Nov 11
One Week Later
I’m sitting in my favorite coffee shop, pondering what happened one week ago today, and more specifically, what happened in the months leading up to that one particular day.
On Sunday, my pastor did an interesting, brutally-honest sermon about Christians and politics. It was the kind of sermon you wish you’d hear a pastor deliver, but you’re generally disappointed that no one ever does.
If you’d like to hear it, go to this site and download the podcast from November 9th, titled “Them, Us and Us.” I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
It was a reminder that as Christians, we’re supposed to respect authority, be supportive, treat others as we want to be treated. And in the world of politics, that’s beyond a tall order.
He quoted Romans 13:1-2, which reminds us, like it or not:
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
And he pointed out another passage, from Titus 3:1-2:
“Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”
Politics should never be about maligning anyone, but it seems to be about little else these days. And it gets worse every year.
Both sides of the issues, and in some cases all three, four, or more sides, were guilty of it, and I don’t pretend to exclude myself. But it seems to me now that we, as Christians, need to be at the forefront of leading a way to unity, not hiding in the background, wondering if the new president-elect is some kind of anti-Christ, or if God is turning his back on us, or any of the other things otherwise God-fearing Christians have been heard to say about the new administration.
I have a lot of hope that positive change will come, but I am realistic to know that no change will come unless both sides are willing to sit down and work things out. And for some, that’s the last thing they seem to consider appealing.
A record number of people, more than 71 million, tuned in to watch this year’s election results. That’s a tremendous number of people. And they were watching the final round of a bloody, bitter football game. And when it was over, there was excitement, cheering, sadness, hurt feelings, and in some cases, permanently-damaged friendships.
For what?
How do we get past that? I guess it begins with us getting over ourselves. Another tall order.
Christians have a poor track record of showing compassion when it comes to someone whom they think somehow falls short of their idea of the ideal.
I’m just glad God doesn’t seem to suffer from the same kind of discrimination.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
(4.50 out of 5)
November 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Patrick,
You know how I feel about both the tenor of the campaign and the outcome of this election. I need not go there. Like most Americans, I’ve been disappointed to the point of soul-sickness at the smears, the fear- and hate-mongering.
What has kept me going–and kept me writing–has been the belief that there was evidence of the Gospel in this campaign season. That someone spoke, clearly and purposefully, for “The least of these…”; that the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes were right before us if only we chose to hear the message.
“The last shall be first…”
“Blessed are the peacemakers…”
And, like many believers, I followed the progressive evangelical movement. For selfish reasons; I won’t deny that. Because, in my biblical reality, the only time Christ became enraged was when he stood before the tables of the moneylenders, those aspiring to some notion of patrician status who told the poor, the working class, that whatever sacrifices they brought to the temple were not good enough; that they must buy something better. Something more costly, more perfect, more worthy of God. And the purpose was nothing more than greed on the part of the “haves” who peddled false purity.
It was hypocrisy. And they were liars.
Following the foreign press, post-election, has been a lesson in what changing the socio-political landscape for the better means in a troubled world. Headlines, in countries which have long been our allies but have turned from us in the last eight years, read: “Only in America!” and “The Light Still Shines!”–all because we rose above our need for revenge, our basest racist and xenophobic instincts, our greed, our long-held fears, and voted for positive change. For peace and diplomacy. For sharing the wealth with the needy here and abroad.
We did not buy into the “socialist” and “redistribution of wealth as communist” arguments. Progressive taxes are an American tradition. Lord help the community (like mine) crippled by an under-educated, low income population. If all we got was “our perecentage, based on input” of U.S. tax dollar, we would have no paved roads, no bridges, no schools, no police, fire or EMS. No cummunity health center where the poor can have their children immunized.
Nor would our state fare well in light of states with much, much higher tax bases. We redistribute the wealth in this nation routinely and have for generations. It is the ultimate act of patriotism. The problem with the past eight years has been the redistribution of wealth–from the bottom up.
President-elect Obama will not be a perfect president. He’s promised us that. He’s promised us this will not be easy. But millions of us do believe that we needed to up-end the GOP flow chart. The pendulum will, hopefully, swing far enough left that we can rest again, like all good clocks do, when momentum then takes us back safely to a middle ground where the full reality of our time is centered.
It’s past time we all really looked at one another and embrace a fundamental truth: We are all God’s children. We share more in our humanity than class, creed, or culture can ever overcome. We have only to accept that truth and move on to higher ground.
November 14th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
As soon as one becomes President elect they have my prayers for God’s wisdom and will to guide them. And as soon as they take that oath of office they have my respect and loyalty, freely given because of the office they hold. Then it’s up to them to carry out that office in such a way as to continue to earn what I gave at first as free.