Bonus Blog September 21, 2024
It’s that time again. Election season is at the door. Any student of history realizes that, contrary to the hyperbolic language coming from both the right and the left, this is not “the worst time in all of American history.” And, because God is still sovereign and listens to the prayers of His people, we shouldn’t say things like; “if my candidate does not get elected president, America as we know it will disappear.”
I am not going to take the time to expand on the many existential threats America has faced in the past, such as four successful presidential assassinations, the Great Depression, multiple crippling recessions, two world wars and even our own bloody civil war.
Of course, this is not in any way to diminish the importance of every election. Again, any student of history will also admit that we are always one perfect storm away from claiming our own permanent place on the ash heap of failed empires and countries of the past.
So, in between the tension of these two truths, we live as Christians.
As you read the Scriptures seriously, have you discovered that Jesus Christ was and is an equal opportunity offender? Let me explain. I can cite teachings of Jesus that, when taken at their plain face value, are deeply offensive to those who identify as “Liberal Christians”. But, if we are being honest, there are also teachings of Jesus that when taken at face value, are challenging and even offensive for “Conservative Christians” like me.
Instead of enumerating and categorizing those teachings, I am going to quote from a prophet that Jesus seemed to identify with quite a bit. Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet” for good reason. He wept often in prayer, in frustration and in desperation at the disparity ever before his face between what God was speaking about the people of Judah/Jerusalem and what they thought of themselves.
When I read this prophetic warning in Jeremiah and apply it to our modern political context, it reveals that message that equally calls out, challenges and convicts both “sides.”
Jeremiah 7:4 “Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ 5 For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another, 6 if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”
My “liberal” friends are fond of the first half of verse 6, and my “conservative” friends can resonate deeply with the second half. And yet, it is one message from the same God.
I know I am oversimplifying this a great deal and I am not trying to put people in rigid categories because that’s not always healthy and doesn’t promote a good flow of communication and understanding. However, perhaps the call from the heart of God is not “either-or” but “both-and.”
Our liberal Christian friends see immigration and social justice issues as paramount, and we conservatives, when faced with what feels like a “philosophical triage” situation, emphasize the protection of the innocent unborn and the protection of our children from social and systemic attacks on Biblical truth.
Both “sides” tend to reinterpret the plain sense of portions of this prophetic rebuke to align with their own biases and preferences. And whether we realize it or not, we are all guilty of this to one degree or another.
Enter Jesus Christ.
Jesus loved sinners, but not sin. Jesus rebuked the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, but declared their authority and their core message to be good. Jesus was a Torah observant Jew who honored the temple and the righteous things that took place there, but also said “destroy THIS Temple and in three days, I will raise it up again.”
If, like the Doobie brothers you can simply echo flippantly; “Jesus is just alright with me”, or post a bumper sticker “Jesus is my copilot” without a little deep introspection, then it’s time to reread the Gospels with new eyes.
I predict within five minutes, Jesus will say something that challenges, convicts or even offends you. And, that is a good thing. Our response should not be “let’s consult the DNC or RNC party platform documents, or even let’s check what Jesus said against the US Constitution”, but rather to wrestle with the text until, like Jacob, we are changed, even if we walk with a limp after the wrestling match.
Ps. I love that DB song, by the way. But Jesus is far more than just "alright with me."
PRN: God, Your Word is truth. Help us to walk in Your truth consistently. Reveal our blind spots. Guard us from both unproductive apathetic isolationism and against Christian nationalistic idolatry. We need You, and we dare not trust the “sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” Amen.
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