Living the Lifestyle of Jesus in a Politically Charged Season

Originally published as a blog post by Harvest Prayer Ministries

Every election season brings a certain degree of anxiety or uneasiness. It’s a big change when one leader steps down and another takes his or her place. Over the past few years, it seems there is a greater level of anxiety and even anger surrounding our national elections. Social media is a reflection of that. Try expressing an opinion on social media without someone becoming angry about your comments.

Today, Christians are faced with some tough choices, and I don’t just mean which candidates to vote for. How do we handle the high level of animosity and tension that is so prevalent in our nation today? How do we live out the lifestyle of Jesus in our politically charged season?

I’m seeing a number of choices being made. Some develop a posture of being above it all. “Jesus is my King and I’m not lowering myself into the fray.” Certainly we need to have a Christian worldview that recognizes the temporary nature of nations, elections, and culture itself in the light of eternity. But I would suggest to those taking this path that Jesus himself did not withdraw from the culture or even the politics of his day. He waded into some of the most controversial issues that divided Israel in his day, while at the same time, insisting that His Kingdom was not of this world.

There’s another extreme that is also very prevalent. It happens when Christians forget that the advance of the Kingdom of Christ is not dependent upon who our elected officials are. Ignoring that can cause us to become combative, angry, and over-emphasize the importance of any election. In this posture we forget that those in another political party or backing a different candidate are not our enemies. In Ephesians 6:12 we are reminded of this: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.: We can find ourselves quickly demonizing others (who are flesh and blood), and forgetting the law of love.

May I suggest a broad middle ground that allows for many degrees of involvement or non-involvement? It recognizes that in our nation we have been given the astonishing gift of selecting our own leaders. Yes, yes, I know they often fail us. But then, who of us doesn’t fail in our best attempts at times? The truth of the matter is that we still get the opportunity to choose, even if the choices and outcomes aren’t always what we would want.

The Apostle Paul commands us in I Timothy 2, to pray for those in authority so that we might live quiet and peaceful lives. He sums up that thought in verse 4, relating it to God’s desire for everyone to be saved. Paul really was interested in who government leaders were - not so he could have a nice, comfortable life, but so that the atmosphere of the nation would be conducive to evangelism. It seems to me that Paul demonstrates a beautiful balance for us regarding our involvement in selecting leadership and voting.

Of course, Paul could not even imagine the option of selecting his own governmental leaders. But as I hear his command to pray for those leaders in order to prepare the way for evangelism, I have no doubt that Paul today would add to his command to pray, the command to vote. Pray and vote, so that the purposes of God might be accomplished.

So in the midst of a divisive, tense, and angry time, how should we live in this political world? Again, I look to Paul for instruction. To the Philippians, and to us, Paul gives a most contemporary instruction: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:5-6).

Gentleness . . . peace . . . prayer! That’s how we should always approach an election season. And I believe Paul even shows us how to do that. In the midst of his commands he says, “The Lord is near.” We often immediately rush to the Second Coming when we read this, but I’m not sure that’s what Paul is saying. The Lord is near . . .  He is close . . . He is right beside you…He is always with you.

With Jesus right next to you . . .  near . . . you can live out His gentleness and His peace. Then you will find yourself praying not only for your leaders, but for all that the Lord places on your heart. Eventually the nearness of Jesus breaks through the clouds with the physical return of Jesus to Planet Earth. But until then, we draw near to Him in prayer and He draws near to us so that we demonstrate to those around us the life of Jesus.