As 2020 is the year for a presidential election, August will bring the national political conventions, with a difference this time — both political parties will apparently hold virtual conventions in the age of Covid-19. Maybe that will actually be better. Without all the pomp and circumstance and traditional trappings, maybe the candidates, instead of simply bashing each other, would actually detail policy and proposals for new legislation. Do you think?
Washington is a city of power. It is a city that has the power to make things happen, for good or ill, across the country and around the world. It is a city of powerful people who fill the federal buildings, who push legislation and pull strings to make things happen, who trade opinions and favors and have great influence. In those regards, they are different from most of us. Yet I’ve always believed that, rich or poor, wise or immature, powerful or not, we are all alike in one fundamental way: we all stand in need of the Christian gospel. What possible message could the gospel of Jesus Christ have for our presidential candidates?
For one thing, it’s okay to be a servant. Jesus knew that he was here to serve, and he taught others to do the same. One day he said, “Those who would save their life will lose it; but those who give their life in service to this world will keep it to eternal life.” The message of the gospel is that everyone is a servant of someone or something. The important thing is to get clear about the person or power you are serving.
Another message of the gospel is that real power belongs to God. Sure, the resident of the White House is powerful. But the influence of earthly leaders should not blind us to the true power that creates, redeems, and sustains the universe. God’s power and influence are everywhere, whether we acknowledge it or not.
There is a message in the gospel that can provide guidance to our leaders in the nation’s capital and to ourselves. In the end, affiliations with particular political parties and congressional staffs aren’t really the most important things. All that matters, for any of us, is that we decide to serve God rather than ourselves. Choose this day whom you will serve!
In the name of the One who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
Bruce Jones, Pastor and Co-Creator,
Imagine Church of the Carolinas
