You don’t know me
I hold no real position of authority
I have no leverage, influence, or any great wisdom that warrants you paying me any mind
I am nobody
I’m not on the winning side
I’m not on the losing side
I’m not of the ilk to think that the “lesser of two evils” is the better option
I’m prone to think that evil is evil
And I believe that there is no one so far gone that God can’t restore or redeem them
With that said…
Here’s what I think we’ve learned from this election cycle.
We really know how to hate the other guy.
We are willing to accept behavior that we would punish our children for displaying (well, some parents would – that’s a whole other post).
We have no problem defaming, accusing, lying, or refusing to listen first to anybody
And the really cool thing is now we can do all of that on social media – we get to act like a bunch of 7th graders who’ve been mainlining RedBull for days!
How cool is that!
We can urge people to vote their body parts…
We can describe people as body parts…
And everybody now has cornered the market on…
how to fix the economy
how to deal with our international ‘friends’
the nature and character of God
the frailty and dysfunction of religion
and what is truth, justice, and the American way
We have issues with everything and everybody
And that’s the problem…
We all have issues
The mistake we make is that we’ve convinced ourselves that those ‘issues’ are all owned by ‘the other guy’
We never address our issues – we just blame the other guy
And nothing gets done
The once shining city on a hill is reduced to a smoldering ruin of what we thought once was, what we had hoped it is, and what we prayed (if we even do that) it might become
I don’t think government is the answer
I believe all life is sacred
I believe that God is who He says He is or He is nothing at all
And I believe there is a God like that and it’s not me (or you)
I believe that those who call upon that God’s name are to love others because He loved us first
And I’m convinced, more than ever, that I am the problem
I let bitterness fester
I let fear dictate
I withhold grace, mercy, and forgiveness
I shout so I don’t have to listen
I hate…because it is just so much easier
I pimp out my righteousness while a dying world just laughs at my filthy rags
I am the prodigal
The rich young ruler
The hypocrite
The poser
The hurtful, sarcastic jerk on Facebook
And I am broken
And I am a sinner…
And I am His, and I am forgiven
And it’s high time I lived like that…out loud and boldly
I’m not sure where that fits into politics
I’m pretty sure you’ll go ahead and label me
I’m pretty sure most of you already have
I’m pretty sure I don’t care
The clearest thing this election cycle has taught me is this…
If we don’t start loving one another as God calls us to…
This nation, or any other nation for that matter, doesn’t have a hope in hell
You don’t know me
I am nobody
I am everybody
And we’re all in this dumpster fire together