It’s all over social media and the news: evangelical leaders are quitting the GOP and encouraging their followers to do the same. Apparently, the front-runner of the Republican Party does not represent their values anymore. All I can say is . . .
What took them so long? But that’s another topic for another time . . .
Christians all over the un-United States are, once again, arguing with one another . . . over politics. It’s sad. Shameful, really.
Yes, the issues at hand are very important. Yes, the decision America makes in electing a leader for our nation will impact our children. But what will impact them even more is the way we choose to treat one another.
Jesus {said}, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting . . . But my kingdom is not from the world.” ~John 18:36
It’s perfectly acceptable for a person of faith to choose a career in politics. I encourage those who choose that path to be respectable and honorable and to represent/be a voice for those who share their values. After all, that’s what a political leader is supposed to do—represent the people who elected them. But I also would encourage them not to drag Christ’s name into the political arena. He is in all and over all—but he made it very clear that he had no interest in politics . . . or in his people eventually ruling the world.
Why is this concept so hard for the church to grasp? Why does it feel that it must fight the world’s system within the world’s system?
Perhaps this appalling situation the GOP has found itself in will be a wake-up call for the church. Perhaps it will show them, once and for all, that Jesus is not a Republican, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Socialist, Marxist, etc… Perhaps the church will look inside its own walls, deal with its own issues, and choose sanctification over popularity; true power over a platform. Perhaps the church will realize that what it’s children and children’s children need will never come from a President or a Congress or the Supreme Court but rather a king who shocked the world by making no claims to any worldly throne.
Finally, perhaps the church will return to it’s chief mission: the spreading of the good news, feeding and clothing the poor (I applaud those who have done this the entire time—there are many who have and still do!), loving their neighbors, praying for those who hate them, and most importantly teaching their children and children’s children to put their trust in God and not in man.
Perhaps they will . . . but I have my doubts.
To those who feel as though there is no candidate speaking for you remember, Christ is your king. And he hears you. Pray for our nation. Pray for our leaders and soon-to-be-elected leaders. Pray that Christ will have mercy on our nation. Pray especially, that those who claim to know him will wake up, stop looking around for a savior, and seek THE Savior while he may be found.
Don’t get caught up in never-ending arguments over things you have no power to change but DO do what you can. Be light, be salt, and for Christ’s sake (!), be kind.
