In God’s Politics, Mary Nelson, a board member of Sojourners, posted her comments on the upcoming election and her enthusiasm as a campaign volunteer. She never advertises who she working for, trying to work her readers, yet she humbly goes on to state how encouraging she has found it to work with all different types of people who together believe that their efforts can make a difference and things can change. She discusses the phone calls she has made in order to campaign for this certain presidential candidate and admits to many rude comments that Americans have spouted off, but she has found that many people are truly searching for what is important to them and what they want for our country. Nelson sees a “longing for peace and fairness.” What I found interesting about Nelson’s post was that she was the first person I have heard that is seeking the Lord and His direction for this campaign, rather than using strategies of slandering and other miscellaneous negative campaign tactics. She posted Psalm 72 in which she used the word “president” in place of “king” as a prayer:
Please help the president be honest and fair, just like you, our God. Let the president be honest and fair with all your people, especially the poor. Let peace and justice rule every mountain and hill. Let the president defend the poor, rescue the homeless, and crush everyone who hurts them. ... Let the president be fair with everyone, and let there be peace until the moon falls from the sky.
We can get so caught up in the election and making sure the “perfect” person gets in office. While God has definitely given us the responsibility to vote wisely and choose and honest and capable leader, I think it is important that we remember who is ultimately in charge. It is important to pray for this election regularly. We should be praying for the candidates, our choice of vote, and even the next president to take office- no matter who it will be. The president is the most influential leader of the world, and we cannot forget to lift him up regularly in prayer. We all need prayer, but lets make sure we throwing up a few extra for someone who is running our country, no matter if we like him or her or not.
4 comments:
Wow. How very true. That is what I see a lot in the christians who are involved with politics today: too much selfishness and not enough remembering who put the president in his place. Thank you for this great post. It needed to be said.
Thanks for a refreshing posting that brings all the election chaos and tumult into a Christian perspective. Lifting up our leaders in prayer, whether we agree ideologically with them or not, is indeed a Christian responsibility. Once again, thank you.
Caitlin this is so true. I agree that we often get caught up in things and tend to forget about who is in charge. My hope is that our country will remember to take the time to pray for our candidates and future leader. Thanks for this post!
Many times, we do get so caught up in our relationship problems, school, etc. (politics is no exception) that we leave God out of it. But, God should be part of every aspect of our (Christians') lives. Thanks for the reminder!
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