Response to Last Week’s Election

“Around the Water Cooler”

 By Pastor Tim White

Last week’s election was a tough moment in the history of the United States with so many people deeply divided on issues and candidates.  I have been praying every week for both parties, for every government official.  I have also been praying that somehow our nation would come together in a new unity that would allow us to conquer the challenges we face on every front.  

After billions of dollars spent on campaigns we sit with a divided government, just as before the election.  We face a fiscal cliff.  And we face a populace whose ethics are in deep need of a wide and sweeping revival.  This morning I read an article in the paper about a woman who ran over her husband because he did not vote. She was so upset that Obama won and blamed her husband for it. We need a hope for this country that transcends our politics.

Probably two of the most controversial issues for us in Washington were the vote to legalize marijuana and gay marriage.  Many, many side conversations with church members revealed that even our church community is deeply divided on these issues. We have attempted to create a church full of diverse age groups, economic brackets, race and ethnic groups and it is no surprise we have diverse political opinions as well.  Yet we are all going to have to live together as a church, and as a nation. My hope is that friendships will grow deeper as we engage in open conversations about the important issues. I think that would honor Christ…and just as Jesus did, I pray for unity for his followers.

Factionalized politics are not new. If you would have walked up to a crowd during Jesus’ time you would have found people with just about every opinion.  Jesus saw the differences in opinion as an opportunity. Not only was he able to connect with those who agreed with him, but he could also reach those who began as polar opposites to his way of thinking.  

How are we to talk with people around the water cooler after this election?  First of all, don’t run anyone over (either figuratively or literally ) because of the way they voted. That would just serve to squish someone and land you in jail. Instead, let’s keep believing in democracy and working and praying for revival to sweep our land. I believe revival is the key to change. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “The government and its laws just reflect the morality of the people.”  If you want to change the politics of our nation, we need to start with our nation’s hearts.

Let’s pray that our church members can sensitively reach out to people with different opinions, and that we may have honest conversations with one another, gently searching for God’s will for our nation.  I guess the long and the short of it is that we have a lot of work to do.  So we better keep on praying.

"When I am with the weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ.  Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.  I do everything to spread the Good News an share in its blessings. "

                                                                - 1 Corinthians 9:22-23