US Presidents come and go. US Senators come and go. Though it usually takes longer, US Congress members come and go, but the Kingdom of God is forever. I am a pastor, not a politician. My encouragement during days of upheaval and turmoil is built upon the bedrock of God's faithfulness. The address below comes from a pastor. In my understanding, being a pastor means leading people to hope in a coming city. Hebrews 13:14 directs the focus of pastoral leadership, For here we have no lasting city, but we seek a city that is to come. Seeking a city to come must always be in the mind of professing Christians, especially so during such a tumultuous (putting it lightly) political season.
Election cycles are always precarious, but these past few days have been most precarious. The reason has more to do with worldview than any supposed voter fraud. I am a conservative, and as a conservative, I am hard-pressed to see much conserving going on these days. Perhaps more challenging than those on the other side of my thinking are those who believe they can insist on massive change while referring to themselves as conservative.
Take, for example, an article ran by The Catholic News Service back on December 29, 2020 with the headline: Head of German bishops, a self-described conservative, calls for changing church teaching on LGBT people and women. So much in a headline, but the point to take right away is two key phrases, conservative and change. In principle, conservatives conserve. Change is the opposite of conserve. Limburg Bishop Georg Bätzing said, "I would describe myself as conservative because I love this church and enjoy devoting my life and my strength to it. But I want it to change." Here is the difference for us to note: A true conservative would desire to conserve close to 2,000 years of Christian teaching concerning the issues cited. I point that out to point out the challenge of American politics at our current moment. Redefinition is coming. These days will be clarifying moments. Clarifying moments may come at great difficulty and cost. Such a scenario provides a unique opportunity for the Church of Christ to rise to the challenges our culture brings to our confession.
Again, I believe this is an opportunity placed before the church of the Lord Jesus Christ to not play fast and loose with terms but to clearly articulate who we are, what we believe, and why. The days of articulating Christ to a culture that speaks the same language are over. Consider the recent confusion of the prayer from the Representative from Missouri when he infamously followed a prayer with "amen and awoman." That phrase is a new phrase to me but one that speaks to our society's current sentimentality.
CS Lewis', Screwtape Letters has a moment where the demon Screwtape advises his nephew Wormwood to convince his human target that politics are a key part of his faith. Screwtape advises, "Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part." It appears the Wormwood has had his way with many Christians over the past few days. The church rises at this moment and says, “no this is not the way.”
Interestingly, statistics demonstrate that Congress is more religious than the public, and has been since the 60s in America. Those statistics report that America expects our representatives to be religious. Those facts, however, do not mean that we should confuse our faith with our politics. Instead of confusion, there should be an infusion where our faith influences our politics and not the other way around. Faith's infusion of politics means we allow our transcendent principles that faith in Jesus demands to influence our politics. Transcendent, Christian principles have stood the test of the time and will until the Lord ushers in the eternal state, a state already inaugurated at his first coming and that will be consummated finally at his second coming.
Perhaps the ancient words of an early Christian pastor will help us. In 410, Rome was sacked by the Visigoths. The Bishop of Hippo took up his pen to encourage his readers to hope in the eternal city. Augustine writes,
This joy in God is not like any pleasure found in physical or intellectual satisfaction. Nor is it such as a friend's experiences in the presence of a friend. But, if we are to use any such analogy, it is more like the eye rejoicing in light.
It is this joy that the church offers to the world. Blinded eyes begin to see through the light that is Christ, a light he has entrusted to us.
Again, Augustine writes,
The earthly [city] has made for herself, according to her heart's desire, false gods out of any sources at all, even out of human beings, that she might adore them with sacrifices. The heavenly one, on the other hand, living like a wayfarer in this world, makes no false gods for herself. On the contrary, she herself is made by the true God that she may be herself a true sacrifice to Him.
We have the opportunity as the citizens of heaven to walk about the city built by human hands and proclaim a message. The message is clear - be reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Don't be overly impressed by the veneer of our society. At the same time, don't neglect what God has given to us a steward to maintain. May we never fall victim to irrational thinking that leads to the accusation that we have our hope set on what is here more than what is coming.