A Facebook friend recently admonished me not to overreact in fear or anger to things I am seeing in the political arena of our nation now because God is sovereign and in control of things in the long term. What follows are some of my reflections about trusting in God’s sovereignty and our involvement in the political arena.
Nations and empires rise and fall and shift. As a person who believes in the mysterious sovereignty of God over human affairs, I believe that God will not be thwarted from working out His will over time. However, looking at the long history of God‘s people in scripture and human history, we see that God’s people were often at odds with His will and ways. Sometimes they asked for a king, God gave them what they wanted, and they suffered for it. All that can be part of God’s sovereignty, too.
In the present moment, we can believe in God’s ultimate sovereignty while knowing deeply that we can be part of the problem. So, for me, it is a dance of trusting in God‘s sovereignty over the long-haul while also doing my level best to discern what is good, right, wise, and praiseworthy in real time. People are observing how Christians make meaning of and respond to this moment. They are observing what we affirm, what we disdain, what we aspire to be as a nation, and – even more important to me – what we aspire to be as the people of God.
With that tension in mind, I respond as best I can to what I observe. We can excuse – or even as I see some of my Christian friends do – celebrate the antics and actions of Donald Trump and company – or we can try to be more measured and discerning. I get some of the underlying anger that makes a Donald Trump presidency possible, but that shouldn’t prevent us from critiquing his behavior and actions that we find contrary to the Kingdom and the common good. And, to me, a lot fits in that later category.
Reasonable people can disagree about how we should best respond to the Ukraine and Russia situation, and our broader view of supporting foreign wars. Believe me, I am in no way a warmonger. I disdain America’s fascination with guns and power. I favor diplomacy and other actions. But the way we go about things matters. What I saw in the Oval Office yesterday was not something to be celebrated. Donald Trump’s lack of emotional intelligence was on full display, and I do not believe that serves us well as a nation and our power in the world.
I agree with some underlying policy decisions—things like the need for government reform in USAID and other areas—but disagree with how they’re being done in such a destructive, haphazard way. What should be done with a scalpel or even a saw is being addressed with a bomb. The indiscriminate approach of a particular American billionaire oligarch is gravely hurting millions of people.
As a follower of Jesus and an American citizen, I must decide whether what I see is good, bad, or a mixture and determine how best to respond.
A few other points to ponder:
- What we do locally and how we live out our faith in serving others in a Jesus-aligned way matters more than our opinion in national politics. I am not saying the latter is unimportant, but how we live our lives in service to others must come first and be primary over pontificating about national and global politics. In other words, if we fixate on being consumed by national and international politics, it can hinder us from making any real difference in our communities. Love starts local and grows out from there.
- We cannot make meaning alone! We need one another and a diverse perspective to understand what is going on and how we should act. Even in this post, people shared their perspectives based on their experiences and convictions. As I have listened, I have learned and adjusted my views here and there. We can’t make meaning or act alone to solve our problems. We need one another. We need the diverse Body of Christ. We need to be humble, teachable, and willing to change.