I don’t know what the weather is where you are, but it’s a cool, rainy Saturday morning here in Amarillo.
I’m doubly grateful.
First because we need the rain.
Second because it’s today and not yesterday.
Part of my Friday morning was spent at the cemetery at the graveside service for a long-time family friend.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. A little cool in the morning, but without our typical daily wind.
The whole day was an opportunity to gather with friends and say “see you later” to a man who lived and loved well for 86 years.
Up until the final couple of weeks of his life, he was doing what he had always done—living out his faith in service to his church and community.
I was inspired and challenged by the stories told by people who knew him much better than I.
In my “coffee and Jesus” time this morning, I’ve reflected on how my reading today expands on yesterday’s events and informs the next few days.
My hymn text today was “It Is Well With My Soul.” The verse that stuck out for me today was the second:
“Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.”
I can only imagine the trials experienced in 86 years and the focus on Jesus that enabled him to walk through them with his faith intact.
Over the next few days, there are going to be increased opportunities for our faith to be tried. My prayer is that we can walk through with a controlling assurance that Jesus knows and has not abandoned us.
Regardless of the outcomes of Election Day, we can say, “It is well with my soul.”
After my hymn reading and singing, I read this morning’s daily scripture—Romans 2.
The very first verse grabbed my attention:
“Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.”
I immediately thought of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1-5:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
The judgment that both Jesus and Paul warn against is not the act of evaluating actions. It is the posture of condemning others without beginning with self-examination.
It is self-righteousness based on an idolatrous and distorted view of God and others.
This quote from Skye Jethani helps to explain what I’m talking about:
“It is our rebellious human inclination to remake God in our likeness because a god that looks like me, thinks like me, acts like me, believes like me, and judges like me cannot be a threat to me.”
There will be SO MANY opportunities for finger pointing in the next few days.
If only people agreed with me, everything would turn out right because I know what’s best.
To be clear, the problem is not that we think our views are the best and most beneficial.
The problem is when we decide that our views are righteous and those who disagree are evil.
“You cannot be a Christian and vote for _________” is not a statement of fidelity to Jesus; it is a statement of idolatry.
Why?
Because I’m not the arbiter of legitimate Christianity. If I’m convinced that my view is the only acceptable view, I can be certain that I’m imagining God is like me instead of seeking to be transformed more and more in the likeness of Jesus.
I might say, “I honestly don’t understand how a follower of Jesus could support ________.”
That is a statement of my own limitations. I don’t have the information necessary about another person to completely comprehend what motivates them.
Here’s what I want to remember—and what I want to remind all of us to remember—with my final Saturday Pondering before Election Day:
People who love Jesus as much as I do and who genuinely are trying to follow Him are going to be motivated by things that don’t motivate me as much.
They’re going to come to some different conclusions than I do.
On Wednesday morning, some followers of Jesus are going to be disappointed by election results; others are going to be relieved and satisfied by the same results.
But make no mistake, people are going to be watching how we respond.
Neither gloating nor accusations look like Jesus.
I can only imagine how many times in my friend’s 86 years he experienced outcomes that were not what he would have chosen.
One thing that everyone who spoke publicly yesterday said about him was that he made everyone feel valued.
In private, his daughter said that there were definitely people he didn’t like.
Those people just never knew it.
We are not standing up for Jesus if people who disagree with us feel less than valued.
Next Tuesday changes nothing about the amazing glory and grace of our God.
Next Tuesday changes nothing about our calling to demonstrate His character in every context.
Be amazed and be amazing, my friend.
