Mark 2:4
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.
Now that is undeterred perseverance! These men would not let any obstacle get in the way of them bringing their friend to Jesus. They could have stopped and said, “Sorry, we can’t make it through the crowd, it’s just too hard.” But they didn’t. They kept going, even to the point of making a hole in a roof and lowering their friend through that hole, just to get him to Jesus. They risked their own lives in trying to get their friend to Jesus. I want to be a friend like that. I want to have that same passionate, self-sacrificing, unyielding, creative perseverance when it comes to getting people to Jesus.
There were Sunday School Teachers who showed up to church every single Sunday in making the self-sacrificial effort to get me to Jesus. They could have slept in, taken a last-minute trip out of town, or been anywhere else. But instead they made a choice to get up each week just to get me to Jesus, even at times, when I was the only one sitting in the classroom.
There were people who sacrificed their Summer vacations each and every Summer in order to put on the Christian Camp where I first trusted Christ as my Savior. Every Summer they showed up for multiple weeks, just to get me and other kids and teens like me to Jesus. They made getting people to Jesus the platform for their lives, and many were saved because of it.
We are currently living in probably the most politically charged times I have ever experienced in my short span of life on this earth. Everyone is deeply sensing the need to get people to the correct side of their platform…Democrat, Republican, Left, Right, Liberal, Conservative, they are all in the mix. People are putting up signs, making posts, and raising their voices, all in the attempt to get people to their preferred candidate. It’s a right we have as American citizens, and quite frankly, I’m thankful for that right and those who fought to give it to me.
Even Christians are weighing in on all sides. It is amazing to watch church folk divide themselves down the center aisle over their political views and feel the need to represent them so vehemently, even at the expense of some of their own fellow brethren. It’s also quite astonishing to see how they can view each side of politics through such a different lens, yet use the same Bible to reinforce their own position.
As a Pastor, you realize quickly that you pastor all of them…the Democrat, the Republican, the Liberal, the Conservative, and every other political distinction we’ve come up with to identify people today. You strive to love them all and walk with them in oneness and unity, keeping their eyes on the main prize…not their politics or politicians, but their calling to Jesus and His Gospel. As a result, you have to be very careful about your public platform, your social media platforms, and God’s pulpit. It doesn’t mean you don’t get to have your own view of politics and convictions about those politics, it just means you have to use extreme wisdom and judgment in how you use them, and when and if you share them.
Believe me, I’m as human as the rest of you. I have my own political views and politicians I support, and those I don’t support. I’m more than happy to discuss my political views with anyone, anywhere, at any time. I have no problem telling you who I support, who I don’t support, and how I’m voting. I have no problem explaining how my biblical convictions influence everything I do. Just ask me and I’ll tell you. I’m not in hiding.
But I’m also content with agreeing to disagree and walking away still being friends. I won’t ever put myself in a position where I’m unwilling or afraid to listen to the exchange of ideas or to different thoughts or views than mine. I’m not afraid to be challenged or to think more deeply about why I have my views. But I can tell you that it will never happen while I’m hiding behind a keyboard.
If you want to discuss anything of that magnitude with me, you’ll be looking at me face to face and I’ll be looking at you face to face. I don’t want to just read your words, I want to see your heart and feel your passion. I want you to know that you are being listened to and know that you are listening to me, rather than either of us forming our argument while the other is talking. And at the end of it all, even if we disagree, I want you to feel my hand on your shoulder as we figure it out together, recognizing that neither of us has all the answers.
Believe me, I’m aware of the critical times facing our nation. We need to be involved and we need to be active. We need to be active in prayer more than anything. But I don’t ever want to be so consumed by my like or dislike for a politician that I feel the constant need to speak, write, or post about them at every instance. Let me only be consumed by Jesus, and speaking of Him and how He saved me. Yes, let it be Jesus!
All this brings me back to where I began. I pray that if I ever make a statement like, “Well, I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t say something or speak out,” that it’s predominantly about the life-changing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to be the guy that gets people to Jesus. The world needs Him now more than ever.