A Modern Day Letter to the Church
King David, the esteemed leader described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) has been exposed for all of history as an adulterer, rapist, murderer, an abuser of power, a hypocrite and judged as lazy just to name a few.
The apostle Paul, responsible for 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament, the saint responsible for the evangelism and early discipleship across Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, this man participated and served as a leader within a hate group before God raised him up to be in a place of authority, bearing God’s very name and witness.
Moses sinned against God while leading the people through the dessert by believing in superstitions. Abraham was a liar. Jonah was self-righteous. Jacob was manipulative and schemed. Peter turned to violence, cutting off a man’s ear. The very friends Jesus surrounded Himself with were sinfully competitive, full of selfish ambition, sometimes hard in heart, jealous and possessive with pride.
Not only were these men given a place of authority and power in their own time and context, but their lives, failures and flaws have been recorded in God’s Word for all of history to be read and retold from generation to generation.
Brother or sister, please do not be disillusioned with haughtiness to think or assume humanity has matured or developed a tremendous amount since David summoned Bathsheba or Peter denied his very friendship with Christ thrice.
1 John 1:8 - "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind…”
Before we can even begin a conversation about human power and position we have to begin by submitting ourselves into a posture of humility. To follow God is to FIRST surrender and submit, acknowledging God is God and we are not. And if I’m being frank, perhaps some of us need to pause here for just a minute.
Submission and surrender are not popular words in our culture or current context. Once again, our sinful and broken humanity has taken a holy, beautiful, and necessary posture of worship and has contorted it into a weapon of abuse, a way to control, a way to manipulate, a way to cause tremendous harm.
But to those faint in heart or hardened from human hurt, please hear these words clearly. Submission and surrender to God is NEVER met with abuse, only love, perfect love. Submission to God is a kind of relational exchange we will not and cannot encounter with any neighbor, friend, parent or spouse. When we surrender to the will of God, we enter into a relationship unlike any other we have ever known (thank You, Lord!).
In submission to God the created finds comfort with the Creator, the sinner finds salvation and satisfaction with the Savior, the failed and failure finds freedom with the Father.
Nonetheless, all sons and daughters of God are called to submit to Godself. And until we’ve wrestled here and surrendered our will for God’s will, nothing of good fruit can follow.
Luke 9:23-24 “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.’”
Job 22:21-22 “Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. 22 Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.”
Joel 2:13 “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Humanity is bent toward evil and disorder.”
As members of God’s body, we harm one another, the edification of Christ’s Church, and the witness of God’s testimony when we allow the matter of national politics to dictate or influence our theology and/or the worship due to the King of Kings.
The topic of God’s sovereignty is perhaps at the core of this conversation. But without getting into a debate on denominational theology, we have to consider how our words and actions over the course of the last 9 months have either glorified God or glorified ourselves.
The first produces fruit of love, joy, peace, and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Galatians 5:24-26 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
What has the last 9 months brought up from your soul? Anything other than these fruits should cause us to pause and repent from pursuing matters that glorify ourselves. Glorifying God will produce within us a strength-giving joy, a peace that passes all understanding, a patient perseverance, an enduring love, it will produce wise counsel, a slow tongue and listening ear.
(Nehemiah 8:10, Philippians 4:7, James 1:2-5, Proverbs 1:5, James 1:19-20)
If our words and actions throughout this season have produced anything apart from these things, I urge us to re-surrender to the authority and goodness of God and repent from a self-righteous ambition or from pursuing cultural values over the Word of God.
This fall were given 2 primary candidates. And as sons and daughters of God, I am assuming we know both candidates to be entirely human and equally sinful, just as we find ourselves to be as well.
Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Some of us may have found ourselves experiencing disappointment while others in our body experienced relief upon the tallied vote on Wednesday morning. I will not be speaking on the specifics of the candidates.
But I am pleading with my brothers and sisters to show up in faithfulness and submission to our God, embodying the character of Christ in all things, and to be producing godly fruit that edifies His Church, bearing bold witness of God’s sanctifying love, grace and mercy.
1 John 4: 13-19 “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.We love because he first loved us.”
Brother or sister, be wise in the way you speak. Guard your heart from all malice, wallow, and fear. Rejoice, for our president is not our god! Nor does our president hold the key to your eternity.
Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Turn your face upward and give praise to the God our Creator! He is worthy of our song and adoration. He is worthy to be praised! We are called to walk in the light as children of God, in peace and unity with one another as instructed by God’s Word. Do not be swallowed up in fear or worry, in rage or devastation. Do not place your hope or confidence in legislation. Nor should you offer any president worshipful applause.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Psalm 34:1-9 “1 I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His Name together. I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who [reverently] fear Him, and He delivers them.”
If you bear the name of Jesus Christ, if you proclaim to be a member of God’s body, if you are courageous enough to be a disciple of the Living God, then I urge you to study Scripture over social media. Choose to share the gospel rather than spread gossip. Glorify the Prince of Peace, not our present politics.
Continue gathering with one another so that you can commit to a life of prayer. Fill your home with songs of worship, make the name of Jesus known within your home. Live into the power and authority given to you through the Holy Spirit so that the enemy does not have even a foothold at your door.
And I will remind you that I pray for you often, many by name, but always for the Church of Jesus Christ.
For further study or Scripture memorization, I would send you to 1 John.
May we commit our days to the glory and honor of God Almighty.
