Some think a picture is worth a thousand words. Others aren’t so sure. So, to accommodate both kinds of people, here’s both: first, a picture, and then a (couple) thousand words about it.
How do you respond to this picture?
You might look at this picture and feel inspired. Every time you log on to Instagram or X (formerly Twitter), it reminds you there’s an ongoing online civil war (with an emphasis on war, not civil) between Republicans and Democrats calling the other team anything from nitwits to narcissists to Nazis. This picture is a reassuring reminder that Jesus is better than all that.
You might look at this picture and feel annoyed. After all, politics may not be clean or cordial, but politics is important. Bad politics can mean crumbling economies, needless wars, and societal chaos. Sure, Jesus is better than politicians. And yeah, his gospel is better news than Republican or Democrat political platforms. But isn’t this picture a fancy way of telling Christians to stop caring about politics and just follow Jesus? Isn’t that being dismissive of very real, valid concerns?
You might look at this picture and feel frustrated. The picture can make it appear that Jesus stands aloof from politics—and that, by extension, churches need to rise above political debates and not take sides. But maybe you are convinced that churches and pastors should be more involved in political clarity, not less. You believe your country is in an eleventh-hour free fall with most pastors AWOL. You see the picture as too simplistic, suggesting that there’s a fuzzy, moral equivalence between the elephant and donkey and that Jesus wouldn’t have Christians take clear sides.
“You believe your country is in an eleventh-hour free fall with most pastors AWOL.”
But let’s move beyond our initial reactions. We’re showing you this picture because we believe it will help us think more deeply about our political situation.
First, the picture is meant to make our political allegiance clear. Allegiance to King Jesus is the core allegiance of our lives. We made that decision when we were baptized into Christ. We pledged that, from that day forward, we would think the way King Jesus teaches us to think, we would say what King Jesus leads us to say, and we would do what King Jesus commands us to do. We pledged full allegiance to King Jesus above all others.
This kind of clarity is important in a political climate which tries to make your political views the most important thing about you.
Politics are now religious, and we are all being asked to give religious devotion to our political choice. Democracy weighs in the balance, one party says. Our country will collapse, the other party says. Socialism and Marxism are going to take over—or a narcissistic dictator is coming to power.
According to these views, the main thing to know, left or right, is that your vote will determine the existential future of our civilization.
We disagree.
Don’t get us wrong. We are not at all neutral about how the Lion of Judah will lead us to vote. Politics have consequences, and there is not a moral equivalence when it comes to different political views, whether it be about abortion, transgender interventions, religious freedom, health care policy, inflation, or what is best for the poor.
“Politics have consequences, and there is not a moral equivalence when it comes to different political views.”
But we are more convinced than ever that our biggest national problems (and there are many!) run much, much deeper than the Democrat or Republican platform can reverse.
Why are we as Americans so easily engrossed in our country’s political fights? Why do we check the polls as religiously as if checking the scores of our favorite team? Why do some of us hate the other side so much, wincing at their wins and laughing at their caricatures? Why do some of us want to believe the exaggerated praise of our own side—even when we know full well it’s overblown?
It’s because we are easily caught up in believing that, when in power, our side will dial down our nation’s corruption and chaos and will bring increased shalom. We care about politics because we believe our favored politicians will change things for the better. We are drawn in because, at some level, we are believers.
And, yes, perhaps our politicians will win and will improve things. A little. A very little.
But here’s one of the crucial points made by the picture above. Jesus will do it much better.
Of course, Jesus is better than the elephant and donkey. That’s not controversial. But we want to suggest that Jesus is also better at changing things for the better than the elephant and the donkey are capable of doing. Way better. Is politics important? Of course. But obsessing over favorability ratings, swing-state polls, vice presidential picks, and electoral scenarios means we’re looking in the wrong place for what really moves the needle long term.
To fixate on what the elephant or the donkey focus on is to hack at the leaves instead of the roots.
“We want to suggest that Jesus is also better at changing things for the better than the elephant and the donkey are capable of doing.”
Although politics can have positive or negative effects on a culture (e.g., teaching what’s right and wrong through legislation), we believe, as a general rule, that politics is downstream from culture. In a democracy, we get politicians that reflect our culture. In an article five years ago, I (Bobby) mapped out the long march progressives have taken through the institutions of American society—starting in our universities, then in our public schools, the HR departments of our companies, our entertainment industry, our government, and especially now, as the social media algorithms that guide our lives online are being managed by 25-year-old progressive zealots. We no longer have a culture that naturally reflects the many Judeo-Christian values that guided our culture for the first two hundred-plus years.
Such a long march will not be undone by winning an election, as important as elections can be. Ideological captivity can only be undone when “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). That sounds like work, and not the kind done in Washington, D.C. but in your church. That makes it sound like the real win happens each time a disciple is made. And that kind of winning starts with recognizing that the Lion is better at these things—much, much better—than the elephant or donkey.
The two of us will vote, between imperfect choices, because that is what we feel we must do as disciples of Jesus in a democracy. But we also must place our focus and pin our hopes on a different choice based in a much, much higher allegiance. To really move the needle, our churches must be strategic. Our daily choice must be to place faith and hope in the Lion of Judah. That choice will be reflected in the following ways.
1. Our plan is to be true disciples of Jesus.
The Times of London early in the 1900s posed a question to several prominent authors: “What’s wrong with the world today?” The well-known author G.K. Chesterton had the best response with his short answer. “What is wrong with the world?” he wrote. “Dear Sir, I am, yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.”
Facing the brokenness in this world starts with examining we how we each personally live (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Following Christ as our way, we point others to him as the way. Following Jesus as king means being a true friend people can count on, loving your spouse sacrificially, being the best father or mother possible to your children, a godly role model to your grandchildren, and someone who honors your father and mother to their last days. We want the non-believers around us to see that our lives are ones of love and goodness—and everyone, at heart, respects these things. In short, we want to be what God wants us to be to show the way of life that King Jesus brings.
As churches, we must aim above all to be disciples of King Jesus. That will truly move the needle.
“Facing the brokenness in this world starts with examining we how we each personally live.”
2. Our plan is to pray for revival—and to do so seriously.
Let’s pray for revival! Some days it feels like we are back in Nineveh and the book of Jonah. If we’re being transparent, we can be cynical, struggling to believe that we can turn to God and repent as a nation. But it happened in Nineveh. It also happened in the days of Nehemiah. And it has happened many times in history. As disciple making movement leader Shodankeh Johnson reminds us, God is the “impossibility specialist,” and he can do it again. Imagine if all the Christians in our churches truly fasted and prayed for God to bring revival.
3. Our plan is to focus on discipleship in Jesus through the local church.
Our plan must be to train people in relational disciple making, so that everyday people are joining in Jesus’ mission to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching them to obey him. As our RENEW.org faith statement puts it,
We believe the core mission of the local church is making disciples of Jesus Christ—it is God’s plan “A” to redeem the world and manifest the reign of his kingdom. We want to be disciples who make disciples because of our love for God and others. We personally seek to become more and more like Jesus through his Spirit so that Jesus would live through us. We desire the fruits of biblical disciple making which are disciples who live and love like Jesus and “go” into every corner of society and to the ends of the earth. Disciple making is the engine that drives our missional service to those outside the church. We seek to be known where we live for the good that we do in our communities. We love and serve all people, as Jesus did, no strings attached. At the same time, as we do good for others, we also seek to form relational bridges that we prayerfully hope will open doors for teaching people the gospel of the kingdom and the way of salvation.
“Our plan must be to train people in relational disciple making, so that everyday people are joining in Jesus’ mission to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching them to obey him.”
4. Our plan is to equip disciple makers to transform every sphere of life.
My (Bobby’s) dad was a truck driver, and I spent my adult working career until I was thirty years old working everyday with truck drivers. They are a guiding metaphor for me because I know what happens when truck drivers become disciples of Jesus. They change their ways and the ways of a company.
When everyday disciples in the local church take the disciple-making mission of Jesus into every other area of work, it is transformative. I have seen what happens when teacher’s assistants become disciples and when teachers do, principals do, superintendents do, and when the ways of Jesus begin to influence school boards. I have seen what happens when nurses follow Jesus, and doctors, and technicians. I have witnessed firsthand what happens when soldiers, colonels, and generals follow Jesus.
You get the point about how disciple making transforms a community, a state, and a country.
To use a variation of the old Chinese proverb,
If there is Jesus in the soul,
There the Holy Spirit will be in the person.
If the Holy Spirit is in the person,
There will be godliness in the house.
If there is godliness in the house,
There will be more righteousness in our communities.
If there is more righteousness in our communities,
Jesus and his ways will be the hope of the nation.
“When everyday disciples in the local church take the disciple-making mission of Jesus into every other area of work, it is transformative.”
5. Our plan is to vote like a citizen of heaven.
We’re not asking you to disengage politically. We plan to vote as we believe Jesus would have us vote and we encourage you to vote as you think Jesus would have you vote. If you’re engaging in a way that’s raising your blood pressure or alienating your neighbors, disengage until you can get healthy. But the answer isn’t disengagement from politics—rather, it’s focusing first on being a disciple and making disciples and then discerning how to engage faithfully in a politically divided world. We want to suggest two ways that you can do that.
First, we encourage you to pick up a copy of John Whittaker’s and my (Daniel’s) book Following Jesus in a Politically Divided World. It’s a discipling resource which walks you through 21 questions on Christianity and politics. I (Bobby) plan to share it with the church where I am lead minister/pastor.
Second, help get your senior minister/pastor to join over 325 other senior ministers/pastors in our upcoming learning community event on this topic, where John and Daniel will talk about maintaining unity in an election year and building biblical convictions in your church. If you are a senior minister/pastor, you can register for this free event HERE.
The church must reclaim the King Jesus Gospel, obedience-based discipleship, and the power in the Spirit. The church must re-disciple people so that they will repent and follow God’s ways. Only righteousness will provide a lasting foundation for a people (Psalm 119:65-72). We must pray for a massive revival and the re-evangelization and discipling of a significant number of people in our country to rebuild. If you do not rebuild the foundations, a nation will crumble upon itself and collapse. We really do not want to see that.
“Only righteousness will provide a lasting foundation for a people.”
We want better for ourselves, our spouses, our children, our grandchildren, our churches, our communities, and our nation.
We hope you will join us.
