Rumors of my death...

...have been greatly exaggerated.

I'm not sure what has kept me from posting here. I could say it was general laziness, but I feel better if I say that I didn't want to enter a huge discussion on the American political situation. Now that the election is over, maybe there will be other things to talk about. So here I am. If you want a short summary of how I feel about American politics and Obama's election let me share with you the closing of a letter that I wrote to one of my nephews. It kind of sums up my thinking and also points a bit of the way from here forward.

So I do love America, but I also (at least try to) love Iraq, even Afganistan, North Korea, and all the others. Jesus calls His followers to live that way. He offered forgiveness to those who beat, humiliated, and killed him. And then He said, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you…” It’s not theological rocket science to see how that can really mess up a person’s life. “You are not your own, you were bought with a price…”. You’ve heard it all before…but we all need to wrestle with the way this truth impacts the way we think about politics.

Bottom line is that the hope for the world is neither Barak Obama nor John McCain. As much as it may pain us to say it, it’s not the United States of America, Canada, or even freedom. It’s Jesus. And if we take the time to read what He says in the gospels…and really wrestle with how we live that out, we begin to be used by the Holy Spirit to change hearts. And that’s what I want to give my life to. I am far from thinking that I have all the answers. I do know that I should vote. As a Christian and an American citizen, I need to think through the issues, study the candidates, pray for guidance, and vote my conscience. But the future of the world depends more on how I follow the example of Jesus in my day to day life than in how I vote one day out of every four years.

So maybe we could just do that. Immerse ourselves in the teachings and life of Jesus and then ask God to make what we see in Him also true of us. I have a sneaky suspicion that if we did that two things would happen. We'd be able to navigate politics without too much difficulty (except from those who refuse to listen to Jesus) and we would begin to make a Spirit-led impact on the world around us...one life at a time. Now wouldn't that be something?