My friend Jayma sent this to me last week. I know lots of people have different feelings or mixed feelings about the outcome of the elections..but I think this speaks volumes....
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"...The ascension means that the world already has a human king sitting on his throne and reigning from heaven. Not all of creation has acknowledged his reign at present, but Scripture promises that someday every knee will bow before him and every tongue will confess that he is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11).
Rome had her emperors. Other countries have kings and dictators. Some have prime ministers. The United States has a president. They all rule their given territories with whatever authority has been vested in their position. But the world already has a King. We’re not waiting for him to take the throne or be inaugurated. He's already reigning from his throne in heaven. All the powers, presidents, prime ministers, and potentates will ultimately answer to him, whether they currently recognize his authority or not.
This is why we have to be careful as followers of Jesus that we don't put too much faith and energy into national politics and hyper-patriotism. Otherwise we’ll find ourselves trading our Christlikeness for political expediency and bowing down before the idol of nationalism. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be involved in politics, but rather we should let the reality of Jesus’ ascension influence how deeply we choose to participate in the process and what we hope to gain from our engagement.
The world will not be healed and restored because we elect the right president. We live in a great country, with the best political process I know of, but our country is not the light of the world. Our president may be the most powerful person in the world, but he's not sitting at the right hand of God. Our military is full of brave men and women willing to die for their country, but they are not able to eradicate the world of evil.
Christians should understand these things better than anyone else. Yet the anxious, fearful, and sometimes mean-spirited qualities demonstrated by many Christians at election time betrays just how little faith we have in King Jesus.
The ascension is more than a cool special effect at the end of a Passion play. It is a dramatic political statement made by God himself about how the long-awaited King of the world has been enthroned in heaven. Slowly but surely news of his reign will spread through the world until someday the curtain separating heaven and earth will lift and the two realms will become one. Until then, our challenge as followers of Jesus is to live in such a way that demonstrates who the real King of the world is. This will be seen in our acts of service, stands for justice, and exhibitions of grace done in the name of Jesus, rather than in the name of partisan politics. In fact, every time we gather to worship and celebrate the risen, ascended King Jesus we’re participating in a political party of a different kind.
It may just be that the most important political statement Christians can make this election season is to publicly declare that we’re putting our hope, confidence, and trust, not in any one particular candidate or party, but in our ascended King who will someday return and transform our world into a place where the streets have no name."
Rome had her emperors. Other countries have kings and dictators. Some have prime ministers. The United States has a president. They all rule their given territories with whatever authority has been vested in their position. But the world already has a King. We’re not waiting for him to take the throne or be inaugurated. He's already reigning from his throne in heaven. All the powers, presidents, prime ministers, and potentates will ultimately answer to him, whether they currently recognize his authority or not.
This is why we have to be careful as followers of Jesus that we don't put too much faith and energy into national politics and hyper-patriotism. Otherwise we’ll find ourselves trading our Christlikeness for political expediency and bowing down before the idol of nationalism. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be involved in politics, but rather we should let the reality of Jesus’ ascension influence how deeply we choose to participate in the process and what we hope to gain from our engagement.
The world will not be healed and restored because we elect the right president. We live in a great country, with the best political process I know of, but our country is not the light of the world. Our president may be the most powerful person in the world, but he's not sitting at the right hand of God. Our military is full of brave men and women willing to die for their country, but they are not able to eradicate the world of evil.
Christians should understand these things better than anyone else. Yet the anxious, fearful, and sometimes mean-spirited qualities demonstrated by many Christians at election time betrays just how little faith we have in King Jesus.
The ascension is more than a cool special effect at the end of a Passion play. It is a dramatic political statement made by God himself about how the long-awaited King of the world has been enthroned in heaven. Slowly but surely news of his reign will spread through the world until someday the curtain separating heaven and earth will lift and the two realms will become one. Until then, our challenge as followers of Jesus is to live in such a way that demonstrates who the real King of the world is. This will be seen in our acts of service, stands for justice, and exhibitions of grace done in the name of Jesus, rather than in the name of partisan politics. In fact, every time we gather to worship and celebrate the risen, ascended King Jesus we’re participating in a political party of a different kind.
It may just be that the most important political statement Christians can make this election season is to publicly declare that we’re putting our hope, confidence, and trust, not in any one particular candidate or party, but in our ascended King who will someday return and transform our world into a place where the streets have no name."
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