I was deeply saddened on the night of the 2012 Presidential election. Many would think that I was deeply saddened because of the results, but this was not remotely the case. In fact, I was rather indifferent to the results. No, I was deeply saddened by something else.
Just after the election results were pouring in, I logged onto Facebook. This was a terrible idea. As soon as the update feed came up I regretted it. It seemed that every other post was along the lines of “its the end of the world” or “I’m moving to Canada” or the like. It can seem funny to look at now, but some of these posts were serious and truly depressing.
I confess that most of my friends on Facebook are a part of the Christian faith-many of them Protestants. This of course, should have prepared me for the reactions I saw and I probably should have thought of that before I logged onto Facebook.
In truth, I was deeply saddened by the response of many Christians I know. I understand disappointment, which many of these friends seemed to be experiencing. However, I was forced to silently ask, “Where is your hope? Where is your faith?” Are we so consumed by our nations leadership that we abandon both faith, hope, and in some cases love?
All throughout the Old Testament, New Testament, and church history we see Christians under leaders that they did not want or even have the chance to elect. Yet their hope was not placed in a candidate or a party, an ideology or economic reform. Their hope was in God.
The early church had hope for the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal life. I am reminded of Titus 1:2, in which Paul reminds Titus that he is an apostle in the hope of eternal life that was promised by one who does not lie. Guess who the political leader was then? Paul’s political leader was the Roman Emperor Nero, a crazed man, whose persecution would eventually be the death of Paul, Peter, and many other Christians. Yet, Nero doesn’t make it into Paul’s letters to the Church. This is because Paul never sought to find hope in any earthly leader. Yet, he has submitted his life and his hope to Jesus Christ, a commoner king who was crucified.
Paul also had put his faith in nothing other than Jesus Christ crucified. I don’t know to many current world leaders that would agree to be crucified for their people. Yet, Jesus instead of having a throne or an oval office, hung upon a cross and showed what it really means to be Godly. In fact, Jesus was a part of the moral “minority” in his day. It is complete foolishness to put your hope in a king who is crucified and shamefully punished as a rebel, yet Paul not only put his faith and hope in that man, he gave him his whole life and his pocket book.
As for the early church, we can really narrow down their political ideology to one phrase. “Jesus is Lord.” How about that for a campaign slogan? Especially, since the world did not get a chance to vote for Jesus. Yet, they looked forward to the victorious coming of Christ instead of the change in Emperors or the rescuing of the economy. The idea of hope for a nation or economic reform was not a central issue for the early church, they were going to have hope no matter what happened.
As I mentioned, I was deeply saddened by the loss of hope and faith and love by many believers due to the election. I should also mention that I was deeply saddened by the Obama 2008 campaign posters that had Obama’s picture and the word Hope across it. Again, how can I ever find hope in any other man other than Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the early Christian Bishop Polycarp who when asked by a Roman leader to throw some incense onto a fire before a Roman idol said “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?”
I strongly believe that part of “being in the world and not of the world” is that we maintain hope, faith, and love no matter what takes place in the world around us. Are we like the disciples who lost all hope when things did not turn out their way? It is time for us to grow up! No matter who is president or if the United States even exits, Jesus Christ is still Lord and our hope should not be lost. Let us then hold fast to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
