“Many people will spend the summer occupied with fishing and politics. In fishing you use a worm, and in politics a worm uses you.” -unknown
Well, it’s election season here in the US, and emotions seem to be running high, just like every other election year. It is fascinating to observe how politics quite often brings out the worst in many people. The political jokes start flying around, the other party and person that you disagree with gets demonized, and many people can’t stop thinking about how the world will end if the other guy wins the election.
I can’t help but wonder, as I’ve observed the madness of this election season, that many of us Christians really are consumed with the wrong things. Do elections matter? Oh, you had better believe that they do. Does God care who gets elected? Considering the references in Scripture about government, it would be foolish to say that God doesn’t care. Yet my struggle comes down to how obsessed God’s people are with the election process and the final outcome.
So what’s the big deal? Isaiah 64:7 says “There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You.” Many of us Christians (myself included) get “stirred up” quite easily. Our heart gets pumping, our energy skyrockets, and our mind races when it comes to numerous topics – especially elections. We stir ourselves up with so much, but are we stirring ourselves up to take hold of our King? Most people who know me will agree that I am one who gets passionate about various subjects – and in many ways, that’s not a bad thing. The problem occurs, however, when that passion takes over and we get so consumed with a particular interest that we put off striving to live out the Greatest Commandments: to love our God with our whole hearts and to love our fellow citizens. I can’t help but wonder if God’s people lived like He is real in every way, then how might the political landscape be transformed in ways that it never has before?
