How do we reflect the love of Christ to our neighbors and our friends? Here are five important postures:
1. Gratitude
This sounds counter-intuitive. Can we find something praiseworthy in a divisive, partisan season? Even if we will be grateful when we can stop getting hit with text messages, mailers, and TV ads, we can find room for gratitude that, unlike most people in human history, we even have a politics to complain about.
Consider that right now, nobody in totalitarian regimes like North Korea, Russia, or China is complaining about partisanship. In fact, if you were to ask the average citizen in those countries if they’d trade places with us, they’d gladly accept that offer. America is far from perfect, with lots of glaring problems and issues—hence a political campaign—and yet we are still the freest, most prosperous nation in human history.
We have the opportunity to choose the people who hold public office and the policies they enact. We may wish our point of view had more influence or got more votes, but at least we have some measure of influence. Today, billions of people long for that kind of freedom. So, we should thank God for the privilege of living in America, regardless of who wins the election. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 urges us to “in everything, give thanks.”
2. Prayer
In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Paul urges Timothy to pray for “or everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” November 5th will put a different president in the White House. He or she deserves our prayer. We’ll also see several new Senators, House members, mayors, state legislators, judges, governors, and local school board members. Christians must make it a regular practice to ask God to direct those in office to govern fairly, righteously, and as a “God’s servant for good” (Romans 13:4).
It's important to pray for leaders, whether or not you agree with them or voted for them. Paul urged Timothy to pray for a ruthless Roman emperor whom neither of them would have supported if given a choice, a man who arrested, jailed, and executed Christians. On our worst day in America, we’re not anywhere close to living under this kind of tyranny. I am sobered by how often I complain about politicians compared to how often I pray for them. We should make this a regular habit, both personally and in our congregations.
3. Engagement
Our work in “seeking the welfare of our city” (Jeremiah 29) and living as “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16) doesn’t end when the last ballot is counted. There is much work for us to do in between elections, both locally in working with our state and local governments to help serve our neighbors and in speaking out on important issues. The scared, unwed mothers in our communities will still need the help of our pregnancy resource centers, even when the election is over. Our school boards still need the wise involvement of faithful Christians, and our schools still need help educating children. The hungry, the hopeless, and the homeless still need the tangible service our SBC churches so generously provide in communities across the country.
What’s more, our engagement in public policy is just beginning. The new officeholders will be making consequential decisions. Regardless of who inhabits the White House, who controls Congress, who sits in governors’ mansions, city councils, and other offices—we should support them when they make good decisions and oppose them when they make poor decisions. And we should do it while obeying 1 Peter 3:15-17, which instructs us to both “have an answer for every person” while doing it with “gentleness and kindness.”
4. Hope
It is good and right for Christians to be concerned about important issues that face our communities, our cities, and our country. Speaking truth in the public square is not a distraction from our Christian mission. We do this because we genuinely care about policies that impact our families and the lives of our neighbors.
Still, we should engage the world with hope. Jesus, before he went to the cross, reminded his disciples, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The opposition we face for our convictions, the difficulty in seeing good laws passed, and the frustrations we feel in a broken world should not surprise us. Jesus promised this. Yet we can be comforted with his words. Christ has overcome the world. Do we really believe this? Would anyone accessing our social media timelines get this vibe from what we post? Would our friends and family members observe that Christian hope is something that guides our lives?
Political fortunes rise and fall. Sometimes we’ll see great victories and sometimes we’ll experience great defeats. But we shouldn’t be dispirited. God is sovereign. We may have been sweating this election, but the Lord of all the earth was not in Heaven white-knuckling the election. He is on the throne. He knows what time it is. He’s gathering history to himself. And he’s made us for this moment.
5. Faithfulness
There are many things about this election season we can control, but so many more that we cannot. We can’t control how our neighbors vote, nor can we control what those in power will do with the power they are granted.
What we can do is be faithful to the things Christians are
called to do in every moment and every season: walking with God through prayer,
Bible reading, gathering with our brothers and sisters every Sunday at church,
and making disciples of all nations. The Great Commission isn’t conditioned
based on who wins the election. And here’s the good news: unlike political
campaigns, which have no guarantee of success, Christ has promised that he will
build his church (Matthew 16:18). The move of the Spirit of God among the
people of God applying the Word of God to bring the lost to Jesus is not
dependent on who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And as important as
political engagement is, it’s not ultimate. We’ll make better American citizens
when we recognize we are first citizens of another kingdom. So let’s be
faithful in walking in step with the Spirit, working to build up the body of
Christ, and loving our neighbors.
By Daniel Darling, the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a regular columnist for World and a contributor to USA Today. He is the author of several books, including The Characters of Christmas, The Dignity Revolution, and A Way With Words. Daniel and his wife, Angela, have four children. You can follow him on Twitter and find his work on his website.
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