My point is not to try and make you feel the way I feel about these things. These ar just thoughts that have been in my head in the past week, and I wanted to share them. I encourage you to exercise your right to vote for whoever you desire if you choose to do so. I WILL NOT be telling you how I think you should vote, nor will I tell you who I am going to vote for if I decide to. That being said:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to coruption into the freedom of the glory of the childern of God. Romans 8:18-21.
I love America. I always have. For a long time my biggest desire was to serve in the Navy, and when that didn’t work out, I really was crushed. I have always supported our troops, and I have several very close friends who are in Afghanistan/Iraq. For a long time I was very for war, and liberating the world. Recently, God has been changing my heart to the point of brokenness and tears. I can no longer support the wars that America is involved in (and started), though I do support and pray for the men and women fighting them. Don’t misunderstand me, I realize that by being born here, I have privileges that an Iraqi child may never have even dreamed of, but does being a great nation, and a world super power mean that we should push our agenda on the world?! The founders of this nation even encouraged us to stay out of the affairs of the world.
I do believe that when injustice is being done somewhere, we should take action to fight it; I don’t believe that means military action. I believe we had a responsibility to stop the atrocities being done by Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but I believe we had a responsibility to do it because we put him into power there in the first place. A lot of what is going on, and the dissention against us in the world is our fault due to actions we’ve taken in the world.
I read an article recently that inspired me to look into the issue of Nuclear Disarmament. I found that a huge desire of Reagan, that he was even able to bring Gorbachev around to was complete world nuclear disarmament! THIS WAS IN THE 80’s! It blows my mind that we could blow the world to smithereens 30 times over, because everyone feels like they have to protect themselves from the other people that have that ability. The Bible calls us to take care of the world God has entrusted to us, and I feel like this is a part of that. What kind of legacy are we leaving for our children and grandchildren? And if people come to their boiling points, and use their weapons, what condition will we leave the world to them in?! (Visit The Nuclear Security Project, Biblical Security, and these articles: A world free of nuclear weapons, Toward a nuclear-free world)
I am frustrated by the political situation in our country. I don’t know if I am going to vote, and I have been praying a lot about it, (and I would strongly encourage you to do the same) and will continue to until the morning of Nov. 4th. The bass-ackwardness of our political system blows my mind. More than that, the way Christians act towards each other in times like this breaks my heart! I am tired of hearing that if I vote for one man I’m not a Christian, and if I vote for the other then I will be ushering in the kingdom of Heaven on Earth. I don’t want to hear about how one man is Antichrist, and the other is Biblically appointed. And I am weary of the talk about one man being the demise of life as we know it, but the other being the man who will set the course for our ‘Great Nation’ for the NEXT 200 years.
We are not guaranteed tomorrow. As individuals. Or as a country. (James 4:14)
I believe that as Christians, we are called to take a stance on issues. A stance that the Bible says is right. On the other side of that, people have been interpreting the Bible differently since it has been around. The way I read something may lead me to a different conclusion or conviction about something than it will you. There are non-negotiables, like the sanctity of life. But, does being ‘pro-choice’ make you ‘pro-death’? And does supporting stem cell research gel with your claim to be pro-life? Both of these men claim to be followers of Christ. But so do I. So do you. The only people who can know where that person stands in their relationship with, and the eyes of God is that person and God. I want people to stop telling me that one man in of Satan and the other is of God. I want them to let me come to my own convictions just as I’ve allowed them to do. I will debate the issues with a person all day long, because I know that we still have Christ in common, and regardless of how far apart we may feel about something, the love we have in Him will bring us together.
I believe that understanding the issues and what the Bible has to say about them is extremely important. Chew on this though: There will probably almost never be on candidate who agrees with everything you think the Bible has to say about all the issues. So how do you compromise? How do you decide what to condone, and what to condem? How do you decide whether to vote for baby deaths, or sending your neighbors baby into battle half a world away?
We’re reading through Hosea right now for our Team devo, and the other morning I was doing chapter 2. I had read through it the day before, and again that morning deciding what I wanted to talk about when we gathered, and came up with some things. While I was reading it to the group though, God made some parallels to me. Let me preface this by saying in no way do I believe that America is comparable to Israel in God’s sight, or favor, but we do claim to be a Christian nation. So this is what I started to see: America has whored itself to the world. For oil, for power, for money, for prestige. I don’t claim that this is prophetic in any way shape or form, but if God wants for America to fall from its place of power, nothing I say or do can change that. It will have been written since the beginning of time. In addition to that, the Bible says that no one comes to power that God doesn’t allow to (Romans 13:1). Chew on that for a second.
So…how I am I responding to this? In brokenness. My heart has been heavy all week, and last night I realized that this was why. We were sitting around, singing some worship songs, and I was thinking about all of this, and I just began to weep, because I hurt for my nation. For the world, and all the people in it. For how we are effecting the world. How we are affecting (not always for the good) the kingdom with our actions.
I am posting this on my Mission Year blog, so go check that out…not for this one, but I have other posts there too. The thoughts and ideas here, are not those of Mission Year or any of their staff, they are my own, so please treat them as such.
I gladly anticipate your thoughts and comments, but please refrain from lashing out in anger or frustration at this, or anyone else who decides to comment. If you can’t do that, I will delete your comment. Also, feel free to e-mail me at stippy87@yahoo.com.
Thank so much for your time,
David Stippick
