Facebook is a mission field for me. I build relationships, bridges, and credibility so that I can share my faith is an authentic and transparent way and demonstrate how an ordinary guy with the same problems as anyone else, and lots of the same flaws, can follow Jesus and apply His Word to daily life and even mundane matters.
We
just had an election and it is now over. But the real work in the real Kingdom
continues. I posted something on Facebook the other day that got a lot of
response. It is a call for believers to make certain commitments that are not
dependent upon the outcomes of any elections and need no one’s support but God’s.
It all centers on a few words from the prayer our Lord taught us to pray. It
follows:
"Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be
done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Come tomorrow ...
Come tomorrow, what if Christians in our nation would make some resolutions
like those I humbly and tentatively suggest below?
I can only speak to and for Christians on this matter. People of other faiths
and ideologies often have similar ethics, but I am a follower of Jesus and
these resolutions flow from my understanding of His directives to His
followers.
We shall love, respect, and pray for our leaders whoever they are. We shall obey our laws.
If there is a law that we, in good conscience cannot obey (not just that we don't like it), we shall peacefully and respectfully resist and accept the consequences quietly and humbly.
We shall continue to love our neighbors and let our voices be heard for peace, justice, and a righteous, compassionate society beginning at the local level.
We shall work across the lines of ideology to support common causes and be willing to be distinct and different without disrespecting those with whom we differ.
We shall assume sincere motives in hearts of our opponents as a basis for reasoning with them and cooperating with them whenever possible.
We shall practice our freedom of speech, religion, and every other freedom with the assumption that those freedoms are protected, without fear, and without intimidation. We shall not expect the endorsement of civil authorities or special protections or considerations beyond that which is common to all -- even those who have other beliefs and practices.
If our freedoms of speech and religion are indeed threatened, we shall continue to exercise them no matter what the consequences.
We shall care for and advocate for those who have no voice, for the oppressed, the poor, the broken, and the outcasts.
We shall work for peace on earth and understanding among nations. We know that there shall continue to be wars and rumors of wars in the continuation of human history, but we shall do what we have been commanded to do and work for peace in our time.
We shall be friendly and winsome.
We shall guard our own personal morality and be honest in business, politics, and human relations. We shall seek to set an example of sexual purity, integrity, and fidelity. We shall conduct ourselves in our families and churches in such a way as not to discredit the Kingdom of God.
We will guard our words, temper our speech, practice the Sermon on the Mount, love God, love our neighbor, and pray for people in power as a witness to the words we speak.
We shall continue to confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the guide of our lives.
We shall believe in God and in the words of Jesus that He would be with us always as we follow Him and call others to follow and ...
We shall follow, making disciples as we go, teaching them to do what He taught us to do remembering that the essence of what He taught us to do was to love.
We shall continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," believing that if the King has invited us to pray that way, He has a plan to answer our prayer.
That is where I stopped. I would add that these resolutions enable us to bear a consistent and authentic witness to Jesus Christ, to speak to issues that matter, and keep our focus on discipleship. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
The world needs Jesus. We have Jesus. Let's share Jesus!