A King, Not A Candidate

The teams are set, Labor Day is over and as of now the next ten weeks will go a long way to determining who will be the leader of the free world for at least the next four years. Many believe that this could be one of the most important elections of our lifetime. The next administration could shape how America faces the important issues of abortion, healthcare, foreign policy, climate change and the economy. Should either Senator Obama or McCain get elected and then win re-election we could be living in a very different country than the one we have right now. Beyond that there is the reality that eight years from now many of our children will be entering the next phase of their lives and beginning to take their place as adult citizens of this nation.

However, as important as this election is, it is not the most important issue in our lives or the lives of those we know, work with and live among. And it is not the most important factor that will weigh upon the lives of our children within the next several years.
Why? For one America is a temporary country and thus the blessings of being an American citizen while important are only temporary.

Secondly, there is another kingdom that exists among the nations and countries of this world that while not seen is nonetheless very much real. And as important as they are the blessings of American citizenship are simply not effective in this kingdom.

Thirdly, the kingdom of the living God will have a far, far more profound effect upon both the temporal and eternal lives of those Americans we know and are acquainted with.

Fourthly as great as this country may be the eternal kingdom of God will be infinitely greater. It is infinitely more valuable, infinitely more durable, infinitely more beautiful, infinitely more precious and infinitely more righteous.

And lastly but certainly not least the kingdom of which we speak is ruled by a king we can believe in, hope in, count on and rely on with total and absolute confidence.

The issue for us then is preparing ourselves and our children to press, pursue and actively participate in the eternal kingdom of the living God which is ruled by Jesus Christ.

And therein lies another golden providential opportunity the citizens of the kingdom have to highlight, emphasize and proclaim the kingdom of the living God. In a recent post entitled ‘Let The Games Begin’ I exhorted the saints to take the opportunity to be witnesses of the gospel by speaking respectfully of those with whom we disagree. Now I’m encouraging the saints to pray for opportunities to tell of the eternal kingdom of our Lord to those who will vote with us and those who will not. What’s more I want to pray that the citizens of the kingdom of the living God will have the same kind of enthusiasm and zeal for our King that the delegates of the respective political conventions have for their candidates who at most will enjoy a temporary rule over a temporary country.

Look, whether we want to admit it or not whoever winds up in office will not solve all of the countries problems, cannot heal all of our national ills, and will still leave much that is undone. I for one doubt that either candidate will lead the country toward the brink of complete ruin or unparalleled overall prosperity. They are fallen men, who will surround themselves with fallen people and lead a country filled with fallen citizens. While I have no idea who might run for this nation’s highest office in 2016 you can bet the house, ranch and two bus tokens that he or she will promise to address the issues of education, the economy, taxes and of course champion the cause of the middle class.

I’m not saying that this election nor the institution of government is irrelevant or even marginal to the lives of God’s people and the rest of the country. I am saying that the people of God must take great care to make a clear distinction between the two kingdoms. One is temporary, flawed, fading and destined for destruction. The other is eternal, perfect, glorious and destined for absolute triumph. And no matter how bad you think your life and the lives of your fellow citizens could be under a democratic or republican administration trust me they will survive. And if you don’t believe me just take a quick peek at history. Democrats did indeed survive twelve years of republican rule in the White House from 1980 until 1992. Following that republicans managed to get through eight years of democratic rule from 92 to 2000. The moral of that story is simple: should your guy lose it will not be the end of the world.

But the end of this world is in fact at hand. And when it ends the fact that you cast your vote for Senator Barack Obama or John McCain will be the least of your concerns. And the issue for our fellow citizens won’t be whether they voted, supported, campaigned, donated to and fervently followed either of these two public servants. No dear ones the issue will be where they stand with the King of kings and Lord of lords. And the issue for us now is whether we will take this opportunity to declare our undying love and loyalty to our immortal, eternal, invisible yet very present King or if we’ll squander it away in hopes of getting our guy in the White House.

When this election is over will the people of God be known as just one more constituent group to be pandered to or will we let it be known that as important as this election is our allegiance is ultimately not to a candidate or even a country, but to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor lance