⁵ May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. ⁶ Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

Romans 15:5-7

Dear God, I’m not sure this really fits with this passage today, but I’ve been struggling lately, as is evidenced by past prayer journals to you, as to what level the church as a whole and I as an individual should concern myself with politics. I’ve tried to imagine Jesus living in America in 2020, walking the earth and having his ministry now. How would he respond to the pandemic, social justice, or the election? In the gospels, we didn’t see him moving in a democratic system so it’s hard to be certain, but I can’t help but feel that he would be more concerned about how Christians are treating each other and non-Christians than how they are voting. Something tells me that he wouldn’t be putting any energy at all into who the next president, senator, congressman/woman, governor, etc. would be. I’ve also come to think that you, as the Father, are controlling all of this on a macrolevel that is far above what I can understand or influence.

In terms of social justice and the pandemic, again, I think Jesus would bring it down to a personal level. What am I doing to show love to my neighbor? What am I doing to ensure that I am representing you to the world? What am I doing to draw others to you so that they might experience the fruits of the Spirit? If I insist on my right to not wear a mask or have my favorite football team play, am I doing your kingdom any good at all? If I shout from the rooftops that all live or blue lives matter, am I bringing more healing or am I dividing?

Father, I am asking for two things this morning. First, help me to turn loose of the different political things that are happening right now. From the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice to the election of national and local officials, help me to put my faith, hope, and trust in you and not in any person or any person’s plan. Peace will not be found in a candidate or a judge. Peace will not be found in the economy or even my own health. Peace will only be found in you and me representing you as best I can through loving others richly and extravagantly. Show me how to do that.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen