There is no other leader in history who has leveraged all power, privilege, and position for the good of humanity like Jesus. But how do we rest in Him when He isn’t on the ballot?
If you have your Bibles, please grab them. We’re going to look at this text, and then we’ll move forward to Genesis 3 and examine a passage there. I was in Houston earlier this week when a pastor friend of mine said, «This thing you’re doing is unwinnable.» I responded, «Well, that depends on how we’re measuring the win.» Before we get started, I’d love to share the reason behind this, and then we’ll dive in and overview what the next six weeks will look like. Here’s the first and primary reason: I desperately want you to see and savor King Jesus as your primary and only hope. I want you to push all your chips in on His reign and rule. That isn’t manipulative or punitive; He is the only leader in the history of the world who used all His power, privilege, and position for those He loves. No one else has ever done that, to the point that He gave His life. There’s not a king like King Jesus, and that’s primary.
Here’s the second reason: I love you, and I am deeply provoked by the political manipulation that’s making us all so anxious and angry. I can feel in my bones the wickedness occurring right in front of us, and I want to speak to it and call it out. A year ago, just 4% of U.S. adults said the political system is working extremely well or at all; a growing share of the public dislikes both political parties. Nearly three in ten express unfavorable views of both parties, the highest share in three decades of polling. A little more than a year ago—I wish I could find more recent data, but I couldn’t—nearly two-thirds of Americans, that’s 65%, said they always or often feel exhausted, with another 55% saying they feel consistently angry. More than eight in ten Americans, that’s 86%, say the following describes politics well: Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting each other than on solving real problems.
This quote from David Brooks’s book, *How to Know a Person, * struck me when I read it and has fueled some of my frustration: «Lonely people are seven times more likely than non-lonely people to say they are active in politics. For people who feel disrespected and unseen, politics is a seductive form of social therapy. Politics seems to offer a comprehensible moral landscape: we, the children of light, are facing off against them, the children of darkness. Politics seems to provide a sense of belonging. I am on the barricades with the other members of my tribe. Politics appears to offer an arena for moral action. To be moral in this world, you don’t have to feed the hungry or sit with the widow; you just have to be liberal or conservative. You just have to feel properly enraged at the people you find contemptible.»
Behind the truth of this statement, I see men and women who are preyed upon and manipulated in their loneliness and brokenness, whipped into an angry mob by politicians. That provokes me for you; that provokes me for this moment we’re in. Here’s what I know: some of you have fed your rage, anger, and disenchantment with a lot of political propaganda and are spring-loaded for me this morning in a way that’s not fair to me and not fair to you. You do not have to agree with me. I will certainly make a distinction and move my Bible over here to walk you through some thoughts. Over here, you have to wrestle with and ultimately submit to this; over here, you can disagree with as much as you want. I have mentors and friends who land in different spots than I do regarding the application of these things.
But I don’t know if you remember this: the definition of tolerance used to be that we can disagree with one another while still holding you as an image-bearer. I don’t hear that you disagree with me, vilify you, and run from you; instead, I press into you. You have been made in the image of God and, by nature of that, are worthy of dignity and respect, even if I can’t make sense of some belief you have or you can’t make sense of mine. I can sense the weight of that going into this series because I know some of you have fed the part of you that is putting all your hope in these two options.
Let me just start with that word, and to then say something negative about this one in this current moment means you must agree with everything over here. Or to say something negative about this one is to… and that’s nonsense. It’s the game they’re playing with us to manipulate us, make us afraid, and control us, and that frustrates me. Lastly, I don’t believe—here’s why for six weeks—I don’t believe platitudes and bumper sticker theology are helpful. Now, I think it’s really cool to say we’re…
