When I think of the political issues and who I should vote for, I’m reminded of the first four verses of the Serenity Prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971):
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”
What, exactly, are Christians responsible to do, as that pertains to political issues? I know I’ve been told that is my responsibility to know the issues, and who is for or against what. Yet, I have no power to force a political candidate to be true to his or her word, in the event that the candidate I voted for is elected. There are no guarantees! So, I pray for the serenity to accept the fact that I’m unable to change a person’s will, once he or she has the power to strengthen my hopes or take them away.
What am I able to change? I am able to work toward seeking and appreciating the Presence of God in my life, and my prayer is to that end. My prayer for serenity, if one considers it, is a prayer for inner peace. So, both requests have to do with my heart, serenity in weakness and disappointment toward men, and enabled to change my own behavior and reflect the image of the God who is with me.
My third request is for wisdom, because sometimes my first and second requests become blurred, and I get confused, over where one ends and the other begins. Politics sometimes promises an “open door” for fulfilling my desires, but oftentimes this comes with sacrificing my integrity. So, what have I really received, if I get what I want? If I’ve given up too much to receive my desire, what have I gained?
One of the most powerful studies I made in the Bible was my study of Ecclesiastes. It literally changed my life. It spoke about good kings and bad kings, successes and disappointments, the wise and the fool, and the good and the wicked. The book unveiled for me my total weakness to ensure the success of anything I do in life. What comes to me, is what God prepares for me, vis-à-vis the Table of the Lord (cp. Psalm 23). Everything had two sides, one desirable and the other not. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill, for time and chance happens to all!” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Moreover, there is a time for every purpose and a season for everything that is done under heaven: birth, death, killing, healing, laughing, mourning etc. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), and we can’t change the times or the seasons. While some folks try to change the times (Daniel 7:25), they can’t because such things are under the power of God (Daniel 2:21; Acts 1:7). The whole duty of man, according to Ecclesiastes is to fear (respect, trust) and obey God (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
So, what does all this have to do with how a Christian should respond to political issues? First of all, I believe we should not place too much trust in what candidates say. Moreover, we shouldn’t be too disappointed, if our candidate didn’t win, because all nations are like a drop, a single tiny drop of water falling into a bucket (Isaiah 40:15). The nations, vis-à-vis the political authorities, the national resources, their wealth, their industries, their religions—all of it is summed up in a drop of water falling into a bucket. True power is with the Lord. Only he is able to change things for the good, and he wants our trust
Secondly, God Wants Us to Pray for our Leaders. Consider the fact that the world is in a state of rebellion against God, ever since Eden. We seize upon the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because we want to decide for ourselves what is good for us and what is not (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6-7, 22-24), and we don’t want God’s input in the matter (Romans 1:28).
Therefore, foolish and unwise things happen in the world, so we need to be praying for people in authority instead of criticizing them every chance we get (1Timothy 2:1-2). God rules among the nations, and he is able to set up kings and remove them at will (Daniel 4:17). One way that we can express our faith in God is to pray for our leaders, regardless of whether or not we agree with them, including Trump.
Finally, God wants our respect. He has given us his good name, and we need to behave, as though we are his children. Therefore, it is imperative, how we react to the political issues we face, like abortion, gays, same sex marriage, gun control etc. Some things we may agree with, while other we won’t. Nevertheless, we need to be an image of Jesus in our walk before God. How did Jesus react to things he could not support? He ate with publicans and sinners, while not condemning them. Jesus claimed he was the Light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5), and he saved his greatest rebukes for the Jewish religious/political authorities of his day, because those who rejected him walked in darkness (John 12:35, 46; cp. 3:19).
Keeping in mind that the world is in darkness, we have been given the light of God, vis-à-vis we’ve been enabled to walk as his children, even though we had once been in the world and behaved as the children of darkness. So, instead of hatred, bigotry and lies, we are called to show the world what God is like by behaving as his children, overcoming evil with good works (Romans 12:21), vis-à-vis treating others fairly and preaching the truth, without justifying the world’s evil behavior (Ephesians 5:8-11).
Therefore, it is not so much to embrace the correct political platform, as it is to represent God correctly and lovingly to the world that is blind to his Light. Politicians don’t have to hold to the same things we embrace as true, for us to vote for them, but they need to have a good sense of justice and fairness toward folks in a weaker position (Psalm 82). We need to look for the more moral person and vote for that candidate, and after the election behave as we believe Jesus would, before those who differ with us, no matter which side of the political issues we find ourselves on. Love, justice and integrity is more than embracing the correct political issues. [1]
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[1] This study is based upon and my interpretation of, The Surprising Truth about Christians in Politics. I take full responsibility for my claims not found in that video.
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