I am going to assume that Webb's lead will hold even after absentee ballots are counted. The house has gone Dem. The Senate has gone Dem.
Now what?
While this is bad news for Republicans, it may not be bad news for the community of faith. Is this because I suddenly agree with liberal policies?
Hardly.
What it means is that the community of faith can no longer sit back quietly on the reservation and do nothing. I fear that many Christians were content to cast a vote and then quietly return to the Christian reservation and feel like they have engaged culture and been a Christian citizen.
Election 2006 is a wake up call for Christians.
We now need to do the real job of engaging culture by developing the Christian mind, and then winsomely and persuasively engaging the false ideas of our day. Folks, this is a good thing.
Christians need to engage bad ideas with biblically informed ideas. Christians need to bring the light of truth into all areas of public policy. Christians need to write more in the public square. More importantly, Christians need to converse more with their neighbors and friends about the important ideas of the day. This is no time to keep your ideas to yourself and quietly hope for political solutions. That has been tried and failed.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, Christians need to engage culture with more than just ideas. They need to engage culture with an authentic life that backs up the words. It does more harm than good to espouse the ethics of the kingdom when your life contradicts those very ethics. Two words to remind you of that important lesson. Ted. Haggard.
The second thing that is good is that the church needs to get back to the job of being the church. The church is supposed to be a place where God is worshipped and Christians are to grow in grace and be equipped to do the work of the kingdom. That work of the kingdom involves preaching the gospel to the lost, and it also involves pushing back the darkness in all facets of life by promoting justice and order. But it is not the church's responsibility to go out and engage in issues of public policy. Nope. That responsibility does not fall on the shoulders of the church. The responsibility of taking kingdom ethics into our culture falls on the servants of the king. In other words, you and me, fellow ambassador.
The third thing that is good is that the church needs to lead its members to spend more time in prayer for its leaders. Praying for those who hold a worldview that is antithetical to your own is difficult, but it is the situation the early church found itself in. I fear that kingdom prayer for governing leaders has been sorely neglected.
Election 2006 is bringing some much needed clarity and focus to Christians. We can't sit back and expect the politicians to change hearts and minds. That just isn't going to be an option.
The first step in changing minds is to develop our own minds further so that we have a biblically informed understanding of whatever the issue is ... whether it is the worldview of radical Islam or medical ethics or the role of law. Then we need to clear the cobwebs from the mental attic of the Christian mind. We need to relearn the ancient arts of critical thinking, logic and persuasion. Then we need to open our mouths and speak to our friends and neighbors, and get on our computers and blog and write letters to the editor so that others can be influenced by clear thinking.
Christ calls on all disciples to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, strength and mind. It is that fourth element ... the mind ... that needs some serious attention about now.
Most often the best lessons learned in life are learned the hard way ... like being forced to watch a San Francisco liberal take leadership of the House of Representatives.
Do I really have to pray for Nancy Pelosi? Yep.
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