to all my Christ-following friends,
i see you.
i see your polarized reactions today. i see you on facebook, some of you celebrating like your team just won the championship, and even more of you claiming doom-and-gloom and resorting to the "well, if it's God's will" theology that is so dangerous to kingdom-building.
yes, i see you. and i want to challenge you. both groups of you. i want to challenge you to cut it out with the gloating and the pouting. i want to urge you to remember that the decisions you make with the people around you and the neighbors who are sleeping under overpasses just outside your town and, yes, even those who are reading your facebook updates are so much more important than the ones you make behind a curtain with an 'x' in a box. i want to remind you that your civic duty might be to vote, but your duty as a follower of Christ is to love your neighbor, even those you perceive as enemies. especially those you perceive as enemies.
please remember that not all of those who follow Jesus think exactly like you. just as not all latino voters think the same, or all women vote the same, neither do all Christians understand government, its role, and the correct choice for a leader in the same way. we simply do not agree. so please do not act like the world has either been somehow miraculously saved or ominously doomed. remember that Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world. remember that he wasn't as interested in our taxes as we seem to be (give to casesar....). and remember that what he was interested in is how we love God (by our actions and obedience) and love one another (by our service and generosity). the question for Jesus was never, "which kind of caesar will you support?" but "how will you go and make disciples? how will you build my kingdom? how will they know you are mine?"
oh, and the answer to that last one (just in case you forgot) is love. love. love. that's how they'll know. not our political party. not our level of passionate resistance. not our cute little political facebook comments. not our hope in our government (or lack thereof). not our caucuses. not our unifying around particular issues. not our 'get out the vote' campaigns. not our impassioned speeches or furious reactions. nope. that's how they'll know if we are conservative or liberal, republican or democrat or just plain sick of it all. but how they'll know we are followers of the Way? that'd be love.
let me see it.
Comments
Each of us has so far to go when it comes to learning how to love, man. The super reactiveness of Christians during this election is strong evidence that we are already largely beholden to false gods and collective idols.
The human heart is so stinkin' frail! Jesus is so much about love, man, so much. I've been thinking many similar thoughts in recent weeks, Greg. Thanks for sharing...
http://www.chadvoller.com for some of my thoughts on the issues at hand.
and, billy, is suppose that IS one way to look at it. but i would suggest you look at it differently: what is good or bad for our country isn't about what person is in the whitehouse, but what the people in the houses on your street and my street do each day. we can choose to put all our trust in government and just sit back and see what happens. or we can choose to spend our time fear-mongering and complaining and ultimately paralyzing ourselves and our neighbors. OR we can respect and honor both the office and the person who is president, while choosing to chart our own course when it comes to kingdom building. that's where i'm going, and was just writing to suggest the same to others. in my opinion, its not what "he" does, whoever "he" is, but what YOU do and what I do. that's what really matters. so put down the arsenal of defense weapons, turn off the fox news, and pick up the guitar and make something beautiful.
love both of you guys. peace.