Well, election season is upon us once again...your bag limit is one politician per license without a special permit. :)
I'm very ambivalent about this election, maybe more so than at any other time. That may seem strange since most I meet seem to think, because of the war, the economy, and the general and moral state of the Union, that this is a pivotal and critical election.
We were discussing last Wednesday at our after-church fellowship time at the house how neither candidate really does it for most of us, and in fact we're kind of scared of both of them somewhat, one for being a wild card, and the other for being slicker than Willie.
And that's when my good friend and partner in crime and ministry Sig made his reference to "it's kind of like Alien vs. Predator. You're just kind of hoping that somehow they both die in the process, and you can escape the fallout. But you don't. No one does."
And it was settled. We would make our own stupid internet image, 
showcasing my mad skillz at Photoshop (or lack thereof), and it would be the next big thing, the viral of virals, bigger than our VBS videos of The Noah Project on you tube. OK, maybe not, but it would be fun.
And so on a rainy Thursday with too much free time, I came up with this:
And, as sig said so eloquently, that about sums it up.
Ok, it's not that I'm anti-American, or one of those guys who believes that because I'm a Christian, I shouldn't render squat to Caesar or something. Instead, I'm just really under the belief that this really isn't going to fix much. It's not defeatist, it's not even pessimistic. I'm just hooked on the reality that man isn't going to fix man's issues. No matter how good the governmental structure, no matter how slick or genuine the promises, no matter how charismatic the leader.
I recently read Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne. I agree with a good bit of it, and it's a good read for anyone trying to separate meaningful Discipleship and Jesus-following from Cultural Christianity, especially in the political realm. One of the big things I think about as a Christian being assaulted by politics, though, is that Jesus isn't interested in being president anyway. I mean, Jesus never once says in the Bible "accept me!" He doesn't need it. His words are always "follow me". Jesus is Lord, he knows it, and he wants us to follow, but he's not out campaigning for my faith. He's already backed it with his actions. No slogans, no promises that I wonder whether he can keep or not. He's already done it. And now He's moving through history, inviting me to follow in his steps. It's totally against everything foundational to the popular vote and modern politics. I love it!
So I'm not encouraging anyone to do any more or less than "render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's". You've got the privilege (God given by His allowance, mind you), to cast a vote. So do something with it. Or do something by doing nothing with it. About all God doesn't want you to do is bury it in a hole in the ground, like any other gift or talent. But don't hang your hat on a guy, or a principle, or an idea, or especially "change", especially change for change's sake. (sorry, I had to throw that in. I guess I am a little biased more one way than another). Our vision's not big enough. We need the God-Man. We need the Redeemer. He is, after all, the King of the Mess as well as Heaven. ;)
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1 comments:
You can go a lot of different ways. On the one hand, some people think that as Christians we ought to be above the fray entirely, and stay disengaged from politics and all of that silly Earthly stuff. This is exemplified by the opinion, expressed in our very own fellowship hall about 10 years ago, that Harding shouldn't have a pre-law program because producing lawyers was not very Christian.
[The obvious rejoinder to that is that if you don't make godly lawyers, the ungodly ones will make all of the laws.]
The other direction people tend to go is to inflict their faith on as many people as they can through the political process, trying to create a theocratic state de facto if not de jure. I believe this is contrary to the spirit and letter of Constitution, which is I revere not because it sets up a Christian state, but because it does NOT--nor does it set up a Hindu, Muslim, or Atheist state. It says we can do whatever we like with respect to our religion, and conversely, that we must respect other people's rights to do whatever they like.
Obviously, it has never really been that simple. And some things we tend to believe strongly about are rooted in our religion--abortion is the obvious example, but education (particularly relating to evolutionary theory, geology, etc.) is another one where faith often trumps reason. But this works both ways--some people have so much emotionally invested in denying another's faith that they cannot simply agree to disagree. Similarly, some people are unable to reason apart from their faith, and cannot comprehend why "Because the Bible says so" is not a valid legal theory to people who doesn't accept the authority of the Bible--and that it's their right not to do so.
It's a sticky wicket, in other words.
On top of my other religion-and-gun-clinging issues, I have an additional horse in this race: whomever wins the Presidential election becomes the new commander in chief, whose orders I am sworn to obey.
We are called to be Christians. We've had the good grace in this country to be able to do so in an environment rather friendlier than most to our ways, but that has been changing for a while. It might "change" a good deal faster for a few years. It could get downright hostile. This does not change our calling nor our responsibility one bit; it just means we may have some adversity to overcome. The war is already won; we just have to endure until the cavalry arrives.
Vote your hopes, but pray your fears. And keep your powder dry, of course.
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