A Christian Response to the Election

Tonight (actually last night now) I preached a message to my youth group entitled "A Christian Response to the Election." I proposed four things that are clearly taught in the Bible that should mark the response of Christ-followers.

1. Prayer FOR (not against) our leaders. While we can pray against issues of injustice, God commands us to pray FOR individuals (even and perhaps especially our enemies). (I Timothy 2:1-7)
2. Love. We can believe and do all the right things, but if we don't do them the right way in the right spirit, it's all meaningless. (John 14:34-35; I Corinthians 13)
3. Right Living. The loudest statement we should be making is not primarily with our mouths but with our actions. "Preach the gospel always; if necessary use words" (St. Francis of Assisi). Paul make it clear that prayer should lead to right living. When we are living rightly, our lives will be marked by a quiet peace, godliness, and respect. (I Timothy 2:1-7)
4. Trust. Whether your theology leads you to believe God puts people in office or simply allows them to be put there by the choice of the people, no one is in any place of authority outside of the oversight of God. Ultimately it is God who is in control, not a person. (Romans 13:1-2)

May these mark the lives of Jesus-followers as we seek to be salt and light in our world. Amen.

A Clarification

I am so thrilled that a simple status update sparked such an interesting dialogue on my Facebook page. One young lady e-mailed me with some confusion about my congratulations to Barack Obama. Here's my response which might be helpful in clarifying.

Barack Obama won a hard-fought election, so I think our nation should congratulate him just as we would have if John McCain would have won. Congratulations have nothing to do with agreeing with someone or even meaning that one supported him. Agree with him or not, he won, he is to be congratulated. The race is over, so it's time to set personal differences aside and work on getting America on the right track. What he needs now is our support (not necissarily of his ideas, I might add) and prayer.

We can and should voice our concerns about his philosophies and policies if they violate God's Word or our convictions. However, the spirit in which this is done is SO IMPORTANT! Someone I know well was making some very hateful and mean-spirited comments. I spoke up and told this young man that I was offended and thought his comments were grievous to God. How can we say we follow a Jesus of love and spew filth and hatred out of our mouths. Jesus was very clear that He was about a revolution of love. I Corinthians 13 says we can do all the right things, and I'll add, think we believe all the right things, but if we have not love, our beliefs and actions are meaningless. What does such hatred add to anything? Right things must be done the right way.

Congratulations to Barack Obama

After a long, hard-fought battle, I extend my congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama. I am so thrilled about the racial breakthrough that his election means to our country. I have been praying for such a breakthrough in this regard for a long time. I am also committed to praying for him as he leads our country. I challenge all who read this to do the same. Pray FOR him. May God fill him with the grace, wisdom, and strength that he will need. May he pursue that which is right and good and beautiful. May the Lord also grant him comfort as he mourns the sad passing of his grandmother just a day before this historic day.

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Product Review: How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart

Review: I recently picked up the How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide to Making Responsible Media Choices by Walt Mueller, founder of the Center for Parent & Youth Understanding. It is a sweet little resource that will empower you to help your students in the high-speed, ever-changing world of media. Using what they call a 3(D) approach (Discover, Discern, Decide), it is a practical tool that parents, youth workers, teachers, and other caring adults can use to engage students in discussion about media. Rather than just telling kids they can or cannot watch or listen to or play something, this tool encourages discussion about how to make wise choices in terms of what we should and shouldn't be embracing from the media. Only 12 pages long and small in size, it is a great little booklet to keep handy next to your computer or television. Dirt cheap at only about $1.50 each, youth pastors would do well to purchase them and give them to parents ... Perhaps as a little Christmas gift. (Hint! Hint!) You look great to parents. Parents will get involved in their kids lives in a deeper way. What could be better than that?

Ordering Information: Use the 10% Off coupon on my blog to get a discount on this and other great resources from Simply Youth Ministry.

The Election ... I Don't Care Who Wins!

We are engaged in one of the most intriguing, polarizing elections of my lifetime. Whichever ticket wins it is going to be an historic first. Either the first black president, or the first woman vice-president. I am interested to see what happens, and I am praying for GOD's will to be done.

GOD's will.

Not MY will.

I think we too often pray for elections, pretending that we are praying objectively, but secretly praying that our candidate will win because we "know" it's God's will. It's kind of like praying for our team to win the Super Bowl and linking it to God's will. God is so much bigger than our favorites! Let us humbly pray, "Father, not my will, but Yours be done"

Now, I must be totally honest and say, hopefully without getting shot for saying it, that while I care who wins, I really don't care who wins. Policies and positions on issues are important. I believe a candidates' professions need to translate into their policies, and I believe we need to vote prayerfully, according to how a candidate's values line up with our convictions and our understanding of God's nature revealed in His Word. However, while choosing a leader for our country is an important responsibility we have as citizens, my identity and security do not rest in a man in a position; my life is defined and secure because I am a citizen in the kingdom of God, and more importantly, a child of the King.

My concern is not really in who wins or looses. My concern is that the Church resist the temptation to operate in either panic or in a false hope based on a man in a position, and rather be found praying for (not against!) whichever candidate wins and, most importantly, doing the work of advancing God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, not celebrating a man as our hope or complaining about a man in fear.

Idiot Paparazzi

Idiot Paparazzi