A Doctrine of Hope

HOPE

We’ve been saturated with this word. Barack Obama’s entire campaign was built on the premise of hope. He was bringing the hope that politics could be different. Young people flocked to the idea of hope.

We’re drawn to hope.

Why?

Last night at church, Stan Toler spoke about the negativity of the culture we find ourselves in. I think this is why we flock to the idea of hope. We want to know that it doesn’t have to be so negative all the time!

So, I’ve been thinking, where does hope fit in with my theology? There’s a book on my shelf called An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Even within the church, we are yearning for some hope. Parts of the emergent movement are fueled by the hope that church doesn’t have to look the way we’ve seen it for so long.

So, I ask again, where does hope fit in with my theology? I haven’t read that book yet, but it’s on my list for the future. There’s an old hymn that tells us where our hope comes from. Remember these words?

My hope is built on nothing less…
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.

Some of us cling to the hope that it will all be better in heaven, because of what Christ did for us here on earth. But, maybe that’s not what it means? My hope is that the world would get better because of what Jesus did for us here. My hope is that the followers of Christ would be radically transforming the world. My hope is that we would be showing the world that there is hope, even in times of despair.

Are you showing the world that there is hope, or are you leaving that up to President Obama?

There is hope.

We still serve a living God.

The Quadrennial Storm

Tomorrow is the big day. After nearly two years of campaigning, the people of the USA will elect the next President. I've been supporting Barack Obama for quite a few months now, but I've tempered my support. I was reluctant to fall into the same trap that I fell into four years ago with President Bush. I made the mistake then of assuming that only one candidate spoke for God's issues.

I was wrong.

To be honest, in 2004 I questioned whether or not someone could be a Democrat and a Christian. I was under the impression that the two terms were mutually exclusive.

Again, I was wrong.

I was assured that I was right by my peers at MVNU. We sat in our College Republican meetings sure of the fact that we were doing God's work. How could it be wrong? After all, George Bush was a man of God and stood for everything that God stood for. I thought that he had been ordained of God to remain as the President for four more years. And so, I campaigned for Bush with all my heart. I made phone calls to people in Knox County rallying them around the Conservative cause. I listened to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and was assured that being a Republican was what God had in mind.

I was wrong.

A man who was well known at MVNU was known throughout campus for being a Democrat, we'll call him Joe the Christian. I was positive that Joe the Christian was wrong, and I questioned, aloud, how he could call himself a Christian and be a supporter of a political party that wanted to kill unborn babies. I look back on myself in shame.

A trip to New York City in 2005 opened my eyes to Joe the Christian. I got up close and personal with a Democrat (or at least someone I had always been told was a Democrat) and it changed my life.

I learned about the struggle of the homeless man on the streets of Brooklyn. I learned about the passionate response of the Christians to those people.

I will never forget that experience. My experience with Joe the Christian completely changed my life. I remember walking down the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan with him as he explained some of the policies that had infiltrated the city through the mayor's office. He explained to us what the Republican leadership had done in their support of homeless people. They had essentially made it illegal to be homeless. I credit this as my political awakening.

In the years that followed I ceased to consider myself a Republican. Later, I ceased to consider myself a Conservative. My problem has now become that I have become the very thing I hated so much four years ago, a supporter of a non-Republican candidate.

However, I resolved not to make the same mistakes again. I believe now that I was wrong about George Bush. I don't think he represents Jesus as closely as I thought he did. I don't regret my decision to support him, but there are some things I regret about my support. I lost sight of the fact that God calls us to be different. We are not supposed to be like the world in terms of politics.

This country is completely divided right now.

The Church in America is completely divided right now.

There has been name-calling, and outrageous accusations against Christians who support either candidate. It isn't fair, and it has to stop.

I wish that this would all be over tomorrow. I wish it were going to be that way, but I realize that it won't. 50% of the country is going to be very upset, and the other 50% are going to be very happy.

I know for a fact, that regardless of the outcome of the election, I will continue to remember that my joy comes from the Lord, and not the politics that divide us.

My prayer today is with the Church. My prayer today is for you, I pray that you are able to let the gospel transform you, and that in doing so, you'll remember that we are called to be better than this.

If this note ever passes along Joe the Christian's desk, let me give an emphatic thanks to him, for showing me that there's a better way to do politics.