Now What

Tuesday’s presidential debate didn’t resolve anything other than that Chris Wallace does not have a future as a debate moderator. Everyone for Trump is still for Trump. Everyone for Biden is still for Biden. The undecided are purchasing Ouija Boards in hopes of guidance.

Trump supporters denounce Biden. Biden supporters denounce Trump.

President Lincoln was asked if God was on his side in the Civil War. Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”

The warrior Joshua reported seeing a man standing opposite him with his sword drawn. Joshua faced him and demanded, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

The man replied, “Neither, for I am the commander of the army of the Lord.”

Joshua fell on his face. The commander hadn’t come to take sides, he had come to take over (cf. 5:13-15).

So is God a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Socialist, or Capitalist? Is He American? Is He a Globalist?

I have friends who hate President Trump. He’s a pig and a fascist. I have friends who hate Joe Biden. He’s impaired, incompetent. Other friends who hate Speaker Pelosi. She’s a certifiable b****.  

Hatred: How did you allow hate to consume you?

“The other side drove me to this.”

Baloney. Read Frankl again regarding the last human freedom.

“Yes, but the fascist conservatives are forcing a Catholic mother Judge down our throats.”

“The damn liberals are destroying democracy and aborting the Constitution along with their babies.”

How did we get here?

Peterson translates: “The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live” (1 Tm. 2:1-3).

Life is not simple. Society is complex. Division is strong. Your ability to go quietly about your business is disrupted. You didn’t sleep Tuesday night after the raucous, ridiculous spectacle, the debacle billed as a presidential debate.

Have you done the first thing?

Have you prayed—every way, with every fiber of your being, for those in authority and the governments they rule?  

Have you gathered your wife and kids and knelt by the couch and said, “Oh God! Dear God. We call out to you on behalf of”—and guided your family to voice aloud, repeating after you, the names—"President Trump. Speaker Pelosi. Leader McConnel. Senator Schumer. We recognize these people in authority because you placed them in authority. It’s a dark, heavy, duplicitous load. Dear God. We intercede on their behalf, Lord God in heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen”

God in divine humility declares that it is never too late to pray.

Now might be a good time to begin.

Rome was ruled by a sixteen-year old named Nero when Paul penned the greatest treatise on theology in the history of Christianity, “The Letter to the Romans.” Nero’s reign was one of tyranny, extravagance, and debauchery. When he was twenty-one he had his mother murdered.

And Paul writes, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Rm. 13:1-7).

Inside your soul?

Are you pushing and shoving, cursing the Orange Man, denouncing demented Joe, resenting the demise of America? If God instructed Christians in Rome to pray for Nero as a leader established by God, I wonder what His thoughts are regarding prayers on behalf of Mr. Trump? Ms. Pelosi? Mr. Putin?

Have you prayed?

Have you renounced and purged hatred? Clutching an entitled hatred toward a leader you despise is blatant arrogance toward God who placed them in position.

True, there are many “Yes, buts” to argue and justify. I understand. However, if God inspired Paul to instruct the Romans to pray for Nero, I doubt He will un-inspire scripture because you detest your mayor, council person, professor, pastor, bishop, boss, etc.

Have you confessed your sin? “Family and friends: Harboring hate, relishing rancor, and embracing bitterness is ungodly, unbecoming, and an insubordinate indictment upon God’s authority. I apologize.”

Have you told God outright and in front of your family, “I recognize and assign respect to—and name the person—in authority? God has placed them and assigned them authority. I resolve to pray for them.”

By the way, the most fervent prayer not backed up with a trip to the polls to vote is a charade, a sham prayer, a prayer that goes in one of God’s ears and out the other. A do-nothing prayer is insincere because it lacks obedience with follow-through. In this obedience, go vote!

Humbly pray. Trust God. Inform yourself about the issues utilizing sources other than mainstream media as they are decidedly not trustworthy. Then, get off your knees, go vote, and stick the “I Voted” sticker on your chest.

Five hundred years before Paul wrote to Timothy or the Christians in Rome, the author of 2 Chronicles quoted God saying to Solomon, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray, I will hear and will heal their land” (cf. 7:13-14).

One constant is that humankind consistently runs the ship of humanity aground upon the shoals of self-governance. I doubt anyone would dispute that we have foundered the Ship of State called America. Another constant is that God invites and hears humble prayers. “Come to Me, I will give you rest” (cf. Mt. 11:28).

The variable in this brief article is the “if” of whether or not we humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s way. The “if” of whether you go participate in our social process by voting, the process superintended by the leaders endowed with authority and placed by God.

Prayer is both confession and obedient action.

This time, this season, this prayer is a hard prayer.

My observation is that with each news cycle, however, the alternative grows harder.

For further essays about life, thought, and belief I ask you to consider my latest book, Swagger.