Had a strange incident occur today. I was having coffee and catching up
with another member of our church staff at Starbucks. We were in the middle of sharing prayer requests and about
to pray – we were the only people in Starbucks at the time – when a man walks
around the corner and asks, “What’s going on guys?”
Neither of us knew said man.
He then says, “Do you guys have jobs?”
Strange question.
I respond in typical Chad McDaniel smart-aleck fasion,
“Nope, just hanging out!”
To which he says, “You and 47% of Americans who are on
welfare. Can you believe
that? 47% are on welfare and
living off the rest of us.
Seriously though, where do you guys work?”
We admitted that
we’re pastors, which really got him going. Now, he didn’t get fired up about Christianity or the
problem with the Church today.
Nope. Instead, he told us
that churches, pastors in particular, really need to take a stand these
days. We need to get more
political and tell everyone that if we don’t take action soon, we’re going to
lose our freedoms and we’re going to be persecuted by our government. This was important to him. So important that he interrupted two
dudes drinking Starbucks about to pray.
Now, I’m NOT writing about politics. This is not my time to critique what he
said. What I realized as he went
on and on is that he is afraid.
His politics are based on FEAR.
His life is based on fear.
Sure, he was passionate - he was trembling as he spoke. He is afraid, and this bothered, frustrated, and in the
end, angered me a lot.
Why? Because this man also
admitted he was a Christ-follower and attends a well-known church in our community. That being said, I have to ask, “What
is he so afraid of?” What are he,
and others like him on either side of the political aisle who claim Christ,
afraid of? Honestly.
Is our faith so shaky, so flimsy, so pathetic that a
government’s policies would instill fear in us? I’m not being naïve.
I’m being serious. Governments have tried to stifle Christ in the past and governments will do the same in the future, and yet the Church lives on. The Church, Jesus Christ, the Triune God, is bigger than any government in any time and in any place. Do we believe it?
I asked myself, "Where is this guy’s hope?" Is his hope in Christ – the one who has “overcome the
world”? Didn’t seem like it. Jesus talks about love casting out
fear. Jesus talks about overcoming
the world.
Will we believe Jesus?
Seriously. Can we believe
Jesus’ words and reject fear mongering?
As for me, call it naïve, call it what you will, but I
really don’t care about the 2012 election. I’m tired of the fear mongering. I’m tired of people telling me we need more guns, we need
less guns, or we need different guns so that our government won’t rise up
against us. I’m tired of the
nonsense. I choose to believe
Jesus. I choose to trust him. I choose to believe that Jesus truly
has overcome the world, defeated death in rising from the dead, and can deliver
us from all kinds of evil – even evil that may or may not come from politicians
and broken policies. I choose to believe that THIS changes everything. It changes the way we live; the way we interact with people; the way we talk about policies and politics. Jesus' resurrection from the dead changes everything. It FREES us from FEAR. It GIVES us HOPE. Will we believe it? Will we live it? Will we be so passionate about HOPE that we will stop two dudes drinking coffee and tell them about something that really matters; that is, will we tell someone about Jesus?
I leave you with the words of a classic hymn:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
