My Heart in Election '08

Romans 16:17-19

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Reading this passage is very convicting for me as a believer. On the one hand, it's really encouraging to hear Paul express true concern for such obstacles in life, but on the other hand, what he asked to watch out for is what most Christians tend to do today. This got me thinking about the upcoming Election. Being from South Carolina, I've heard it all. "Bush is God's candidate.", "Clinton is of the devil!", "Die, Arabs, die!", "If Barack Obama wins, I hope he gets assassinated.", "John McCain is the man that God wants in the White House.", "If Obama wins, this country is going to crash!", etc. And to think, these all come from fellow believers, some of which I know really well. That isn't to say that I don't do the same thing, but for me, this whole Election season has been a hatred of both sides and convincing people that both candidates are hacks and shouldn't even be up there. One, that's my opinion, and it really should stay with me. And two, God's in control of this Election, and He'll put in whoever He thinks is best for us now (Romans 13:1 - 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.)

I've been a fool. It's okay to express your opinion about something or about how you feel, but it's a completely different thing when you try to force your opinion on someone else, especially if it has the potential of misleading a fellow believer. I've been pleasing my own appetite and reading up on knowledge that isn't going to change history. I've made it my mission to be selfish and question the authority God has laid out there for us these past 232 years in America.

The last line of the passage says, "I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." I think some times we, as Christians, tend to relate more to the evil of the world instead of being innocent to it. People read His word less today and watch way more TV and movies. People listen to less sermons today and listen to filthy music. People do less fellowshiping today and spend too much time by themselves. There's barely any evangelism and a whole lot of turning away from Christ. These are the important issues that Christians have walked away from.

So ultimately, who cares if Barack Obama wins the election? So what is John McCain wins? In the end, it's going to be chosen by God and NOT something for us to question. Questioning it would be undermining God's authority and making your opinion more important than His plan.

In the end, God will always prevail.