Cleaning My Own House First

I'm sure you've noticed that I've been posting a lot on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Regime of Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda supporting militias that invade and commit crimes against humanity in the DRC.  

I stand by those words, and will continue to advocate for the voiceless and those who continue to suffer and die under these war crimes that are given little more than lip service from the international community.  

However, I must also acknowledge that there are problems within my own nation, the United States.  They are pale in comparison, but yet they are problems nonetheless.  If I ignore these issues, I am neglecting very important issues that must be addressed.

First of all, read these words spoken by Jesus as part of his "Sermon on the Mount:"

Matthew 7

7“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ²For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

On November 6, my nation held a presidential election between incumbent President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.  Our country was deeply divided and I am ashamed to say that both sides had elements of bad-will toward the other.  Rather than hoping and campaigning for one's candidate, many resorted to demonizing the other candidate and even bringing in reasons why God  has ordained that the other candidate is "evil."  

What many Christians have forgotten is that we have elected a president.  We did not elect a messiah.  We did not elect a representative of our faith.  We elected someone to hold the executive branch of the Federal Government.  We did not elect a savior or even an infallible person.  We elected a human.

Whether President Obama - who won his 2nd term - was the person we voted for or not, it is only right that we unite as a nation.  This is a nation (and a world) made of people.  The people are more powerful than any government except a theocracy where God is the ruler.  We must unite in being one nation.  That does not mean we must agree.  In fact, we should disagree.  Disagreement in a civil discourse can lead to unthought of progress and ideas.  Disagreement presents new ideas.  Whether President Obama was the person we voted for or not, we must each hold him accountable to his terms of office.  We cannot be blind followers of any human leader.  When he is due praise, we should give him praise.  When he deserves to be rebuked, we should rebuke him. 

Disagreement is different from division.  Division is the refusal to cooperate.  It is the proverbial "taking my ball and bat and going home."  Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 1:10.  Yes, it's addressed to the Church in Corinth, but it speaks to Christians everywhere of all time.  There are Democrat Christians. There are Republican Christians. There are non-Afilliated Christians. And there are other party-aligned Christians.  We can disagree, but we CAN'T be divided.  

No president can make or break a nation.  He or she must work within the confines of the legislative and judicial branches.  Yes, the president is powerful.  But, the president must also answer to all citizens.  

Jesus held the establishment accountable.  He refused to "play on their terms."  Jesus isn't only meaningful to us because of his death and resurrection.  Yes, his death and resurrection are very important, but Jesus also lived and taught for a reason!  Jesus held the religious and the social establishment accountable and challenged their authority.  When it was appropriate, he non-violently resisted their domination and authority.  We can all learn from Jesus on this matter.

No presidential election should cause us to despair or to gloat.  Yes, we can be disappointed that our candidate did not win, or we can be glad that our candidate did win, but we must not divide the body of Christ, and we must not divide the nation.  We must hold the president to the task of being the representative of all people.

We won't always get what we want - even if our preferred candidate won - but we live in a nation where we can voice our opinions and be heard.

From personal experience, I can testify that there is no such thing as a voice that can't be heard in this nation. When I took an issue with a US Government issue, I sent an e mail, assuming it would go in a pile, unread.  A few weeks later, my phone rang, and the caller-ID said, "US Capitol."  It was a call one does not merely ignore!  It was a staffer from a US Senator's office saying that he received my e mail, personally read it, and was taking it into consideration in the committee work he was doing.  The staffer did not know the details, nor did I expect him to, but my voice was heard.  Yours can be too. We may not get what we want, but we can always be heard!

In conclusion, remember - we elected a human.  God is King.  When Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me (Matthew 28:18)," I believe he meant it!