Now What? The Post 2024 Presidential Election.
The 2024 U.S. Presidential election is over, and Donald Trump is our president…again.
Let’s face it, the 21st century has not been pleasant. It began with the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, followed by a housing market meltdown in 2008-09. Russia began invading Ukraine in 2014, followed by the George Floyd riots and COVID pandemic in 2020. The U.S Capital was stormed in 2021, Islamic terrorists invaded Israel in 2023 sparking a war in the Middle East, significant natural disasters have killed hundreds of thousands of people, gun violence and mass shootings are on the rise, political acrimony and cultural divides increasingly persist, and much more.
But isn’t the world always in a state of tumult?
Blindfold yourself and throw a dart at a timeline of human history. Wherever it lands you’ll find historical or contemporary conflict, wars, famine, disease, political upheaval, and general mayhem. It should not surprise us that the earth and humanity are prone to both beauty and ugliness.
Sometimes living in comfort and convenience can deceive us into believing all is well, or to magnify small problems into “persecution” level issues. This is a greater challenge for those of us who reside in the U.S., and one that can blind us to the struggles of fellow humans. There is no sin in being blessed, but there is in being indifferent or not stewarding that blessing well.
So how do we move forward?
We must embrace the reality that all will never be fully well until Jesus returns to gather His Church. At that time:
“… [there will be] a new heaven and a new earth. The dwelling place of God [will be] with humanity, and He will dwell among them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)
Yet this is true only for those whom He knows, who have accepted His gracious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Until then, our world, and all humanity in it, remains subject to the destructive influence of sin.
The Hebrew for sin is חַטָּ֣את (transliterated ḥaṭ·ṭāṯ), means, “to miss the mark.” In its biblical context, it means to reject God’s standards. This is the taproot of all that is wrong with the world today—that humanity rejected God, subjecting itself and creation to turmoil:
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
“They [humans] have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one” (Psalm 53:3).
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Romans 8:20-22).
Whatever beauty we find in this world, whatever good works mankind employs, until the return of Christ there will always be a powerful current of wickedness and decay. Yet rather than resign ourselves to indifference or inactivity, we are instructed to “occupy” this world, this life, until that day of Christ’s return. In the Parable of the Ten Minas[1] (Luke 19:11-27), Jesus instructs His disciples:
“So, he [the king] called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back’” (v. 13).
In other words, biblical Christians are to continue being stewards of what God has entrusted to us, both material and spiritual, that we would be lights in the midst of darkness, salt in the midst of blandness, ambassadors for Him until He returns. Not with the expectation that we will change the fundamental nature of humanity or creation, only that we diligently attend to God’s kingdom work, that some might be counted among those who will experience a new heaven and new earth.
Thus, in answer to the question, “Now what?”, we simply go about our Father’s business. We proclaim the truth in love, stewarding our time, treasure, and talent for His glory. In our spheres of influence, we function as ambassadors for Christ—caring for others (Proverbs 31:13; John 13:34-34-35; Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 4:32; Philippians 2:4, et al), and yes, even stewarding well our earthly home (Genesis 2:15; Deuteronomy 11:12; Jeremiah 2:7).[2]
The person who holds the office of President of the U.S. wields great power and influence. Yet nothing is as powerful as the biblical Church of Jesus Christ occupying until He returns. Therefore, we must have our priorities straight to avoid what I call evangelical purgatory—an intermediate place between two kingdoms, where a self-professed Christian is pacified into believing that morality and political conservatism alone affirms a right relationship with God and ensuing eternal life with Him.
In this regard, here’s a simple litmus test:
As committed as we are to politics and politicians, when was the last time we put up signs, went door-to-door, made declarations on social media, and risked being publicly rejected to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
It’s not an either-or proposition; we can be politically active and proclaim the truth in love. The biblical positioning of priorities is the key:
“But seek [strive for, pursue] first [before all other things] His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [that we deem important] will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 – context added).
We should do what we do because of and for the preeminence of Christ, making this plain within our spheres of influence. In the worst case, evangelical purgatory can turn into ideological adultery, or even idolatry, where we supplant Christ with politicians, a biblical worldview with political conservatism, and become witnesses to the world not of the Gospel but of moral superiority. In a biblical worldview we courageously stand for HIS righteousness, not ours, in whatever ways we can.
So, let’s continue ringing the bell of the Gospel in every facet of society, putting the kingdom of God first. If we are called to a narrow focus of ministry that happens to be tied to politics, keep the main thing the main thing and our work will not be in vain!
[1] Mina – A unit of measure for monetary trade, equal to 3-4 months’ wages.
[2] We must remind ourselves that a covenant between God and His creation remains (Genesis 9:13). It’s both unbiblical and irrational to pollute our air, soil, and water (cf. Genesis 2:15; Jeremiah 2:7; Psalm 24:1, 89:11, 115:16, et al).
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Email Me: richardaallenjr@pondering.blog
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