Nov. 2, 2015
Please......PLEASE be oh so careful about how consumed you become with the current political situation in our country. This is a dangerous distraction that can hinder your growth and harm your spiritual health! It is so very easy to get caught up in all the hype and noise, all the causes and proffered cures. It's fun ans exciting but it is also a trap. Becoming overfly consumed by all the hooplah and yeehaw can severely and adversely affect your walk with the Lord.
Certainly we need to be concerned but our concern must be moderated by the priorities of our faith and not by the so called crisis in our country. Our priority is and indeed must be our faithfulness to our calling in Christ and the service He lays before us. This service knows no political affiliation even though is may acknowledge a political preference. We may care and even support "causes," but we may never allow those causes to become the be all and end all of our service to the Lord
Perhaps our forefathers in the faith had it better under the oppressive power of the Roman empire. The (as under so many dictatorships and monarchies) we, (believers) had a clear choice. We either served the king or we served the KING. When there was no participation in the political process things seemed to be a lot clearer. Now, however, with our ability to take a part in the process we face the danger of confusing our Christian duties with our political rights. No, I am not advocating some kind of withdrawal from the process. We do have a responsibility to responsibly use the right we have. What I am pleading for is a prayerful moderation of our involvement.. We can and should voice our views and even our preferences BUT not to the harm of our priorities in the faith.
We are engaged in a battle of dark (even grey) against the light. Christ against the world, the flesh and the devil. But it is a battle that is His to win, ours to endure. Our weapons are not signs and T-shirts, and hats and slogans but rather our weapons are prayer and His power/sovereignty. This is where the greatest part of our effort needs to be placed. Sure you can join a political party and even endorse your choice of candidates BUT don't make the mistake of thinking your party of your candidate is the answer. They are just as much a part of the problem as "the other people."
We are living more and more in a lawless time. The boundaries of civility, justice and righteouseness become more and more blurred every day. We must hold the center - the core of our faith and not be drawn out into the devils ground to try and fight him on his turf by his rules. We must become more clear as to our "gospel" priorities and duties and less draw by the allure and excitement of the world and its political shenanigans.
God has appointed that men should govern men. But that permission came with a warning that the :king" would oppress and use the governed for his own ends. Though we don not suffer under a king we do suffer under the rue of the elite and powerful whose ends are not the common good and certainly not the glory of God. We have to keep this in mind - in the front of our minds! Every inch we allow the "world" to encroach upon ur lives and energies is and inch the deny Christ and His calling.
Please,,,,,PLEASE give very serious through and prayer to how deeply you become entrapped but he wiles and ways of the world. Yes the issues are serious - very serious but that should drive us further into prayer than it does activism. PRAY for wisdom and innocence is this time of crisis and assault. Do not - please do not - allow the perception of the need for activism override the truth of the need for deep and meaningful prayer. Your candidate is not not a messiah - not a prophet - nor the answer to the ills of the age. Your candidate is simply a man - limited by sin and as vulnerable to the allure if power and position as any other. He/She is also limited by the sovereign will of God and it is Gid's agenda and timing that will prevail.
To close - we should be even more given to prayer and service now than ever - in view of the powerful distraction - the dangerous distraction of the current political rodeo. We cannot allow the perceived "crisis" to detract on little bit from our Christian duties both private and public. This is the time to seek His direction and power. Now is the time to clearly define what it means to be "in" the world and not "of" the world. Now is the time to choose. Not a party, not a candidate but rather to grow ever more faithful to Him or to allow the world's priorities to infect the faithful discharge of our Christian duties and obligation.
God is utterly sovereign --- utterly---utterly. What do we have to fear? What do we have to expect from the world except the hatred and vilification Christ told us to expect? We may have to live on their turf but we do not have to play by their rules. We have the power of prayer and we must use it as we rarely use it.
Support your party - endorse your candidate - wear your T-shirt BUT do not forget whose you are, the price paid for you and the gracious expectation He has for our role in His world. The only "hope" we have is His return - pray more for that than for the success or failure of any political agenda.
And remember - do not be surprised if (and it will) the word hates you!
