Lisa Samson on politics

I want to share with you something that Lisa Samson wrote on her facebook page.  

I'll admit that I used to have problems understanding how a person could be a Christian and vote a certain way.  But as I become more aware of the diversity in the Kingdom of God, I have less problems with it.  

My hubby and I were talking today about how Jesus was not political at all.  He did  not try to change things through the political system.  And I'm not really sure that's working for us, either.  Perhaps if we want to change things, it needs to be done through how we live and love instead.  

God's Will Be Done

Today at 9:58am

A lot of my primary colored friends, both red and blue,

 are openly endorsing a presidential candidate. It's their right . . .

 and . . . I can't blame them. I'm the gal that seeks

 to be in a state of reconciliation with my 

brothers and sisters in Christ, so I normally 

try to concentrate on what we agree upon.

I've seen the political divide do more amputation 

in the body of Christ than anything else. 

Now is it true amputation? No. But in the minds 

of believers, they have, for all practical purposes, 

cut off brothers and sisters. I'm not willing to go there. 

Jesus' last wish before his ascension was that 

we be one. Does that mean we have to agree 

on everything? No. But it does say to me, 

at the very least, I can't tell you you're not in Christ

 or even go so far as saying what one fellow 

believer said if you don't vote for his candidate, 

"As a result, many Christians are no different 

than non-Christians in their worldviews 

and their actions." NO different? Really?

This type of rhetoric is something I abhor. 

It is cowardly because it immediately says 

if you disagree, you are not Christlike, and there's 

no reason, other than disobedience to God's word, 

you could possibly feel that way so you're not 

worth talking with. (The "you're a dumb-dumb" 

if you don't agree with me is another popular 

device but a bit off topic. Just had to get that out there.) 

Either way, I find no place for these sorts of line 

in good debate, but especially between Christians.

Because if we declare that those who do not vote 

with us are not good Christians, they have plenty 

on their side to support that you're not either. 

Abortion, gay marriage are the crying card 

of the believers on the right side of the spectrum - 

poverty, war, the death penalty, on the left. 

If you're Catholic like I am, you're really in a twist here, 

because not only do you decry abortion, 

but both Pope Benedict XVI and 

John Paul II (man do I miss him!) declared the 

invasion of Iraq unjust. Both candidates 

favor embryonic stem cell research. 

What's a person to do? 

Recently I started a group on facebook called 

"No Matter Who Wins" a call for prayer for 

whoever is the next President of the United States 

and, health permitting, fasting the day before 

and/or of election day. (Can I get an amen 

that day can't come soon enough?) I know the wide

 variety of my friends on facebook, and to see 

who believes prayer matters, and how diametrically 

opposed they are to one another politically 

makes me chuckle warmly, because these days, 

there's really only one place all Christians can join

 together, one posture--on our knees--

where we are the same. 

So I do not ask you to vote for one person or 

the other, (in good conscience I cannot vote for either), 

because by Nov. 5th, we'll all know, if we believe this 

from Romans 13 that "there is no authority except 

that which God has established," who God put into power. 

Does that mean everything that person does is God's 

will from then on out? I don't think so. But it can and 

does give us comfort that God is still in the kingmaking 

business and we can do what we can, but in the end, 

the choice is his.

So, instead of telling everyone who God wants, 

maybe it would be a better choice to say what you 

can only truthfully say, "This is who I want." 

Because God may have reasons you cannot 

know when putting someone in office. It may be 

judgment, it may be for peace in a way you 

can't now predict. (Hey, nobody expected the 

Messiah to be a wandering prophet from Nazareth!) 

And then rest in the fact that God's will most 

definitely will be done, and while his choice may 

not have been yours, comfort yourself that you just 

tried to do the best you could with the knowledge 

you were given.

In all of this, let's keep praying, and not only praying, 

but seeking each day to follow in the footsteps of 

our Master, to take his teaching and his example 

seriously, to love better, live holier, give lavishly, 

and learn how to be His Body in a way that will be 

the true healing of our nation. 


Feel free to pass this on. You don't even have to give me 

credit! (I like to share.)