Politics

I actually had prepared an entire post on tithing only to find out that my guest writer had been given the same topic. So as we fall upon election season, I figured I better go ahead and go this route. But keep your eye out for that topic next week, as God clearly wants us to hear about it since her and I were both given the same topic without even knowing it.

Here we go!

Politics.....If we were in a movie, we would have heard a pause with dramatic eerie music that followed hearing the word. At least that seems to be what happens in our minds, when the topic is addressed in church. In fact, as Christians, it's right up there with sex, money and repentance (yeah i went there) as to things we don't want to hear about from our pastors at all.

I think right about now we're all feeling the tension of living in a divided nation. I'm constantly hearing people say things like "this is the worst it's ever been". I can't say I agree with it being the worst and I'm reminded of Ecclesiastes 1:9 where it says Nothing is new under the sun.

I can see there are a lot of issues causing a lot of friction from abortion to, homosexuality, to black lives matter. But in reality if we look back through the Bible we can see all of these topics existed long before we did. Minorities and people groups have been discriminated against. Babies and children have been slaughtered. And the lack of purity is a common topic deeply addressed throughout the entire Bible.

As I think about all this, I have this lingering thought of the split between Judah and Israel. Once a unified nation of twelve tribes, was divided by a power struggle, pride and the lack of reverence for God. If you ask me, that sounds pretty similar to the America of today.

Two Kings (political parties maybe) with different goals, outlooks and backgrounds.

I'm gonna give you my personal characterization of both (may include some assumptions, but read 1 Kings 12 for the facts). See if you can see some similarities with the leaders in our country.

Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, he was the King of Judah. Probably a spoiled rich kid if we're honest. He was prideful and self satisfying. When the people reached out to him with their requests, he refused to listen to the wisdom of the elders in his council but rather turned to his young peers. Probably a group of men who didn't particularly care for the majority of their people, since they provoked him to instill harsh labor and insults upon them.

Then there was Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the leader that God chose to take over Israel and the 10 tribes that He gave him due to the sin of Solomon. He started out on the right track. But soon after he took over, he realized that the people who were following him were doing so because Rehoboam refused to meet their needs. So what did he do? He became a people pleaser and over accommodated them. He allowed them to worship whoever they wanted and however they wanted. He went so far as to bring back the worship of calves and idols. He told them you don't have to go to Jerusalem you can just worship where you are. He made worship a convenience verses a holy action.

Now I'm not going to put names to the examples I've given for you to compare, but I'm sure you can see some of those same flaws in our recent leaders.

If only Solomon had taken heed to the warning God had given him. He told them not to marry women from foreign backgrounds because they would turn their hearts away from God (1 Kings 11:2-3). Now as you know I am a Guera (white girl) married to a sexy mexi, so I want to be clear about what is being said here. Don't allow yourself to be corrupted and turned away from God.

My intention is not to sway you one way or the other, but to encourage you to make an educated decision that aligns with the word of God rather how personable a person behind a podium may seem. You don't have to like a person to cross reference their political views with biblical concepts. I will be the first to admit that in the past I have been swayed by the charisma of a person running for office when their beliefs blatantly didn't align with God's word. On the opposite end, I have been almost repulsed by a person but could see that they stood for topics that had been ignored even outlawed in the recent past.

Every topic that pushes a person to one side of the pole or the other is an issue of politics. As people, we get so frustrated with the things going on around us, but fail to realize that our vote matters and is the only way we can make a difference in the things that matter to us. If you see an issue that you're not ok with, the best thing we can do is stand up for a cause to bring awareness to that particular situation. We need to back people for office who have the best interest of these issues. The system is flawed, and so are the people who lead us. But a pastor I served under put it like this, "are you going to continue to complain about it, or are you going to pray about it?"

It starts with prayer. Pray that the Lord shows you how to have an uncompromising faith (Rom 12:2), that He shows you His hearts' desire for His people. Don't neglect what His word says, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior,  who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

In Ezra 6:8-12, God gives instruction to the the people to help the church leaders and to make provisions, so that they can pray for the welfare of the king and his sons. It's clearly important to God that we pray for our leaders, but it's also important to respect that He has them in those roles even when we don't understand it.

Romans 13:1 says, "Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God."

"He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars" (Daniel 2:21).

We can have confidence that nothing going on is outside of God's vision. He sees it all and His plan is for good not for disaster (Jer 29:11). Even if it seems crazy and hectic, we must have faith that He will work all things for the good (Rom 8:28).