Last Saturday Eldon hosted their annual Turkey Festival. The church I work with put up a booth to maintain a simple message: “Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. .” I saw the need to spark some additional thinking so I put up a whiteboard with this simple message:
“But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men. . .”
~ John 2:24
I think I used the context in a fair manner, because it has to do with Christ not committing Himself to the causes of men. After all, we as well as they have our own ideas as to what the Messiah should accomplish, and we can get hung up in presumption. Anyway, a lady asked me; “What does that sign mean?” I spoke to the effect that Jesus is more important than our political desires. She said; “Don’t you think Jesus wants us to stop abortion?” I responded; “He came to call the lost to repentance. Don’t you think the supporters of abortion are in need of salvation?” She told me what I was doing was worthless, and that I was worthless. It got pretty heated. That’s it in a nugget.
In time past, we had a similar reaction in Flagstaff from a guy who was uber-liberal. He accused us causing the deaths of so many in Iraq, etc. He was spitting mad (really.) His accusations were on the basis of statistical indicators concerning religion and voting trends. (It is a drag to be stereo-typed.) Fortunately, he was willing to talk and we were able to have a somewhat peaceable understanding.
It seems like the political right has the potential to oppress. It seems like the political left will do the same thing. Currently, we get by in a stasis between the tension of the two. There are good points on both sides, but there is also plenty of evil. As a citizen of this country, I fear if one side or the other gets the upper hand. Ah well, there really is no lasting kingdom of men.
No matter how the politics unfold, the world to come and our need to be prepared is what matters.