"...an Old Testament (2 Chronicles 7:14) passage that many Christians love to pull out and dust off every four years. In case many of us don’t remember, some Christians have been invoking this passage for at least 30 years, and probably more. Like the boy who cried wolf, every four years Christians pull out this passage to ensure that the faithful understand that “This Election Is the Most Critical One Our Nation Has Ever Faced.™”The passage in question:
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."—2 Chronicles 7:14
God speaks this to Solomon after the completion of the temple in which He would dwell.
Consider then that today God does not live in a temple constructed of human hands by flawed kings. Instead, He made us and filled us with Himself. We are His temples.
Consider also that we live under a New Covenant that is better than the Old Covenant.
Consider that the Kingdom of God that is better than any earthly Kingdom is now among us because the One True King has come.
Do you know how God heals the land now that the True King has come? That King told us how. He showed us, the temples of His Holy Spirit, the people of a better covenant, the ones who are a part of an unearthly Kingdom, how God heals lands:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:18-20
When Christians repent of their sins and distractions (including political distractions), when they humble themselves and cast off their mistaken notions of power, when they pray to stay true to the focus of the only genuine Kingdom, then God will heal their land through their sharing of the Good News with the lost and the making of disciples. When Christians live out the high calling of the Gospel before earthly kingdoms and shame those unworthy imitations with their service to the only True Kingdom, then God will heal their land.
But when Christians look to earthly kingdoms, when Christians take their focus off the Lord and put their faith in power systems rooted in sin and compromise, they will wind up off course, off message, off purpose, and ultimately disappointed. God does not heal the land through man’s elections but through Christians living out their allegiance to Christ’s unearthly Kingdom by concentrating on making disciples and serving the least of these no matter what government is in power.
The Christians in Rome understood this, but for all our supposed modern enlightenment, we do not. (from http://ceruleansanctum.com/)
In the end...so much of the rhetoric in this season ends up sounding like more and more political hammers on one big tower of postmodern babble. The clamoring for a king is getting me nauseous....especially as I watch the economic tower of Babel rumble and crumble. I can hear the pleas for Caesar to save us....from our own harvest sown. In the end, one can't help but see ourselves reflected in the passages of Revelation's great whore (Revelations 17)
5 comments:
WOW very powerful comment in the end and so true!!!
And. . . only when His bride is ready will the bridegroom return. When we as Christians look to elections and politicians and faulty power and economic structures we are not looking at Jesus. When we collectively begin to look vertically rather than horizontally, we will notice that the Kingdom of Heaven is upon us and EVERYTHING will start to dance and sing because the joy will be impossible to suppress.
Revelation 5:13
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
I get chills just thinking about it.
I couldn't have said it better. Do you understand now why I don't vote? I have no faith in politics, and we have better leaders at the street level who will actually impact society. Down here, it's not about votes, it's about change. A man's vote doesn't change anyone's mind about a thing.
When this country is gone, we will still be here.
Justin, do you think that sentiment applies to the issue of abortion and the 48,589,993
total Abortions since 1973?
Justin, Our votes do matter! By you not voting you are agreeing with every law that gets put into place. Do not fall for the lie that your vote does not matter, cause it does. Partial Birth Abortion got banned in many states because we voted a pro-life president into place. No not all abortion got banned, but its one step at a time. Same thing with other laws or moral issues. We all are responsible for voting and changing laws. When you back away you lose your right to your opinion on these matters, I hope this makes since. How can you complain about a law you didn't help bring to change. Trust me us not voting as conservatives the world would be in a far worse place then it is today. We have to stand together and we have to do what is right.
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