If you are anything like me, you CANNOT wait for this election season to be over. I am tired of my mailbox being full of postcards and letters telling me who to vote for and why I shouldn’t vote for the “other side.” I am tired of commercials trying to make people afraid with the object of our fear being the person and policies of the opposing politician(s). According to USAFACTS (2024) , “Between January 2023 and April 2024, US political campaigns collected around $8.6 billion for the 2024 House, Senate, and presidential elections.” Imagine all the people that could be fed with $8.6 billion. Imagine the schools that could be updated with $8.6 billion. Imagine the community centers that could be developed with $6.8 billion Friends, no matter who gets elected (or who doesn’t) on November 5th, the Kingdom of God will not be shaken. No matter who gets elected (or who doesn’t) on November 5th, the gates of hell will not prevail against the people of God. No matter who gets elected (or who doesn’t) on November 5th, “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippines 3:20, NIV).
Please don’t take my writing as dismissing the importance of our country’s election(s). Many have given their lives in the battle for the right to vote and such is a hallmark of a democratic society. Yet, the Kingdom of God and the nations of the earth (including the USA) are not the same. It is my hope that we will be a people who will “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God”1 no matter who’s in office. It is the calling of the Church, “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, (to) clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12, NIV). Pray for our country, that no matter who “wins,” we will be a witness to the grace and truth found in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Keith