Thursday, November 6, 2008

Whose burden is it?

I've been trying very hard to not blog about the election. Now, I was a political science student and even worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, but this has been the most even-keeled I've been during an election. I've been really excited about what has been going on in my heart that has kept me from getting too fired up. I think I should thank my hubby, Ryan, for being an example to me of someone who can zoom out and see big picture of what is going on. He has taught me that God is still very intricately involved in restoring and renewing life right now, here on Earth.

I have noticed since the election that Christians are super worried about the causes of our faith now that Obama has been elected. First of all, McCain is no superhero savior. I'm not sure our causes would be any better off with him but that's not my point. Here is my point...

Proverbs 29:7

"The righteous care about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern"

Matthew 10:42

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward".

Matthew 28:19

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"


These are just a few verses that come to mind when I think about who's burden it is to care about the things God cares about. It would be AMAZING to have a president who had a faith that was undeniable, clear, and apparent in their policy but we don't have that. We wouldn't have it in either situation but even if we did, the call to protect the unborn still falls on our shoulders. The call to treat all people as equal in the eyes of God falls on our shoulders. The call to make sure mouths are fed and people have access to health care falls on our shoulders.

How do we do this? Matthew 28:19

What if Christians infiltrated our workplaces, neighborhoods, parks, grocery stores, Starbucks, malls, apartment complexes, post offices, DMV waiting rooms, doctors offices, etc? What if we lived lives so radically different but with such gentle loving-kindness that even the mailman knew there was something different about you? What if we were the ones having conversations with our daughters, nieces, students and friends about the sanctity of life and the importance of purity? We need to be the ones sacrificing to care for the needs of that man who supposedly sleeps in the "boneyard" of our church. These are God's people.

I know this is a bunch of ideological passion talk, but it is also what has been handed to us as a Church. I don't have all the answers. I'm still wrestling with how to do it all but but we've also been told "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" -Jesus

Lets pray for Obama. Lets pray for the men and women who he will appoint to his cabinet. Lets pray for the believers who are a part of our federal government. Lets pray that God would place people in the lives of the Obama family who would be the voice of Holiness. And lets not forget that God never allows anything to happen that doesn't fit in the palm of His hand!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

here here! great thoughts, oh wife of mine. I like when you share your "ideological passion talk" thoughts.

I'm not sure you have to encourage Christians to infiltrate Starbucks though, haha! They've got that covered. I just hope that the 50,000 Starbucks bible studyers aren't staying too long, making too much noise, or a mess, or getting too addicted.

NatMatt said...

I say, Amen! I don't quite understand the freaking out over one person being in office. I know it's important, although I really voted for McCain only because of his power to appoint judges. But the direction of our country is much bigger than that ... it rests on our precarious shoulders and (thank goodness!) ultimately in the realm of God's perfect plan.

Natalie

pgvet2 said...

Great post! I worked on Capitol Hill for over 3 years for a strong Christian Senator. I agree with Natalie, there is a balance of power, luckily for our Country. I don't know that Obama would have been my pick however I read an article about how he prayed with two pastors, one Baptist and I'm not sure what demonination the other was, right before he made his acceptance speech. That may be somewhat encouraging.

Wayne

Anonymous said...

well said, Lindsay. The world needs a good balance of ideological passion talkers. Way back before the primaries I was not a McCain supporter and will admit to being disappointed that he would be the R nominee. I became one as he (in my opinion) emerged the lessor of two evils based on his view of abortion, marriage and the type of Supreme Court Justcies he would nominate. Election Day media coverage was very hard to swallow as it is so obviously one-sided and by the end of the day I was seriously bummed. However, I agree now is the time to look ahead and lift up President-Elect Obama in prayer. I still have anxiety about a lot of things, but I know that God is still on the throne and I continue to cast my anxieties before Him. I'm also clinging to Proverbs 21:1 and 1 Chronicles 29:11-12.

Anonymous said...

P.S. I think it is very sweet and well intentioned that you are so cautious about choosing your words, but would love to hear what is going on in your head sometimes ;)

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ryan. Great thoughts. Christians need to hear THIS!

Bryan said...

WOOOT!!!

I was waiting for someone to understand this.


I'm in the Bible belt!

I have 4o people in my first period, plus me=41, and only 3 of them are not Christian.

But people are not considering this at all. It's like the election comes up and hypocrisy spreads throughout the Bible belt because they are all super conservative and hate Obama.

Thank you for your encouraging words.

I need help.