Terry Esau

A local radio station asked me to be part of a discussion today on Christians and politics. I couldn't do the show, but I wrote something for them to read. Check it out.

Here are a few of my thoughts on this election…for what they’re worth.

I love this country. I love our system of government. And I try to love the people who run our government, (admittedly with sporadic success) including the ones I disagree with.

But something is desperately broken.

Somehow we've stopped being a people who dream, and have become a people who control, and manipulate, and spin, and blame, and posture. Candidates don't campaign for election anymore, they petition for the demise of their opponent. They say, "I'd like your vote, but more importantly here are 5 reasons why we need to bring down Senator Know-Nothing.”
“Of the people, by the people, and for the people” has become “Patronize the people, target-market the people, and harvest the voting-blocks of people.”

But we can’t lay all the blame on the politicians. Our blindfolds are self-constructed and self-applied.

We know what we're against more than what we're for. We fall for prime-time personalities when we should be seeking out humble, authentic altruism. We opt for slick personas rather than passionate character. We rarely listen to and deliberate contrary opinions. Intellectual arrogance is epidemic, and it most often finds it’s greatest patriotism in the company of ignorance.

Both parties seem to share equally in this subterfuge. It even appears, for the most part, that Christ-followers fare little better when it comes to campaign integrity.

Still, I can’t help but wonder, how would Jesus run a campaign? (Assuming he would actually ‘run’ for office)
It seems to me he would:
Talk straight without talking down
Disagree without belittling
Contradict without slandering
Own his words, not spin them
Serve people, not segment them
Demonstrate a hope deeper than simply lowering taxes
Demonstrate a currency of love that dwarfs handouts and bailouts
Demonstrate a charity that feeds children—all of them
Institute an economy of grace void of ledgers
Wash the feet of detractors, not wash his hands of responsibility

I wonder if he would get distracted by children, and ask them what they needed, what they wanted? I wonder if he’d forego speeches to sit with the homeless and brainstorm with the entrepreneurs?

I wonder if he might run on a platform he laid out years ago…”Love God, Love people.” Period.

I wonder what it would be like if America ran on the fuel of love—if our politicians chose to be the greatest champions of that fuel?

I suspect we would once again be the nation of great hope for the world…or better yet, we could legitimately point to the Source of that hope. Maybe we could even say, “In God we trust.”