The Christian's Approach To Morality - Drew Alan Hall
My Dad is my best friend, but we sometimes disagree on specific subjects. One of those subjects is politics. While I would not consider myself or my dad far right or far left, we sit on different sides of the aisle regarding who should be president. The past few elections have led to some heated conversations between us. Interestingly, our disagreements do not start with tax strategy or foreign policy; they begin with morality—specifically, the person's morality and politics.
Election years bring up issues of morality to the surface of public interest, from Gender identification to abortion and everything in between. These topics get addressed in debates between candidates and conversations between people. Some people have unofficially debated via social media. While having one of these conversations with Dad, I realized that people look to political figures and parties as the moral compass for society. The lines between the morality of policy and the candidate's morality can become blurred quickly. As followers of Jesus, we should take time to pray and reflect on how we approach our beliefs on morality and our political choices before casting a ballot.
The practice of wanting a leader to be a walking image of strength and integrity is not only found in America. We see in the bible that God’s people struggled with this when they asked God to give them a king. Saul looked the part but was flawed on the inside. David, who was said to be a man after God’s heart, also made poor moral judgments: two opposite candidates in outward appearance, yet both suffered from times of missing or lack of integrity. Interestingly, while we want our leaders to be walking embodiment of morality and integrity, I don’t believe we hold ourselves to the same decency standards as our leaders.
The first battle in our country's morality war must start with us. That can be hard because if you are like me, you have screwed up royally in the past. Those mistakes can make us think that God could never use us. That way of thinking can lead us to want our leaders to do what we can't and be who we can't be. We talk about morality and our leaders' actions, yet sometimes, our actions don't align with our standards. Understand that if you want to see a shift in morality in the country back to God, the first place it has to start is with you.
The process starting with you does not mean that you have to run for office, but it does mean that you can just sit on the sidelines and miss out on the mission of making disciples and telling people the good news about Jesus. That happens when we have a radical encounter with Jesus. Look at the life of Peter. The night of Jesus' arrest, Peter royally screwed up. So much so that even after encountering the risen messiah, he decided he was returning to his old life and occupation (fishing). Realizing Jesus was trying to get him to move on from past mistakes and step into God's work was the springboard that started the church as we know it today. Peter did not run for office, but he did help change the world. All because he moved on from the guilt and shame of past actions.
As we move into this election, we need the same life-altering conversation with the risen savior. I believe that If we have that conversation with Jesus, we will be able to step back into the plan he has for us. We will not see guilt and shame in his face but grace and forgiveness. There is peace when our actions come from a place of doing it because God loves you, not so that he will love you. As we make that shift where we line up our actions with our beliefs, we will see a shift in the morality of our country over time.
So, how should Christians walk into this election season? The first thing would be to have a challenging conversation with Jesus. Take a look at your life and see if your actions match up with your beliefs. The second step would be to pray for guidance. Pray that God will clarify what candidate you should support and how you can support them in a way that honors Christ. The third thing we must do is to understand that as a follower of Jesus, your identity is in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is not in the candidate you vote for or the political party you support. Whoever wins will be our commander and chief, but our king will always be Jesus.
About "How To Keep it Real" by Drew Alan Hall
Has regret over past denial of God kept you from the purpose he has for your life? The good news is God does not want you to stay sidelined by past mistakes. By comparing the story of Peter's denial to my own, this book shows how one tough conversation with Jesus could be the thing that moves you forward to radically living for him.
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