Scroll through your Facebook feed. I dare you. You’ll see people on both sides of the political aisle literally besides themselves. Once reasonable, thoughtful people are posting barbs and insults to complete strangers. And this goes for both sides.
I have a good friend who I once admired, but all he talks about these days is politics. He used to freely write about the joy of life, the challenge of being a light in the culture, and encouraging college students to pursue lives that meant something. Today, it’s all about “Trump the Chump.”
He’s not alone. Last year, there were scores of friends and acquaintances who all in for one candidate or another, dropping all moral and social pleasantry simply to score points.
I don’t get it. As Christians, we’re exchanging our eternal passion for a fixation on the temporal.
I don’t mean to dismiss your positions on these issues, but let me ask this question. “In the end, in the final scheme of all things important, in light of eternity, where will this rank?”
This question can be asked over every situation — family, friends, home, finances. Just how important is this stuff.
Is it worth the anguish?
My friend is in the middle of a difficult workplace situation. He’s torn between pleasing his boss and certain career decisions that must be made. It rips his heart to have to be in the middle of a no-win situation. He’s losing sleep, anxious over the turbulence and disruption.
Is it worth the pain?
I have been in the middle of situations, when, at the time, seemed devastating. I’ve been betrayed by love, lost friends who simply walked away and gained enemies from sources never imagined. I’ve lost jobs, wrecked cars and been in the hospital. In every one of those situations, I was just certain that my life would be crushed, that I would never walk upright as a man again.
God proved them wrong.
The truth is that all of my thoughts and energies revolve around the temporal. Is any of this all that important?
Rick Warren puts it like this:
“You will not be in heaven two seconds before you cry out, why did I place so much importance on things that were so temporary? What was I thinking? Why did I waste so much time, energy and concern on what wasn’t going to last?”
Some of you make great sport of talking down one political side or the other. It’s a form of entertainment and when you join a tribe of others who think like, there is a certain comfort and camaraderie. Your concerns about our nation are valid.
I don’t want to dismiss your cares. And if you have cancer, or your spouse walked out of your life, or you lost your job, or your home has been surrendered to the bank, those things are important to God.
But I do wonder, in the end, if we will look back at of this, shake our head at all of our spent energy and displaced thoughts, and ask, “What was I thinking”
He’s not worried. He’s just gathering for the winter. Photo D. Rupert
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” Let us be bold, then, and say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6 (GNT)
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