Ah, yes...our quadrennial binge on politics. Dueling ads, wall-to-wall, made in Mudville. Debates - followed by debates about the debates. Pundits punditizing everywhere, day and night. So many polls that we even have a poll of the polls.
And lots of angry, opinionated people. On Facebook...on the Internet...on the streets...on talk radio...in the office...even in families. Lots of people, very emotional about this election - and speaking out.
I'm not one of them. Oh, I care. I've always followed American politics with interest. But I won't be sounding off about what I think.
Because I've made my choice this Election Year. I can't risk turning people off so they're deaf to what's much more important. Something that affects their life for a hundred million years and more. What they do with Jesus.
See, a lot of folks can't hear what we say about Jesus because it's drowned out by our passionate political views. Recent research shows that one of the major reasons people give for rejecting Jesus is His representatives are "too political." Sometimes known more for what we're against than Who we're for.
Any time you encumber the Message of Jesus with any other baggage, you make people think the baggage is part of Jesus. That baggage can be talking church or religion, attacking lifestyles or arguing politics.
It's easy to get sucked into the same mistake people made when Jesus was here. They were pinning their hopes on someone being a political savior to change things. But as we've learned the hard way, our political messiahs, whatever party, always seem to disappoint us. Because they can't change hearts. It takes Jesus, the sin-beating Savior, to do that.
And Jesus isn't a Democrat or a Republican. The Bible doesn't identify Him as a conservative or a liberal. He didn't come to get our vote. He came to give His life. As the Bible says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us" (1 John 3:16).
So, I vote with Jesus' original ambassador, the Apostle Paul. Brilliantly equipped to argue culture, politics or theology, he announced: "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).
It wasn't Jesus plus another cause. Just Jesus. Without any baggage that might confuse a lost soul as to the choice they must make. "We would rather put up with anything than put an obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:12 - NLT).
Now it's not that a Jesus-follower doesn't have citizen responsibilities. Even under a godless Caesar, Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21). The Bible clearly commands that "everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established" (Romans 13:1).
So, in times like these, I have the responsibility to pray for God to have His way (which, honestly, I don't always understand - but I trust)...to seek His guidance in how I cast my vote, all the way down the ballot...and to pray that God will direct outcomes so that His plans will be accomplished in our families, our communities, our nation and our world - and that we may play a part in hearts turning back to Him.
But when it comes to the cause I'm known for, I think I'll follow the example of the most powerful Christians in history - the first ones. They lived in a depraved culture - grossly immoral, little value on a human life, full of slavery. But nowhere do we see them making the culture their cause. They simply preached a crucified and risen Savior - no more, no less. And ultimately, they changed the world. That's the power of God's Gospel - unencumbered.
My bottom line - there's no issue worth losing an eternal soul for. So I'm going to stick to Jesus. Because when God looks at this world, He doesn't see Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives. He sees only two groups of people. Saved. And lost.