It’s all
over but the shouting – that being the 2016 presidential election. And shouting indeed. I’ve been reading some of you on
Facebook. And the mood ranges from despondent
to euphoric. That troubles me – deeply. And so I write.
Early on in life I came to
know our Lord Jesus Christ. Link: The Hallway (God Moments) And throughout my teens and
twenties I found happiness and contentment in pronouncing myself a
Christian. At least that’s how I held
myself between my ears. But I must
confess that there were occasions, when the chips were down, that I denied my
Savior much like the Apostle Peter did on the night of Christ’s arrest. Not my proudest moments. But the good news is that just as Peter
before me, Jesus forgave my sins and we moved forward.
Then came my thirties,
forties, and fifties. And these are the
years that many of you who are now reading this came to know me. Some of you profess your faith in Christ and
if forced to pick a single word that would reflect your inner most being,
perhaps you’d choose Christian or Evangelical.
Others of you might say Atheist or Agnostic. Some might say homosexual or gay. A few might say American. And some of you might be laughing to yourself
at the very absurdity of defining such an incredibly complex being with a
single word. Nonetheless, during these
middling years of my life, I defined myself as Evangelical. Simply put, I tried to live my life according
to Christ’s teachings in the gospel.
Each of you probably has a better view of how well I achieved that goal
than I do. And depending on your line of
sight, some of that might come as a surprise.
And then something very
unsettling began to happen during the more recent years of my life. Within our culture, our media, our church,
the word Evangelical began to roll into and become synonymous with the word
Republican. Some of you may disagree,
but that’s how I see it. And with a
blink of an eye, the gospel that I love was seemingly turned upside down,
polluted by the stench of politics. One
small example. During this election
cycle, I’ve read a couple of articles that made a favorable comparison between
King David of Old Testament fame to Donald Trump. Both sinned sexually. God forgives both and therefore, we the
people should forgive them as well. Both
are great leaders. That was the basic
thread of the logic. Really? Well, I understand the need to forgive
part. But it’s funny how the matter of
repentance was never mentioned. To my way
of thinking King David was a great man and leader because of his humility before
and his subservience to God the Almighty.
Sadly, I fail to find those qualities in Donald Trump.
All good lies contain a grain
of truth.
But it is indeed the question
of sin where things get messy. The sins
that tempt me and that I all too often succumb – those being idolatry, envy,
theft, adultery, lust, false witness, murder, greed, gossip, dishonor, and gluttony
to name a few – have been replaced by two end-all, be-all sins, i.e. abortion
and homosexuality. I suppose I should be
relieved – not many 64 year old, middle class males have to grapple one-on-one with
God on the issue of abortion. I should find
that to be wonderfully convenient. But
no. There is no relief in that place because there’s a nasty little truth on
the flip side of that coin – by harping on two sins as worse than all others,
the Republican/Evangelical “leadership” has ignored and/or interpreted all
other sins into the meaningless. All
other commandments into the hallow. Indeed, the telling of a blatant lie is met
with applause. The plight of the
disadvantaged cheered. The consequence,
perhaps unintended but very real nonetheless, is a toxic political environment
and a government teetering on moral bankruptcy. Both parties, one nation.
For every action, there is an
equal and opposite reaction.
So, to those of you who are
despondent with the outcome of this election, I can only give the comfort that
I myself find. God is good. And I see a God moment in evidence on election
night in the manner that Donald Trump snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. This election result has the fingerprints of
God all over it. But that should be of
little surprise. Romans 13:1 tells us
that “the authorities that exist are appointed by God”.
And to those of you who are
euphoric with the outcome, I say cool. Indeed,
there was a God moment. But I’m also mindful
that God works in mysterious ways that are far beyond my pay grade. Regardless, it occurs to me that perhaps the
outcome of this election has less to do with a Supreme Court nomination leading
to the abolishment of the blight that is abortion and more so with a tempering discipline
directed towards His people, of whom I am one, resulting in the restoration of
a fuller, more accurate interpretation and preaching of His gospel.
God will not allow His Word
to be mocked.
Who knows if God will give me
many more minutes here on earth, much less decades? No matter.
But the time has come for me to let go of that “Evangelical” label. It’s much too confining. Too prone to misunderstanding. Oh, I know some of you take pride if not
comfort in that term. And I find you to truly
live up to that moniker in so many ways - the right ways. I’m still with you in spirit and in truth. But for me, I think it is wiser to make a
clear distinction between the name and my faith. The faith is so simple and pure. Love Jesus in everything. And love my
neighbor as myself.
