May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Romans 15:5-7 ESV
I have to tell you, I am really tired of writing stuff on this subject, but it just keeps coming up. It’s heartbreaking. In the past week, I have seen posts on social media, all by people I know and love, that sound like they are all from different planets. All these folks are Christians, and my knowledge of them says they love the Lord. Yet I have seen some who say that the election was rigged and that Mr. Biden is not really their president. Another writes that the election is over and that we must now pray for President Biden, even if we don’t like it. To that, some respond that he is not only not the president, but that he is demon-possessed, and they won’t pray for him. To make it more complicated, some wonderful folks chime in that they voted for Biden because he is closer to their Christan values. Oh, my!
Thankfully, I can understand the feelings of all of them. I may not understand their theology or their logic, but when I listen to the media I find my emotions whirling, too. I get it. Our problem is not in what anyone thinks of elected officials. Government is not God. Trump and Biden are very human men, both have and will fail miserably. The United States is a great country with serious flaws. It is unique in history, but only so long as is necessary to His story. The thing that saddens me is the enmity that all this is causing between believers. That is sin. That is the aim of the enemy. Discord saps power. Hatred defaces witness. It really needs to stop. Jesus is Lord, and His Kingdom is forever.
Please, today as we gather as the one and only people of God, how about we try to apply the verses above:
- Ask God for grace to live together in harmony.
- Agree with Jesus about the value of the people in your church.
- Glorify God with one voice.
- Welcome other believers regardless of their political leanings. They have the right to be wrong just like you do.
- Live for the glory of God: love one another.
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