The reactions and post-mortems have been tireless. Many say that this election is not only historical, but ushers in a new era that will bring about much needed change. Others lament that we are threatened with losing much of what has made this nation great. Either way, the Church needs to be the Church.
I have no doubt that the form of government in power plays a huge role in the welfare of the people. The Bible is replete with admonitions to leaders since they have such power in that regard. However, no form of government should prevent the Church from being the Church. In extreme cases, as in China and other countries that persecute believers, the Church is underground and operates largely as house churches. Many meetings are in secret and believers are regularly arrested, persecuted and even executed at times. What doesn’t change is the transformational power of the gospel in peoples’ lives. The gospel of Christ changes lives forever even in the most dire of circumstances.
In our nation we have seen a gradual erosion of some religious freedom….especially in the last several decades, but we are still no where near the level of persecution that many of our brothers and sisters experience around the world. We have no excuse for not being salt and light in this nation, but it seems we have less and less relevance to an increasingly secular culture. The Church has been relegated to an activity like Little League, Scouts or Texas Hold’em night. If we see it as having that level of relevance, it will have that level of influence. The Church is God’s instrument for the redemption of the human race. How dare we reduce it to just our particular Sunday morning activity.
The government is not the answer to the woes of our society….the Church is! Who we elect as president should not have an impact on the fact that we are salt and light. It may determine the issues we confront, but the Church still needs to be the Church….the transformational force in our nation and in the world.
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