-Pastor Robbie Cheuvront
Every election cycle, around this time in the campaign, our thoughts and conversations become consumed with what the political outcome is going to be. And rightly so. It is our civic duty to engage in the election process and duly elect our leaders. More specifically, our Chief Executive. We Americans are privileged to have the opportunity to decide who it is that will represent us, the people.
Here’s the thing though. I think we Americans engage in a dangerous practice. And at the risk of committing political heresy, I will speak up and identify this danger.
See, we the people, somewhere along the way, lost the truth. We have allowed the political system of this country to lure us into believing that a group of people, or a single man, can change the world. We see the corruption that lies at our doorstep. We see the horrific things on the news, when one dictator commits genocide on his people. Or when a disaster claims the lives of hundreds of thousands in a far off country. And we foolishly believe that we have the ability to put someone in office that can change all of that. Or that they can somehow win the hearts of terrorists or convince the world to “get along”.
Please, don’t think that I am somehow unpatriotic. I love this country. I am committed to supporting our leaders and praying for them. Even the Apostle Peter instructs us to “Honor the emperor”. I am a fan of our election process. I even have a candidate, in this election, that I fervently support. And I think that, as a nation, we will be better off if he is elected.
But here’s the thing. If you’re putting your stock in a man to bring about the change that is desperately needed in this world, you are doing so in vain. No elected official has ever had it said of him that, “he upholds the universe with the word of his power”. No elected official has ever had it said of him that, “through him all things were made”. No elected official has ever stood before men and said the words, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” And therein lies the problem.
See, no elected official, in all of history, has ever had the power to affect the change needed in this world. There is only one who has that authority. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the exact imprint of the nature of God. In him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He is the one who has declared that he will come again to judge the living and the dead. And he is the one who says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and I will give you rest.”
Friends, our world is as it is because of one thing: sin. Sin has corrupted God’s perfect creation. It is the very reason we have sickness, disease, hurt, disasters, and evil in general. Yes, this world desperately needs change. And yes, our country specifically needs change. But the kind of change that we truly need cannot and will not come from any elected official. The things of this world are the way they are because God is bringing all things to their appointed end. And Jesus has told us that no one knows the hour or the day. So just as we’ve seen the rise and fall of the nation of Israel all throughout the Bible, we see that only through submission to the authority of the LORD do we have any chance at any kind of true change.
So do your civic duty. Diligently research the candidates positions, inform yourself what you’re voting for, and then go to the ballot box and cast your vote. Honor the emperor. But as you do that, know that only through seeing our nation come to a place where it seeks after the things of God, not the things of men; when we recognize our willful intent to remove God from every aspect of our lives, specifically politically, and then rectify that; when we are humbled by the power of him who has been given ALL authority in heaven and earth; only then will we see true hope and change take place.
Grace and Peace to you all,
-robbie cheuvront
