[Note: Our guest contributor, Robert J. Morgan, is a retired pastor and gifted author. He served as the Teaching Pastor of The Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, TN, and has written over 35 best-selling books.]
If you’re like me, you’re feeling a lot of stress, frustration, and disappointment over America’s rampageous politics. Here’s what I know:
1. Violence is evil, hurtful, and damaging to its own cause. I abhor it.
2. I shouldn’t watch too much TV news right now or pay much attention to social media reports, because what is being reported doesn’t totally reflect what really happened. Everything is interpreted for us through the lens of a biased media. Divergent perspectives on important stories are often squelched altogether. Warped conclusions are forced on the public when the truth is that there’s no end to bad actors and enough blame to go around in all directions.
3. For now, I’ll choose not to believe a single politician. Nor most media outlets. Nor Big Tech. Especially not Big Tech. As cynical as I am about secularism, even I am surprised at the openness and speed with which Big Tech is eradicating conservative voices in our society. For instance, media platforms exploited the 2021 Capitol incident as an excuse to silence millions of voices. Their monopoly gives them a virtual chokehold on freedom of speech. This is very wrong. It should frighten us all.
I’m not an advocate of a political point of view. My concern is for the Gospel message and for a biblical worldview. If Big Tech has the power to suppress political viewpoints, how soon will it begin suppressing spiritual Truth? Despots of all ages have tried to silence the Gospel. How many times in history have Bibles been banned and burned? This isn’t new, but our technology has increased the stakes.
But the Word of God cannot be chained. When the apostle Paul was thrown into prison and condemned to death for his faith, he took courage in knowing the Gospel could not be suppressed. The Bible is better, truer, louder, and far more enduring than any of the cultural despots who want to silence it. After they are dead and gone, the Bible will endure.
There are millions of ways to communicate. If we lose one, we’ll use another. Speaking up is the best way to answer those wanting you to stand down and shut up. As best I can, I intend to preach truth to culture, as I’m sure you do, too. This is no time to be browbeaten. We have the only message in this world that can heal our broken culture — the message of the cross of Christ. It’s hard to suppress buoyant people, especially when they have a Book that cannot be chained. Let’s preach the Word, in season and out of season!
4. I will place my complete confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has missed nothing that’s happened. And, praise the Lord, all of this is moving us closer to His return. He rules over the affairs of nations and kingdoms. He is in ultimate control. World chaos may continue until Armageddon, but it will not continue forever. We have a New Heaven and a New Earth coming.
5. Nothing that has happened can or will justify the atheistic, Marxist, ungodly agenda that is overtaking much of our politics. I must continue undauntedly to speak truth to culture.
6. For now, my mind is best focused on biblical meditation, the great hymns of the faith, and the praise songs that bring balance to my heart. I’m not going to bury my head in the sand, but neither am I going to fill it with “the news.” If I’m going to fixate on something, it will be the Truth of my gracious Lord. When I feel overwhelmed, I’m going to remember Psalm 61:2, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (NKJV).
Just thinking through these things biblically soothes my troubled heart and keeps me focused on my Blessed Hope.
Great advice. I would say I also choose not to put faith, hope or trust in any politician as well. ANY and ALL politicians regardless of party. Polticians are just humans like all of us. We all are unworthy and fall short and have sinned. You can’t put your belief, faith, hope and trust in an unworthly fallen sinner. Put your belief, faith, hope and trust only in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Politics has become a spectator sport. It’s us vs. them played out in a brutal nature of actions and words. All sides compromise thier beliefs and values to achieve meaningless empty victories. Revenge rules to the point where every president elected will now be impeached by the opposing party out of spite instead of just cause. Empty and unfulfilled promises tickle the ears of followers and supporters, many of whom have willingly become like blind fanatics of a politically based religion (which results in fractured friendships of those with opposing views). Decency and decorum are dead. Shouting and violence have replaced discussion and persuasion. Propoganda replaced truth.
My final word on politics would be of how much I miss the old days of presidential debates. Though the reporters were biased even back then, the rest was so much different. Quiet audiences, decency and decorum, answers to questions that were much more thoughtful and to the point of the question, answers mostly kept within time restricitons, etc. Now the debates should be held in the old Roman Coliseum as an disgustingly out of control sporting event.