mess and love our brothers and sisters in Christ with a sincere love?

I am shaking my head at the sorry state our nation is in. We are so deeply divided over politics, immigration, race, and more. As a country, we seem to have lost the ability to engage in meaningful discussion, in honest debate where we actually LISTEN to the opposing side. It is now all to easy to hide behind a pseudonym on social media and spew out vitriol at anyone who thinks differently. Civility and mutual respect are being replaced by hatred and hysteria. It is a sad and disturbing state of affairs. So, what then can I do, as an individual? I cannot change it all, though I wish I could. I know what I will do. By the grace of God, as a follower of Jesus, I will do all I can to show love and care to those whose lives intersect with mine. I will NOT spew out anger and hostility on social media toward those with whom I have differences. I will NOT fan the flames of hatred in blog posts. I will NOT gloat over political “victories”, nor will I call for the heads of those who have won. I WILL pray for those in places of power in my nation, as scripture calls us to do. I will reach out to a lost world with the love of Christ. I will do my best to help those less fortunate than me. I will continue to travel abroad to teach and train pastors and leaders and students who will be leading the church in the years to come.

See, each of you has to determine what you will do as an individual who follows Jesus. I suggest that we all read the Sermon on the Mount in order to reset our spiritual equilibrium, to remind us that we have not only a mission here in this world, but we have an example of how to live and how to love others.

May we follow Jesus wholeheartedly and may we show the love of Christ to others consistently. And may we resist the urge to jump into the political fray, but decide to keep ourselves in the love of God.

David