Why Christians Lost the Election

This past election was very painful for many Christians. President Obama was re-elected, Same Sex Marriage widened its acceptance and Marijuana became a “recreational drug”. There are a few other items we could mention, but this list kind of matches the distraught emails I received from many pastors across the country. Since the election, there has been a lot of interesting commentary about why “we lost the election”. Mike Huckabee says we lost because “Christians failed to turn out to vote”. That might be, but most exit polls I read stated that 69% (the low number) and 78% (the high number) identified themselves as “Christians”. I don’t think Christians failing to vote was the issue. Another pundit stated that George Clooney and Sarah-Jessica Parker pulled the vote to Obama because if they voted for Obama, he must be a cool guy. I have a hard time believing that George Clooney (I know he is a good looking guy) has that much pull with Christians. If that is the case, Bon Jovi was representing one candidate and Dave Matthews was representing the other, I like both those musicians… what am I to do? Another religious contributor said that the reason Obama won re-election was that “an estimated 6 million less white people voted in 2012 compared to 2008. White people would have favored Romney over Obama”. Recent articles are now calling us to believe that the judgment of God is now on America and we need to start hording goods because the end is near. That way, when God pours out His wrath on America, we will have plenty of water and canned goods. We al know as Christians, we are called to support a “survival of the fittest” attitude. Christians have been using the “we scare because we care” approach for quite some time, and it seems to have lost its pull. So if we combine all these thoughts, here is a condensed statement of reflection: Because Christians failed to come out to vote (primarily the white ones), and because famous celebrities spoke out in support of the axis of evil, and because now God is really mad about it, America will fall and Christians everywhere will suffer. This also will be accompanied by a large reduction of restaurant visits after church on Sunday, contributing to speeding up the economic collapse. Ok, a little tongue and check, but I think you get the point. We have a lot of fingers pointing a lot of directions and I would suggest not only are most of them wrong, they are participating in a useless exercise. What we could do that would be productive is examine what we can learn from this election and how can we get better at being what we are called to be: disciples. Perhaps this election isn’t about the collapse of America. Actually, from a Scriptural perspective, America doesn’t need to be on the scene for any of the end time’s theology to exist. Is it possible we are focusing our attention to a kingdom that may or may not fall while neglecting our commitment to the Kingdom that outlasts them all? I really believe we are… In the Old Testament documents, Israel agrees to a covenant relationship with God in which there are blessing for observance and consequences for disobedience. Many nations (I stress here many) rise and fall around Israel. At the same time, Israel finds itself in captivity and exile based on its obedience to the covenant. It’s prophets call Israel to action because it has lost sight of its commitment to the poor and the needy. Israel is warned that standing in open defiance to the covenant agreement would bring pain and suffering. At no point in the Old Testament documents is Israel told to support its nation above the commands of God. Israel’s national treasure was its covenant, not just its location. In the New Testament documents, Jesus delivers His covenant to us in Matthew 5-7, best known as “The Sermon on the Mount”. Jesus is very aware that Gentiles will be coming into the faith and He knew that there needed to be a covenant of behavior and practice. He gives us the Sermon on the Mount not as a guide, or His version of “The Ten Suggestions”, but as our covenant agreement with Him. I believe that disobedience to the covenant agreement with Jesus is bringing us the very same results that Israel experienced when it failed to live up to the covenant given to it by God. We want so bad to blame the evil presence, the immoral Americans, the liberal media. But is it possible in fact that we are the ones who are failing the mission Jesus gave us and we are simply reaping the consequences of our actions, instead of theirs? Another aggravating factor to me is that the more the pundits talk about “losing” America to the “liberal agenda” (whatever that could mean), the more it sounds like God is not in control. God’s control on this universe is not directly tied into the results of this election (or any election) and He is in control of all events. That is why I suspect the recent election will do more to wake up Christians than it will reverse the tide of liberal influence. Here are three things I think could be helpful as we push forward together: 1) Are Christians Democrats or Republicans? We are neither. We are disciples of Jesus, and when it comes to political or social issues, here is our statement: Name the issue and we will name our position, and our position will line up with our covenant agreement with Jesus. 2) As Christians, we need to earn the right to be heard in the marketplace by being a force for change in the marketplace. Our tireless efforts in assisting the poor, elderly, sick, disenfranchised and needy will re-establish our value in today’s society. 3) Unify our faith. There may be many different beliefs among us, but there doesn’t need to be different practices. There is an awesome opportunity for us to really flex our collective muscle. Can you imagine what we could achieve if we pooled our resources, our experiences and our will? When we start accepting that change made be what we need to be participating in, and that this last election could be our wake up call (rather than America’s wake up call) we can start making the steps together that will bring about a Christianity that Jesus would recognize. David