We all know the old saying, right?!
"Optimists see the glass as half full; pessimists see the glass as half empty."
Some of you have spent the last two years celebrating evangelical access to the seat of power and the various policy decisions that came from the Trump administration. Others of us mourned the damage to our Christian witness as both policies and presidential behavior reflected a will to power rather than compassion and self-control. The complete lack of responsible leadership from a Republican majority in Congress was, to say the least, disheartening.
But what if we're both looking at the wrong glass? What if we're all staring at politics & economic policies & the future of our nation, trying to predict and/or guess whether this is good or bad... and we're focused on the wrong thing? Perhaps, just maybe, we need to be thinking "outside the glass":
If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilization, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or a civilization, compared with his, is only a moment. (C.S.Lewis, Mere Christianity)
So, those of you who are devastated by the surprising results of this election, take hope. A Democratic Congress is not the end of the world - in fact, if we really take the Bible seriously, it's just another government in a long line of governments that have had to contend with the power of God.
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? (Psalm 2:1, ESV)
And those of you who believe this election will usher in a new era of peace & prosperity, remember that kings & presidents & senators & representatives & governors are subject to Christ, whether they acknowledge him or not.
The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (Psalm 33:10-11, NIV)
It might be a good idea if each of us to check which glass we/re looking at...
Which brings me back to, well, me... I find myself (to quote Rondell Treviño) "a Christian who’s theologically conservative & socially compassionate, too conservative for progressives & too progressive for conservatives, pro-life from womb to tomb, politically homeless, & who’s ultimate citizenship is in Heaven not America."
It occurs to me that - nearly 20 years after I wrote the original version of this piece - that the way to end this blog post for followers of Jesus wasn't to ask how they see the world, but to ask Who they are trusting to fill their glass.
And that includes me.
And that includes me.
