Ask RC- How have you been sleeping since Election Night?
Somewhere between a person who tosses and turns from a heart filled with fears and a person who sleeps the sleep of the dead from a heart filled with peace. The latter person is the one I seek to become. The battle between these two people, the me filled with fear and the me whose trust in the Lord is not mere lip service but a defining quality is far more important than the battle between the two men most likely to be elected president.
This doesn’t, of course, mean that the outcome of the election is unimportant. Of course it is. Ray Ortland recently tweeted this:
CS Lewis was asked what his final thought would be if he saw an atomic bomb falling straight toward him. He said he’d look up, stick out his tongue at it and say, “Poo! You’re only a bomb. I am an immortal soul.” Is it a big deal when an atomic bomb falls? No question. Each of us, however, is a bigger deal.
It is absolutely true that politics matter. Politics is among those things, which by the way, are all things, over which Jesus declares, “Mine!” He is about the business of bringing all things under submission. Every political leader has a solemn obligation to acknowledge His sovereign authority, to kiss the Son, lest He become angry (Psalm 2). When the day comes that every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord it will be red knees and blue knees, red tongues and blue tongues. Jesus, the Last Adam, goes outside the Garden of Eden to gardenize the whole of reality.
The first Adam, however, was not just called to turn jungle into garden, but to guard, keep and protect the garden he had been given. In the same way, Jesus the mighty warrior is also Jesus the tender husband whose central garden, whose greatest calling is the washing of the Bride, the church. When I am more worried about a political election than I am about making my own calling and election sure my worries are out of whack.
When I go to sleep I, even though I realize that God has specifically assigned this authority and power to this specific man, I am fearful of what he will do with that power. Will he rule his domain in accordance with the law of God? Or will he (mis) use his power for his own gain? Will he guard and protect those who have been placed under him, or will he treat them as a means to his own ends? The specific man is me. The authority assigned to me is that of husband and father. No matter who wins the political election, the one person who is the greatest danger to those whom I love is me.
Tonight and every night when you go to bed, ask for God’s mercy. Ask for His mercy on our political leaders, for His mercy on our nation. Then plead with Him to forgive your sins and to restrain your sins. By all means pray for the peace of Babylon. But be sure to pray for the peace of your household.