Obama won. Next up: your move.
A house divided will not stand.
– Abraham Lincoln
I’m already hearing the rumbling. Many within the church are not happy with the results of the election. I’ve heard things like:
“God has taken his hand off of the US”
“McCain was God’s choice and we didn’t listen”
“Evil will reign”
What’s your response going to be? Before you answer…a few reminders:
- Obama won in a big way. Both in electoral and popular vote. That means that many within your church body voted for Obama.
- Those outside the church are still watching. When we curse the election results, what does that say?
- When you called McCain “God’s choice” and then he loses…you make God much smaller than he really is.
- God is still in control. HE is our king.
and most importantly…
I am going to suggest that we follow Michael Hyatt’s example and make the right response.
1. I will pray for him and our country.
2. I will assume his motives are good, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
3. I will not speak ill of him, even if I don’t always agree with him.
4. I will cast off the spirit of cynicism, and be a positive force for good.
and you might add a fifth:
5. I will remember that not everyone sees things the way I do. I will remember that many voted for Obama and are happy about the results.
I also encourage many of you to address this on Sunday morning. I’m not a fan of supporting candidates from the pulpit, though I’m certain many pastors did in the last few months (even if you pretended not to.) Great communicators will continue that conversation, don’t leave it hanging.
You encouraged those in the church, your friends, your family to pray and then vote…now you need to trust that God hears ALL your prayers and answers every single one…even if it’s not the answer you’re looking for.
Don’t allow for bitterness or despair to creep into your church body…it will destroy it. Instead proclaim God’s victory in all things. Set the tone.
And folks, let’s face it…something did need to be done. And none of our options were so great…and to put our faith in a politician…well come on, we know better than that.
Oh, and more thing…he really did have a killer logo, especially for politics.
Wow Anne Jackson’s got a great list next moves:
1) if you’re whining, stop.
2) look around your own neighborhood. what needs to change? get to know your neighbors and make those changes!
3) what’s going on in your city? more importantly, who is leading your city? get involved and share your voice. and get to work!
4) what’s a cause you believe in? for me, it’s healthcare. there are local and regional organizations for just about anything under the sun. find them. join them. get to know your state representatives and congresspeople. let them know how they can best serve you.
5) pray. obama can’t change the world. but he sure could use your support and prayers, whether you agree with his position on issues or not.
Jeremiah 17:5-7
5 This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
(and then)
7 “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
Right on.
I couldn’t agree more with you about continuing the conversation. We are the hands and feet that bring the Gospel to our community…that’s our charge for as long as we’re breathing. This article I read by Chuck Colson is pretty much right where I’m at about what’s happened and what needs to happen: http://www.informz.net/pfm/archives/archive_680951.html
And a resounding YES to Obama’s killer visual branding and identity! Have you SEEN his Berlin poster? GOOGLE IT.
I lamented McCain’s hackneyed campaign posters complete with side profile shot in front of a waving American flag with fighter jets soaring across the background. I cringe just thinking about it.
Great post Michael.
I agree with everything you have said, but the fact of the matter is: this election proved how divided this nation is. In the past few elections we’ve been divided by red and blue — roughly evenly. I think the last one was 52% to 47% (give or take a few percentage points). Even voting blocks were about equal – the blue side had their soccer moms and the reds had their evangelicals.
Those were the good old days when partisan politics divided us. This election was also divided by color — black and white.
According to exit polling, at least 90% of blacks who voted, did so for the President Elect. Talk about a voting block! That means if you have a black friend, neighbor or person in your church (and they voted) there’s 9 out of 10 chance that they voted for Obama, and are extremely happy right now.
They don’t want to hear anything about the Fairness Doctrine, they don’t care if the next president can keep a single one of his promises, and issues of life are unimportant right now. They are happy, and absolutely anything a white person says about Obama can and probably will be taken as a slam and an insult.
So I agree with Michael – pray for the President Elect, don’t by cynical, give him the benefit of the doubt, and don’t be critical. If you can’t do that, then do nothing but pray. Do otherwise and you risk alienating a great many people many of whom may never listen to your message again.
And pray for America.
As a foreigner – I would like to say that George Bush has single handledly managed to get more than half the world outside of the USA to dispise America because of his WAR policies……
If Mccain had won – The world would have continued to harden against America as he would have carried on G.W. Bush’s policies…
Obama’s victory has already done immense favour for America on the international front…we believe in America again.