Beholding the Lamb (in a Land of Elephants and Donkeys)

Politics: from the ancient Greek, ‘politika,’ “affairs of the city.” “A set of activities that directs the collective decisions and actions of a population in regard to people, land, resources, and responsibility.”

As I write these words from my home state of Florida in late October 2024, we stand on the brink of what is rightly being called a historic election for the American people. Increased tensions surrounding the radically different implications of how our democracy will approach the “affairs of our cities” in the coming years are thick in the air.

As in every election, some citizens prepare to enter voting booths to show their support for a candidate and their stated ideals, while others gear up to simply vote against the candidate and policies they cannot stomach in good conscience. What is different this time around is the high percentage of those I’ve encountered who see little semblance of the “politics” they long to see for our cities in any of the candidates seeking election. I have never encountered so many who simply feel “stuck."

Add to this the all-time-high of knee-jerk responders who wait in the wings to launch political tirades at the smallest hint of political talk, and you have a number of really good people longing for direction and hope, but unsure of where to look or who to ask. 

If this is you, I want to share four pieces of advice that I pray will breathe some oxygen into your lungs. First, a few disclaimers:

1.   I am a follower of Jesus, posting on a ministry blog all about discovering the greatness (and trustworthiness) of our God. As such, the following is open to anyone who is willing to read, but is directed to followers of Jesus who desire to carry a gospel worthy of the self-emptying love, restoration, and transformation he offers through nail-pierced hands.

2.   I am not a partisan thinker at all. On the contrary, I am doing my very (albeit imperfect) best to yield my soul under the entirely different government of the Kingdom of God, which calls me to live as a citizen of heaven and an ambassador on earth, for every tribe, tongue, and nation to encounter the adoration of a very Good Father. As such, I do not feel the need to comply under “this or that” arguments; nor do I feel any compulsion to defend or attack any candidate or administration. Understand, I’m not being politically correct. Rather, I am fixing my eyes on a different Leader altogether. The crucified and resurrected Jesus is the author and perfecter of my faith. I am not my own. I was bought at a price. Jesus orders my thoughts and convictions, and Jesus is the One I continually trust to refine and realign my attitude, heart posture, words, convictions, and the state of my hope. I am deeply grateful and humbled to be an American, but I do not pledge my deepest allegiances to a party or a flag. This can belong only to the King who has my whole heart and calls me to join him in bringing “good news of great joy for all people.”

If any of this reflects an image of who you desire to be and how you desire to walk, I pray these are helpful.

Pray (and Consider) Deeply

We often treat prayer like a last resort, but if God is who he says he is, we need to make a much bigger deal out of our prayers. If you are concerned for the state of our country, begin to pray regularly and passionately. 

Pray that God would direct your own heart and convictions. 

Pray for your fellow citizens to cut through the noise and distraction and to see the issues before us (along with the stated solutions) for what they are.

Pray for God to break through the deeply seated enmity, pride, and disunity in our nation: from our own hearts all the way to the most influential decision makers. 

Pray MOST of all for an awakening of the kindness of God to lead us all to continually deeper paths of repentance from our anger, apathy, self-righteousness; from our often waning compassion for our global neighbor, from our judgments…from our pride. 

Pray for the candidates:

“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4

As fellow members of the human race, made in the image of God and adored by my Father, all of the presidential candidates have my prayer. One will carry my continued responsibility to regularly ask God to move in their life, decisions, and actions as they lead our country.

Refuse Deifying and Vilifying

Just like the childhood game “king of the mountain,” I have watched (and at times participated) in the hollow rhetoric of scapegoating in order to assert my opinion. More than ever, I see Jesus followers from both the right and the left claiming moral high ground, while looking down their noses in angry judgment at anyone who doesn’t agree with exactly what they see. 

Here’s the problem: unless one of the candidates running for office is Jesus of Nazareth, it isn’t the Kingdom of God we are electing next month, but rather a fallen, imperfect person…who is deeply loved by God. 

I get that there are policies that have grave implications on both sides. The sanctity of life, immigration, care for our most vulnerable, healthcare, jobs, and the economy matter deeply. The problem is that we are losing the necessary skill of critical thinking and respectable, productive debate to seek solutions for issues, in favor of the lazy noise of emotionally charged finger pointing and division over individuals. 

If, like me, you have deep concerns about the tone, posture, or political agendas you are watching unfold (and the people you see propagating them), I challenge you to change how you use your words from insult to intercession.

“The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26

You are called to co-rule with God on the earth and you carry greater authority than you know. Don’t use it to label, scapegoat, or endorse division. Take your place as a minister of reconciliation. 

Respond in Obedience to God’s Leading

Much like the issue facing the church of Corinth with meat sacrificed to idols, God-fearing people enter this election focusing on different issues they see as foundational to the health of our democracy and our greater place in the world. I have very intelligent, deeply compassionate friends who live out the gospel…and who have arrived at very different conclusions for the coming election. I respect them immensely, even where our thoughts differ. We use these as opportunities to be iron sharpening iron to mature one another. Also, none of us are expecting the next administration to do what only God can do. As followers of Jesus, our deepest hope for the days ahead isn’t in who we vote for, but in how we choose to live out the Gospel. 

Worship God and Live Out the Gospel

Daniel lived in a kingdom full of corruption, with policies being enacted against his freedom that literally called for his head. One day, the king issued a decree that anyone who prayed to any god other than himself would be killed. When Daniel heard, he went to his room, got on his knees, and prayed to his God, “just as he had done before” (Daniel 6:10).

Don’t allow the circumstances around you to change the fruit coming out of you. 

Can I invite you to breathe and remember something? Whoever is President on November 6, Jesus will still be King. The Gospel will still be true. Love will still be enough. And the harvest will still be plentiful. 

So, pray. Talk with friends you trust. Share your convictions passionately and compassionately. Vote. But don’t hang your hope on an election. Give your whole heart to Jesus and choose unashamed worship and unrestrained love to the lost, the least, the lonely, the last, and the leper right NOW. In a land full of elephants and donkeys, Behold the Lamb!