The 2012 Presidential election is over with. We can all experience a sigh of relief that the bombardment of political ads has ended. Of course, there are other moods. There is the happiness and relief on the part of those who favored the winning candidate. There is sadness and grief on the part of those who supported the losing candidate. Being a diverse congregation, we have a lot of both.
In the midst of all of this, we need to hear a powerful reminder from a recent column written by Cal Thomas, an evangelical Christian who is a political conservative. In his column, he reminds his fellow evangelical conservatives of “a power superior to the state.” His message is equally important to Christian liberals: “The One you follow demonstrated a power superior to the state, the power to change lives. Employ that power… We the people can still change the country in ways politics and governments never have and never will.”
In his book, Is Jesus a Republican or a Democrat?, Tony Campolo writes, “What you ought to have figured out from all that I am trying to say is that each political party has much for Christians to embrace. And each has much for Christians to criticize. The last thing we should do is to ally the church of Jesus Christ with either of them.”
The focus of the Christmas story was not on who was in the king’s palace but who was in the stable. When the Babe of Bethlehem grew up, he continually had to struggle against those who wanted him to be a political Messiah who embraced worldly power. He chose an entirely different way to change the world. He chose an entirely different sort of power, the power of conquering love, the power of the manger and the cross, a power that sometimes even we Christians do not yet understand.
©2012 C. David Hess
In the midst of all of this, we need to hear a powerful reminder from a recent column written by Cal Thomas, an evangelical Christian who is a political conservative. In his column, he reminds his fellow evangelical conservatives of “a power superior to the state.” His message is equally important to Christian liberals: “The One you follow demonstrated a power superior to the state, the power to change lives. Employ that power… We the people can still change the country in ways politics and governments never have and never will.”
In his book, Is Jesus a Republican or a Democrat?, Tony Campolo writes, “What you ought to have figured out from all that I am trying to say is that each political party has much for Christians to embrace. And each has much for Christians to criticize. The last thing we should do is to ally the church of Jesus Christ with either of them.”
The focus of the Christmas story was not on who was in the king’s palace but who was in the stable. When the Babe of Bethlehem grew up, he continually had to struggle against those who wanted him to be a political Messiah who embraced worldly power. He chose an entirely different way to change the world. He chose an entirely different sort of power, the power of conquering love, the power of the manger and the cross, a power that sometimes even we Christians do not yet understand.
©2012 C. David Hess
