(This article was written on November 4th, the day before the November 5th elections in our country, with the most noteworthy that for the office of President. This was done to avoid any appearance of bias based on the outcome.)
So, who gets to be in charge now?
Both sides have promised change. No doubt some things will change, perhaps for good or perhaps for ill.
No matter the outcome, here’s some things that the election didn’t change:
- God is still sovereign over all creation, including the United States.
Zoom out and consider not how much has just changed, but how little. The United States comprises just 4.2% of the world’s population, and our country has existed for at most 4.2% of the world’s history. In 248 years, this nation will have changed leaders 47 times. This means that the pending change of leadership is simply one among dozens, for one nation among hundreds, for a few years among several millennia. This isn’t to say that a single ruler or authority figure cannot become a boon or a curse upon their nation (or even the world), but in the widest view of history many rulers simply don’t matter all that much. Many have aspired, and a few have tried to rule the world. None have succeeded.
Contrast the result of this election with God’s sovereign rule. There has never been a “peaceful transfer of power” TO God, or FROM God. From before all God has been (Gen. 1.1; Isa. 41.4; Rev. 1.8), by the word of His mouth time, space, and matter sprang into existence (Gen. 1), and no human being has ever lived in any nation in any millennia that has not been subject to the sovereign will of God. It is God who ‘brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.” (Isa. 40.23-24 ESV). It is God who sets up kings and takes them down (Dan. 2.21), moving and removing rulers and nations like pieces on a chessboard.
“’To whom then will you compare Me, that I should be like him?’ says the Holy One.” (Isa. 40.25)
The sovereignty of God is not subject to the selections of swing state voters.
- Jesus is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The following is from the October issue of our monthly newsletter Heavenward Bound:
“Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. To the Christian, there is no higher authority than Christ. Paul described Jesus as ‘the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.’ (1 Tim. 6.15, cf. Rev. 17.14; 19.16). It is to Him we submit before all else, for He will rule forever, and His kingdom shall never be destroyed. (Dan. 7.13-14, 27)”
Tuesday’s election had no effect on the authority of Jesus Christ. Jesus is still head of His church, His body, a bulwark against which the breakers of Hell will splash helplessly until His ultimate victory in Judgment (Matt. 16.18; Eph. 1.22-23; Rev. 19.19-21; 20.11-15). It matters not whether the upcoming political climate will be more friendly or hostile toward Christians: “God has made Him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36).
Tuesday’s election also had no effect on our responsibility to submit to and serve Jesus as Lord. No matter who is placed in control of God’s ordained governments (cf. Rom. 13.1-7), men and women of every time since Pentecost have been called to bow the knee to the Christ of God, His Chosen One (Luke 23.35; Phil. 2.9-11).
If Christians could serve Christ under the reigns of Nero, Napoleon, and Nixon, we can certainly do so now.
- God still provides for the just and the unjust.
Much has been said by each candidate about how they will help us economically, and it remains to be seen whether they are right or not. Nations across our world and throughout history have made wise and foolish economic decisions at the behest of their leaders, and our nation is no different. We have the privilege of experiencing one of the greatest periods of prosperity in human history. However, prosperity separates periods of poverty and scarcity. Some are still alive among us who lived during the Great Depression, when voters of all stripes alike experienced hunger and want in this country.
Tuesday’s election has not changed our source of material blessings. It is still God who causes His sun to shine and rain to fall upon the just and the unjust (Matt. 5.45), it is still God who remains the giver of “every good gift and every perfect gift” (James 1.17), and it is still God whom we must beseech, thank, and praise for our material blessings. No matter who won the election on Tuesday, WE must still bow the knee before the Almighty and ask Him to “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matt. 6.11). Remember that Daniel prayed to God during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius (Dan. 2.18; 6.10).
The current ruler cannot give us anything other than what the Constant Ruler provides.
- People across the political spectrum still need the gospel.
Consider the gathered Jews on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.9-11: “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome”. What were their political leanings? Who did they endorse as leader in their respective countries (if they were even allowed to express such a thing)? Were their views in agreement with those of Peter, Philip, or Matthias? The truth is all these minor quibbles were left shivering in the long, dark shadow of the greatest news ever delivered to mankind: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses” (Acts 2.32).
Regardless of the signs in your neighbor’s yard or the posts on their social media, your neighbor needs to hear the Gospel. They will be lost for all eternity without Jesus, no matter whether they voted on Tuesday or for whom they voted. The Lord added to the number of the saved not those who agreed politically, but all who agreed via obedient faith in Jesus (Acts 2.41,47). We Christians must share the Gospel with everyone we know, because we have been given “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4.6). How do our efforts to convince others to vote for a candidate compare to our efforts to convince them to submit to Christ?
If we are not those who first “look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Cor. 4.18), we cannot say in truth that we seek first the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6.33).
- We still submit to whomever is in charge.
In 2016 protesters took to the streets decrying the outcome of the Trump-Clinton election under the slogan “Not My President”. Similar phrases were employed in 2020 following Joe Biden’s election to office. Today one can drive through the fields surrounding Jamestown and find flag-sized slogans on fences and flagpoles bearing offensive insults to President Biden that I cannot repeat aloud or in print. The underlying message is clear in these protests, slogans, and banners: We do not respect, honor, or submit to those who have come to power against our wishes. Jesus’ words in Matt.7.12 are long forgotten in today’s political conversation: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (How would you feel if the mayor of your town, or your congressman/congresswoman flew a flag in their yard with YOUR name on it and a few choice expletives?)
Christians, on the other hand, will “honor the emperor” (1 Pet. 2.13-17), whomever is elected on Tuesday. The apostle Paul teaches us that we must “be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13.1). Human governments derive their authority from God, and in submission to God we submit to whomever He empowers. We are commanded to be good citizens where we live, free to exercise whatever privileges we have under first God’s law, then the law of the land. (Example: The apostle Paul leveraged his Roman citizenship several times: Acts 16.37-38; 22.25-29; 25.11; 28.19). As Christians we pay taxes and render honor and respect to whom it is owed (Rom. 13.6-7).
Who’s in charge now? Easy: The same One that has always been in charge.
Will you choose Him, honor Him, obey Him, trust Him, love Him?
That is the most consequential choice of your lifetime. Choose wisely.
Kyle Sanders
Kyle has been preaching since 2016 in Chiefland, Florida and Clinton, Mississippi before coming to work with the Jamestown church of Christ in 2021. Before preaching, he spent several years as a high school mathematics teacher in Indiana, Kentucky, and Florida. Kyle is a teacher at heart and brings his love of studying and interacting with students into his preaching and teaching efforts. He and his wife, a native Hoosier, have been blessed with five children, two dogs, a full house and zero leftovers.