Faith Over Politics: A Christian Perspective

In this episode of the Faithful Agent Podcast, Garrett discusses how Christians can maintain their faith and hope amidst the uncertainty of election outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of grounding one's hope in Christ rather than in political candidates, recognizing God's sovereignty over all authority, and the need for prayer and peace in response to election results. Garrett encourages listeners to embrace their role as peacemakers and to prioritize the gospel above political affiliations.

Takeaways

Our hope should not be in a presidential candidate.
God is in control and holds all authority.
Instead of reacting, we are called to pray.
We are called to be peacemakers in divisive times.
The gospel is more important than political outcomes.
Trust in God's bigger purpose during elections.
Avoid anxiety by seeking God's peace through prayer.
Our reactions reflect our faith in Christ.
Engage in conversations with love and unity.
Focus on the eternal truth of the gospel.

Chapters

00:00 Grounding Faith Amidst Election Uncertainty
02:46 God's Sovereignty Over Authority
06:02 Seeking Peace Through Prayer
08:55 Embracing Our Role as Peacemakers
11:57 The Gospel Above Politics

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Transcript

0:01

What's up, faithful agents? Welcome back to another episode of the Faithful Agent Podcast. This is a special episode of the podcast as today, if you're listening to this the day that this episode comes out, it is election day. And I want to dive into this timely topic today because I want us to talk about how do we keep our faith grounded and not react impulsively to election results. ultimately over the weekend, I was just thinking about the reality of As Christians we have the opportunity no matter what happens right whether Donald Trump wins whether Kamala Harris wins We have the opportunity to react as if our hope has not been hindered in any way Because it shouldn't be our hope should not be in a presidential candidate our hope is in Christ and His love and his security hasn't changed no matter what happens on the day of the election now, of course I have my own desire on who I want to win. Of course I have my own heart and where I hope this country heads, but the reality is no matter what happens, my hope should not be hindered because of the outcome of a human presidential election. The king is on the throne and he always will be. And we have the opportunity. as members of a community that tend to be more outwardly facing than just the average person inside the community, because we're agents and we're out and about, to have an appropriate gospel-based response. And I want to talk about that briefly today in this special episode as we launch this. So I hope that this will be an encouragement to you. But before we jump in, let's do a joke. and if you listen to the podcast from last thursday you know that it's really hard for me to continue to find christian jokes of a kind just going with random clean jokes i hope you like this one and excuse me how do we know if the google is male or female it's a female i don't want to say i don't want to get trouble and it's a female because it doesn't let you finish a sentence before making a suggestion I feel like I'm going to get in trouble for that one. But it's funny. Okay, so let's move into this. Again, I want us to talk about how do we stay rooted and anchored no matter what happens. And we're going to be talking about three particular scripture references, Romans 13, one through two, says, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. God is in control and He's the one who holds power. Nothing surprises Him. Philippians 4, 6 through 7, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So instead of reacting, we are called to pray and seek God's peace, which surpasses any earthly outcome. And finally, Matthew 5, 9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. For us as followers of Christ, we are called to be peacemakers and to avoid divisive and reactionary behavior. So let's dive into this again. This will be a little bit of a shorter episode. This is an important day, certainly in the history of our country, but a day that the Lord is fully aware of and fully ready for. What happens today is not going to change or thwart the Lord's purpose. And so we can rust in that. And ultimately what I want us to understand is let's say you vote for Trump and Kamala Harris wins. Well, our reaction to this is going to show a lot about who we believe ultimately is in charge. Is it the Lord or is it a political party? And I hope that the world should Kamala Harris win and you wanted Trump to win, for example, I hope that the world will see our reaction as one that holds hope in the King of Kings and knows that a human person, a presidential candidate, a president, whether they're a or not, the one who is president, cannot dictate or change the outcome of our lives and certainly of our eternity. We are secure in Christ no matter what happens. And on the flip side, if you vote for Donald Trump and he wins, know that there will be lots of people, many of them who don't know Christ, lots of people who will believe that all hope is lost and they will be in a very desperate, difficult mental situation for them. Well, they might be scared, they might be anxious, they might not know where to place their hope. This is an opportunity for us to, in love, show them the only one who is hope. The only place that they can place hope that will never let them down. Because we're not voting between Christ and the devil. That's not true. No matter how people want to spin it, or the media wants to spin this, one of the people on the ballot is not Christ, and the other one is not Satan. This is between two flawed humans. Right? Two flawed people. Christ has already won. So point one, I want us to recognize God's sovereignty over all authority. As we talked about Romans 13, excuse me, one through two, let me read it again. Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. So God's hand is in control over all authority. Regardless of what happens in this election, God's plans are greater and eternal. So for us faithful agents, instead of reacting with fear or anxiety, pause. you feel fear or you feel anxiety, and I'll admit, I felt anxiety the more that I watched the news and I saw what was going on and I saw what people were saying and I saw what kind of policies the the candidates wanted i started to feel a lot of things i d around all of these policies that many of them don't in anyway align with scripture i started to feel a lot of anxiety around what is going to happen to our country and it doesn't mean that we shouldn't have hope in the desire that our country would head in the quote unquote right direction but it does mean for us when we feel those we need to Take a pause in a moment to say, Lord, help me to trust in your bigger purpose. Because whatever happens has already been ordained by God. The Lord's hand is in control of all authority. So when we are told to be subject to the governing authorities, it's because no authority has been in place except that which God has established. So instead of reacting with fear and anxiety, pause to trust in God's bigger purpose. Because Whoever wins was placed there by God for a purpose. Okay. Number two, pray for peace and avoid anxiety. Philippians 4, 6 through 7. Let me read that again. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ. Jesus. I know that again the uncertainty of this election season and in any election season can cause stress and anxiety and it has for me too, being totally honest. But as Christians we're called to bring our concerns to God, not to social media, where reactions can quickly become divisive. Whatever you feel after the result of this election, may we turn towards Christ, may we turn towards the fellowship of Believers not to social media or all of a sudden our witness in our in our Faith in Christ and us being known as faithful Christian agents all of a sudden it becomes us commenting something Negative on somebody else's post because they're excited or because they're fearful or because they're sad or whatever it is that they feel or us posting something that is not to uplift or be encouraged or to be biblical and point people to a reminder of the gospel. Let us not just turn to social media to all of a sudden try to get all of our thoughts out. I pray that in this season in particular that we always would, but in this season that we would replace reactionary response with prayer and allow God's peace to fill our hearts and guide our words. Because brother and sister in Christ, this is a season where people are paying attention to what we're saying. in more in-depth way than we ever have, let us pause and pray and ask the Lord to fill us and guide us with whatever we're about to say. Because this is not about Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, right? Because here's the truth, they will die and they will pass away and people won't remember them. There'll be a number on the list. Who's the seventh president? I don't even know. right? In one day, in the course of the history of this world, in the course of the history of this country, should the Lord not come back and send Christ back for a long time. and we're about to be on president number 47 and all of a sudden it's president 95. I promise you, most people won't know who this is. They will pass away, but the word of the Lord will remain forever. So it's not about defending or fighting for one particular person over the other necessarily, though it's good to have your convictions and believe in who you're voting for and encourage others to do the same. What I'm saying is if that's all that we're talking about in this season, we're missing the point that the only function that's happening right now the only thing that we should be talking about that has any eternal consequence is the fact that we were dead in our trespasses and sins but Christ in Christ alone by his life is perfect righteousness by his death on a cross in his rising again from the dead by him alone can we be saved by him alone can our eternity be secure it's not in a president It's not in a political party. There is no eternal hope in either of those. And so instead of us reacting because we feel some sort of emotion on social media, may you pause and may you pray and ask the Lord to fill your heart and guide your words. Brothers and sisters, let's point them to the gospel. Let's not point them to a political party. Finally, Matthew 5, 9 as we embrace our role as peacemakers and not as agitators. Matthew 5 9 says, blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God. What we are about to do in reaction to the election should reflect Christ. And let me say this, especially during polarizing times, not only should they reflect Christ, they will reflect Christ. You have made it clear that you are a faithful agent. And if a faithful agent, others know that what you do will reflect Jesus. And what we don't want to do is to reflect Christ poorly. What we don't want to do is to reflect Christ as if he's a Republican or a Democrat. What we don't want to do is reflect Christ as if he needs humans to fulfill his purpose on earth. Instead of adding to tension, we are called to be voices of unity and understanding. So I challenge you all to think about how do you promote peace, whether in conversation or online. Now, that doesn't mean, right, Paul even says to, if at all possible, to live peaceably with everyone. He knows that it's not gonna be possible, right? There are some people that are just gonna be so against everything that we believe that it's impossible to be at peace. but no as you're talking about political stance or political candidate or political party or the results of the election or whatever it is that you're talking about that the only piece that can truly be had is not to convince someone that your stance on the economy is the correct one and theirs is wrong and they should join your side but the only way to be at peace with someone is if they are dead currently in their trespasses and sins is that we confidently and boldly present the gospel to them and by the mercy of God he would soften their heart he would save them and call him call them to himself then we can be at peace because they now are a brother is sister in Christ forgiven of their sin Then and only then can we be at peace. Even agreeing on a political stance is not peace. We just are in agreement. But we're not in peace unless we both know Christ. That's the point, brothers and sisters, whatever your response. May it be covered in the gospel. No matter the election outcome, our mission remains the same. To love God, to love our neighbors, to follow Christ's example. Remember to trust in God's control over leaders and authorities, to pray instead of reacting, to allow God's peace to center us, to embrace our role as peacemakers, to bring unity rather than division, and to ultimately remember the gospel is of far greater importance than a political party. The truth that no matter who you are and no matter what you've done, Christ has come and can save you and set you free. That truth is far sweeter and far greater than the outcome of an election. The peace that you have, brother and sister, is because of your security in Christ, which cannot be thwarted or rocked or shaken by an election of humans. I pray that we would ask for wisdom and peace in a spirit of love and unity specifically among believers. Do not argue with other believers online. Take it offline. Go to direct message, text them, call them, whatever it is. But may the world see our response as loving. May the world see our response as pointing people to know and love Christ above all things. Brother and sister, my hope is that the outcome of this election is more brothers and sisters in Christ. That's my sincere hope for the result of this 2024 presidential election. And I hope that's yours too. I love you, faithful agents. I know this is an important week. Be praying for one another. Be praying for our country. and pray for yourself that you would place Christ in the truth of the gospel above all things. I love you. I will see you next week on the normal day of Thursday.