I have been doing a lot of thinking, and some rethinking due to a clash with a dear friend, about the election lately! Who hasn’t really? But something dawned on me that was really convicting. You see I just came back from a speaking at a weekend retreat in TX. While there I used the story of the adulterous woman as an example of how Jesus operated with truth and love. Truth and Love was the theme of the weekend.
I pointed out that when the scribes and Pharisees drug the woman caught in adultery out of her bed and threw her in front of Jesus and the crowd, they cared absolutely nothing about her nor did they truly care about her sin. Their only concern was to use her to get rid of Jesus. This woman was drug out in public, her sins publicly declared and shame was heaped on her for no other reason than to try to prove themselves right, trap Jesus, and ultimately to rid themselves of his presence. She was just a convenient tool in their war against Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less.
And yet she was more than that! Much more! She was one of the reasons that Jesus came, and he loved her with a sacrificial love. The kind of love that would cost him everything. Now to these men, and possibly to the crowd that Jesus was teaching, she was only trash, a woman caught up in a whirlwind of sin and carnality. But not to Jesus. To Jesus she was much more! So much more he was willing to die for her.
And this is when it occurred to me that in this election, and most elections, the candidates are often only tools to advance our causes. If they align themselves with our cause, good! If they don’t we have no use for them. We care little for the person, only the platform and the advancement of our cause be it conservative or liberal.
In this election even those, like me, that stand opposed to both candidates have probably not really given a thought to the souls of either Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton. I have made it known that I don’t believe that either Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton are fit to be President. I have posted articles listing the ways Mr. Trump is unfit, as a way to prove my point. Others have posted articles about how bad Hillary is. In a sense, I have thrown him into the middle of a crowd without thought or concern for his soul. My only desire was to prove I was right in not supporting him.
In contrast, there are those evangelicals who will vote for and even promote the Trump or Clinton campaign as a way to further their cause. Many of them will say “He/she is no angel but he/she is better than the other option and besides, think about the platform or the Supreme court!” This too is just a way to use the candidates for the advancement of an agenda with little to no concern for them or their souls.
I don’t know what the outcome will be in November. But I do know that when all is said and done there will be a winner and a loser, and both will deserve our love and prayers. Let’s put down our platforms and our desires to be right and begin to lift up these two in prayer. Let’s begin to change the tone of our voices. We should sound less like an angry mob and more like one that is grieved by our own sin and the knowledge that both Mr. Trump and Secretary Clinton need our love and compassion, not because of what they have done or what they stand for, but just because of who they are. Remember that Jesus died for them too.
