My guess is that many people around the country—and especially around the world— would find that utterly incomprehensible, especially in an election of such consequence. My friend Pastor Paula Mehmel of Casselton, ND must have run into similarly negative people at her end of the Great Plains, because she recently wrote this in a monthly pastor’s piece:
(Imagine) the Zimbabwean who risked death or injury to vote and only saw her vote negated, or the person from China who would give anything to have a vote in what was happening in his country, or the woman in the Muslim nation who can’t even show her face, let alone vote. What about the countless of men and women from this country who sacrificed their lives out of a commitment to the basic values of our democracy and…freedom, or the civil rights workers and suffragettes who sacrificed so much and faced persecution to give everyone the right to vote? It makes “suffering” through the ads and taking time to sort through the mudslinging to look at the issues sort of pale in comparison...My guess is that most people in the Third World—and in the Holy Trinity—would find the young man’s attitude profoundly ungrateful, as well. To use political jargon, “God has a proven track record” of not just of complaining about problems (He does sometimes complain about us in Scripture), but also of enlisting real-live people to be His partners in solving them! God expects us to remember what He’s done for us, and to structure our lives and make our decisions accordingly. Whether we voted for the honorable & inspiring John McCain or the inspiring & honorable Barack Obama, if we voted from Biblical principles, a passion for the public good, and humility before God, we were doing God’s work.
But if we folded our arms and just sat it out, I think we mocked the blessings God gave us, and the blessings so many Americans have fought, bled, and died to protect. As He said to a grousing and angry Job, whose life was far more inconvenienced than my gas-pump buddy’s: “Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them” (Job 33:5).
Both Obama and McCain used the word ‘gratitude/grateful’ in their speeches late last night—and I don’t think that’s an accident. Classy politicians—like our two Presidential candidates—are fundamentally grateful people. They recognize that to whom much is given is much expected. And, personal ambition and incidental vanities aside, they act as if their lives can be partial ‘Thank You’s’ for the blessings they received.
Classy Christ-followers are thankful, too. One of the reasons the offering jars at Kaw Prairie are on inconspicuous locations in the lobby instead of passed down the rows during worship is that we know that God wants tithes and offerings from joyful, grateful givers—not from socially-pressured ones! The reason so many of us are making sacrificial gifts in the tens of thousands of dollars to the Beyond! Building Fund is that we truly feel we’ve been blessed by God’s grace and Jesus’ love beyond measure—and we want to share the gift of His love with the people and families of west Johnson County.
Whether or not “your” party was victorious in yesterday’s elections, I thank God that YOU as a Kaw Prairier are a thankful and classy Christian, who votes, serves, and gives with a gratitude and humility that honors the Lord you serve.
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:16-17
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