I was asked, “What will you say to your church after the election?”
That’s a great question, and I have a short answer and an expanded answer.
My short answer in one word: Jesus.
To expand as briefly as possible, my message to my church family is Jesus Christ: over all, in us, through us, and to us.
Let me explain these four phrases.
Jesus Over Us
Jesus is Lord of all. Jesus said all authority in heaven and on earth is given to him (Matt 28:18). Whether people realize it or not, he is their Lord. He has authority over them. And one day, they will all bow the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil 2:9-11).
Jesus is Lord over the United States of America and North America. He is Lord over Central and South America. He is Lord over all the nations in Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe. He is Lord over all their leaders. He is Lord over Democrats and Republicans and all government leaders. He is Lord over those who aren’t Christian. Most obviously, Jesus is Lord over us Christians, and we happily acknowledge this Lordship in the fellowship of our local church. Jesus rules over us and over all.
Jesus In Us
Jesus is our Lord and dwells in our hearts (Eph 3:17). Jesus is in us, and we are in him (John 17:21-23). Therefore, our oneness is in Jesus. We are one body, a unity. Our unity with true Christians worldwide and in this country is in Christ, the Spirit, and the gospel — not our partisan preference. Our unity as a church is further defined in our confession of faith, church covenant, and our mutual effort in the great commission — not whom we voted for president.
However, our unity in Christ doesn’t destroy our diversity as Christians. Our unity is not uniformity. We may disagree on international diplomacy and policy, economic philosophy, or the appropriate size and scope of our government. Still, we agree in (1) the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, (2) the image of God in all ethnicities and opposing ethnocentric oppression wherever it exists, and (3) that the biblical definition of marriage, sexuality, and gender is good for all society including those who disagree with us.
We are one body. When one part of the body hurts, we hurt. When one member of our church body rejoices, we rejoice (1 Cor 12:26). Our two-fold challenge is to empathize and serve those who are discouraged by this election and to share in the righteous joy of those who are encouraged by this election at the same time. So let us lament with one another over the brokenness of the nation, the governmental failures, and the fear it incites in us (a legitimate concern). You may not feel their fear but the struggle of your brother is real. Unrighteousness abounds. Let us also find ways to give thanks with those who are encouraged since we are called to give thanks “in everything” (1 Thess 5:18).
Why share life in this way? Because at the end of the day we are Christ’s holy nation (1 Pet 2:9) and our citizenship is ultimately in heaven (Phil 3:20). Jesus is already in us and made us an “us.”
Jesus Through Us
As the holy nation, we exist in 2020 to bring the Abrahamic blessing to this generation of the cursed and dying world made up of our earthly governments and our neighbors (Gen 12:3). Jesus Christ secured this sinner-saving, curse-reversing blessing by becoming a curse for us on the cross. Therefore, as members of the holy nation, we love our neighbors here with a Christ-oriented love.
We voted as wisely as we thought possible and will continue to engage in the civics of our day. At the same time, we remember our most important work is not our voting work but our witnessing work as Spirit-empowered witnesses to the Lordship and love of Jesus (Acts 1:8).
We have work to do as Christians speaking the gospel and biblical truth in love so that people know the truth and may be set free from sin for all eternity (or at least from some of the self-destructive lies in our age that hold them captive). Remember that Jesus Christ works through us to our neighbors, our nation, and the nations.
Jesus To Us
Our ultimate hope is in the return of Christ Jesus. For those encouraged by the election, your hope is not to be in your political party carrying out its agenda or in its ability to stop the other party. For those discouraged, your discouragement ought not to ultimately rest in your party being unable to carry out its plan, as good as you think it would have been. While making room for relative encouragement and discouragement, let it be to the proper degree, undergirded and overwhelmed by the certain and inevitable hope that Jesus is coming to us and to this earth to reign forevermore (Rev 22:6-7). Jesus will come to us.
Jesus Christ is over us, in us, through us, and will soon come to us. Therefore, our responsibility, privilege, and preoccupation ought to be the same as it was last week: Love God with all you are. Love one another as Christ loved you. Love your neighbor as yourself. And love in light of the return of our Lord Jesus.