The Morning After
The Morning After
We’re facing a setback, not a defeat. Victory is assured to those who endure.
My article is getting out a little later than usual this week. I wanted to wait until this morning to write so that I would have time to assess and respond to the election news. Of course, this required some time researching results. More importantly, I needed time in the Lord’s presence to gain perspective and revelation from Him.
Those of us who care for the unborn are heartbroken today. In Michigan, we saw Prop 3 receive the support of the majority. I have posted video about this terrible proposal and what it means for the unborn. Others have done extensive work to raise awareness in our state. Nevertheless, the majority of my fellow citizens voted to pass this tragic change to our state constitution.
Additionally, we saw just how deeply divided our nation really is, entrenched along party lines. In spite of record-high inflation, international embarrassment in Afghanistan, radical gender ideology, an absolute war against energy independence, extreme opinions on abortion, alarmingly high crime rates and, let’s face it, a President who has not only used his platform to alienate half the country, but demonstrates a tenuous connection to reality, Americans did not vote overwhelmingly to halt our national drift towards destruction.
That said, I fully believe our response to this setback should be to reject pessimism and grief and embrace determination and joy. The battle will not be won by those with dour faces and defeated demeanors. Such responses are not only unhelpful, they are out of step with the true state of things. Our God reigns. He will triumph in the end. More, He’s given us keys to victory in the here and now.
I want to share three takeaways that will allow us to be joyful warriors in the days to come.
First, we must HONESTLY ASSESS: This election, at least for those of us in increasingly progressive states, provided a helpful “cultural-health check in.”
Honestly, I hate going in for my annual check up with my doctor. I don’t like taking the time. I don’t like being put on a scale. I don’t like the blood pressure cuff being put on my arm. I really don’t like filling out paperwork and answering questions.
But this is my problem. Not the doctor’s. My medical checkup gives me an objective metric to measure my overall health. It’s important not to ignore the results.
This election allows us to measure something much more significant than who people wish to elect this year. It helps us answer some important questions.
Where are the hearts of our fellow citizens? Are Christians truly voting Kingdom values? Is the Good News penetrating hearts, or bouncing off hard ground? When asked to speak on issues of fundamental importance (e.g., the rights of the unborn), do people express the essential values that safeguard human dignity?
The proper response to this checkup is not to get mad at “the doctor.” It’s to assess and develop an action plan.
Second, we must MOVE UPSTREAM: If poison is being poured into your water supply, the smartest approach is not simply to get new water filters. It’s to go upstream and cut off the source of the poison.
The results of yesterday’s elections, in many cases, reveal a culture that has been poisoned by progressivism. The founding values and vision of our country is no longer embraced by the majority of the citizenry in many states. This is a heart and mind issue that is upstream from politics.
We must resist the temptation to solve spiritual problems in the political realm. Politics is downstream from culture. The people who went to the voting booth yesterday have hearts and minds formed in an increasingly anti-Christ culture.
Encouraging people who do not value objective truth to vote on the basis of truth that transcends convenience is a losing battle. We need to be winsomely making the case—with our lives and our voices—for the goodness of the Kingdom over-against the desolation of the world-system.
This will require not only politicians, but artists, entrepreneurs, teachers, moms, dads, thought leaders, and people in every vocational sphere who walk in the Spirit. We’ve been redeemed so that we might build a taste of heaven here on earth. It’s time for Christians to break down the wall between the sacred and secular. The call to build Kingdom-rich businesses, schools, families and social circles is an invitation to be salt and light.
Third, we HAVE WORK TO DO: My interactions on social media in the run up to this election have convinced me that the problems in our culture start in our churches.
Too few pastors have helped their people see the connections between their values and their votes. Too many believers fail see that discipleship is not just about observing traditional morality, but embodying Truth and storming the gates of hell!
We have reached a point of true crisis in the American church. The results we’ve been seeing would not be possible if God’s people truly understood the Father’s heart and their own identities in Christ. A church fully alive would be more than enough to move the culture.
The work I’ve been called into is to start a fire. Fire gives off heat and light. We need the heat of revival. I believe that revival was never intended as an occasional visitation, punctuating generations of spiritual dryness and relative ineffectiveness. Instead, we are called to build a revival culture.
We are a people of the HOLY SPIRIT. He doesn’t simply visit periodically. He dwells within us permanently. Supernatural signs and wonders are not meant to come in fits and starts. They are our birthright as believers. So I’m seeking to promote a revival lifestyle in the Body of Christ.
Fires also have light. We need a Reformation in the American church. In Reformation, truth that has been lost is again reclaimed, shining and bringing enlightenment.
There are several different lines of Reformation that I believe are called for. But the most important ones have to do with Identity: How we understand the Lord and how we understand our identity in Christ.
Those two lines of Reformation are the general subject matter of “Kingdom Christians.” So I will sign off for now. But let me leave you with this prayer:
Dear Father,
I thank you that you sit enthroned in heaven! Nothing and no one can claim your place. We take incredible comfort that victory is ultimately assured.
We bow before you in love and humility. We thank you that the King of the Universe is also our loving Father and friend. So we not only come into the throne room of your power, but the living room of you presence. Here, we find peace and reassurance.
Father, we also thank you for the dear Holy Spirit. We thank you for the ways He guides us and empowers us. We thank you that, through the Spirit, we are given much more than reassurance. We are given authority to make a difference.
Lord, we receive and commit ourselves to something much greater than a fatalistic resignation to election results. We stand in the name of Jesus Christ and recommit ourselves to the prayer you taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We want to be part of fulfilling that prayer!
Father, we pray in faith. We believe in your promises that those who walk in the Spirit will do even greater works than Jesus did. We believe that our best days are not behind us. We reject every narrative of defeat and assert that we will triumph in Jesus’ Name! We ask you to stretch out your arm. Help us minister in power even as we reach out in love.
Touch our minds and hearts, Lord. Show us what each of us can do. Help us creatively engage the sphere of influence you’ve given us to steward. We will follow where you lead. Our only desire is to walk with you, Lord.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen