"One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
-Mark 12:28-30
I really felt God has lead me in this week as we approach our 2020 election to watch particular videos and articles. What started as a search for wisdom and confirmation in who, or if anyone, I should be casting my vote for; ended up leading me to watch and listen to the videos at the bottom of this website: https://firstprinciplesproject.com/
There were three topics of each video: "Citizens of the Kingdom, Citizens of the Country, and Citizens of the Community." I honestly want to watch all of them again and write down some of the incredible quotes from each of the videos. The videos, by the way, were an accumulation of well-known Christian pastors and thinkers from all different backgrounds and political leanings. They didn't focus on who to vote for, they honestly just did a great job reminding me, and us, of Who's we are, and where our citizenship lies FIRST and foremost.
As Christians we are first and foremost citizens of The Kingdom.
Here are a few of my takeaways from the videos and articles and scriptures I've read this week, and the things I felt so impressed upon my heart that I'm taking the time to write my first blog post to do it, and share it with you.
Every single person on Earth is a different facet or reflection of who God is.
Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal, Green, Independent, Libertarian, and everywhere else on the political spectrum are ALL different, unique, reflections of God's heart. We are called to LOVE every person on this spectrum, no matter how different they believe. This of course goes for gender, ethnicity, etc. etc. but for the sake of staying on the topic of politics and "religion" I will leave my list there.
"Jesus is too liberal for conservatives and too conservative for liberals. He is also too liberal for liberals, and too conservative for conservatives. Are we willing to glorify and uphold THIS Jesus?"
Maybe some of you have heard this kind of a quote before...but WOW was this a beautiful thing for me to hear.
I love that they included saying that the videos were not a call to be "central" in our politics. It was simply a call to LOVE, and to HONOR through LISTENING to the other image-bearer in front of us (or on the other end of the screen.)
So what is my encouragement to each of us from here?
I want to repent and apologize publicly to anyone I personally have been a poor reflection of Christ to. I also want you to know, I love YOU. YOU, YOU, YOU, yes...and you! It's easy to say these things though, type these things, and speak the "Christian-eze" language, but are the fruits of MY walk truly reflecting that? I hope the answer has been yes, and if not, I pray through the power of the Holy Spirit that I can be a better reflection more and more each day. What can we each do? Pray and ask God to reveal anything in us that doesn't align with who He really is. If we need to repent; repent, if we need to call someone, meet up with someone for coffee and have a conversation; lets do that! Let's not only be people of forgiveness, but people of reconciliation.
We need to recognize and own that we as the Church have failed, often miserably, at reflecting Jesus to others when speaking or taking action in politics.
If in your heart you're thinking...well, yeah...but you don't know _________ person and what HE or SHE said or did to me, I would encourage you to come to the feet of Jesus, and ask Him for his heart to be revealed to you in that situation. I would encourage everyone to do this, especially before sharing on social platforms.
RISE UP CHURCH!!! This is a DEFININING moment in history for us.
I love that Jeff Bethke calls this an "Apocalyptic moment". When he uses the word, apocalypse, he reveals how the word actually can mean an "unveiling". When we think about this opportunity of unveiling who Jesus really is to the world, it's important to remember the simple fact that we are EACH accountable for our own words and actions. Will we use this moment before and after November 3rd as fuel to the fire for those who are already weary, have their biases, or suspicions about Christians? Or will this defining moment be an opportunity for REVIVAL?? Could some potentially respond with awe or enough curiosity to question how we have obtained such peace?
Pray. I'm not new to the rodeo of change. Change in my experience, unless supernaturally gifted from God, takes effort, and it takes a genuine change of heart. So please, pray. These videos are around 20-30 minutes long each, but I promise they are worth
listening to.
We as Christians are first and foremost citizens of heaven, then our nation, then our communities. We are all Americans.
God bless YOU, and may God bless the United States of America.
Blessings,
Crystal
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