Jesus For President?

Did you hear? We’re 19 days out from an election.  You probably didn’t know.  No one’s talking about it.  (Who else is tired of it?)  Usually I get into election discussion and coverage.  But this year I’ve grown very weary of it.  Not out of worry about the outcome.  I know God is in control and His will be done.  I’m just saddened at the tone of it all.

This morning, as I continued my reading through John I was in chapter 6.  After Jesus had just fed the thousands with one little kid’s lunch, the crowd started talking.  They put 2 and 2 together and realized that this could be the prophet they were seeking.  Verse 15 says:

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

The thought hit me this morning: Jesus ran away when the possibility of becoming king came up.  The people thought this man should rule over the country.  But that would have only hindered Jesus mission for his life.  His mission was to seek and save those who are lost.  His mission was not just to be an earthly king but instead to become King of all kings, Lord of all lords, and reign over all the earth.

Two thoughts come to mind:

1) I’ve heard people talk about “who would Jesus vote for” and really that’s a nonsensical question.  Jesus came to take over. Jesus was too concerned with heavenly matters to get too tied up with earthly politics.  Jesus moved for change with the poor, lonely, downtrodden, and outcasts.  Even today, we are still called to reach the least of these and affect our society by helping those in need.  Even though those issues have become political, I believe, at their nature, it’s a moral issue as we were called by Jesus to reach out and be his hands and feet.  I love the Hillsong United song “Solution”.  It includes the lines:

Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet

God be the solution

2) On a personal level: is there anything you or I are doing or about to do that will hinder the mission God has for our life?  Maybe it’s a job offer or relationship that will just get in the way of the bigger mission for which God created us.  Jesus had a 3 year ministry.  Becoming king at that time would have hindered what all he would have been able to do.  Maybe there’s something that you are in now or will be offered in the near future that is not part of God’s plan.  Be like Jesus: get alone with God and prayerfully seek His vision for your life.

The Word (Book of John)

This week I’ve been reading through John 1-3 along with our Growth Groups.  This morning, I started reading those chapters in The Message paraphrase, which has one of my favorite verses in John 1:14:

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.

This is the essense of the vision of CrossPoint Church.  We desire to be just like Jesus and take it to our neighborhood.  It’s easy for churches to become inward-focused and try to keep the status quo and serve each other.  Now while I do believe that is one important aspect of community, it’s not the only concern.  As followers of Christ, we should also desire to be the hands and feet of Jesus and meet the needs (both spiritual and physical) in our community.  Jesus exemplified it for us and we should do everything we can to follow that example.

Each Growth Group will be responisble for a Servant Evangelism event sometime in the next 8 weeks.  I can’t wait to see what God will do when these groups spread God’s love across this county!