I wrote this for the 2010 general election. Given the elections in the US at the moment, I thought it worth revising and reposting.
Christians, listen. The one who currently reigns over the nations of men is the one who died a sinner’s death to bring you to the Father. Jesus is sovereign; Jesus is Lord. Whichever president is elected tonight, this will not change. You don’t need to worry! You can be disappointed, that’s allowed. But Jesus is still Lord.
It’s very tempting for Christians to forget that the ultimate political authority in the world belongs to the one who makes and removes governments according to his sovereign will. In the whirlwind of an election campaign, we can become so impassioned about our party or our candidate that this drops off the radar. We turn on our brothers and sisters from the other parties without realising it by issuing blanket criticisms. If we remember the true King, how can we do this? Politics is vitally important, but not of ultimate importance. We can argue our cases, and seek the common good for this world, always letting the Bible show us what our priorities should be in this. We can throw ourselves into the world of politics, campaigning, running, lobbying and voting. But when Paul writes “there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28), he could well have added “no blue or red”. We cannot be too aggressively critical of our political opponents. We may disagree utterly, but we would be no better were it not for God’s grace at work in our lives. We have no right to feel self-righteous. Far be it from us to boast “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to [us], and [we] to the world” (Galatians 6:14). As we seek to be salt and light in our society, we should be distinctive in this way without exception, whatever our political views.
The president of the US is not the most powerful man in the world. His name is Jesus, and in him we see what a perfect ruler looks like. Let’s pray that our leaders would seek to imitate him – in humility, gentleness and sacrificial love – as we seek to do the same.