Does God care what choice we make all the time?

I finally concluded a 5 and a 1/2 month job search this week. We are moving to Portales, NM where I will be the new pulpit minister at the 3rd and Kilgore Church of Christ (http://www.3kchurch.org/). Of course, we are both relieved and excited, but there were so many lessons learned through the thoroughly exhausting journey.

I applied to 23 churches over five months and, of course, in the end there was only one standing. Along the way I withdrew my candidacy from several, but many took care of that for me! I had two in-person interviews that did not result in an offer, and obviously one that did. I turned down three interviews at the end, because my search was concluded, but there was a touch of irony there. For over three months, I couldn't buy an interview and then in the last few weeks I had back-to-back to interviews and three invitations!

Because there were so many opportunities swirling around me at the end, I thought the decision would be rather complicated. My mother-in-law kept saying that the decision would become clear when it came time to decide. I love her, but I didn't believe her. I thought, how do you know God will make it clear? Is God under any obligation to make it clear? Could he present two (or more) totally acceptable, but not obviously clear choices and be pleased with either choice?

When the church in Portales made their offer it still was not very clear. But then an amazing thing happened ; less than 48 hours from the time of the offer, God made it crystal clear what we were to do. My mother-in-law was right!

Who can say that God always has to work one way or another? I don't know that he always has to get us to a specific location/situation. We are movable parts on a big playing field (the Kingdom), so God is not hamstrung, if someone chooses one place over another. However, in this case, God seemed to want us in Portales. I like the peace that comes with that kind of clarity!

The nexus between faith and politics

I am sure this is a popular topic these days. We live in an age where a candidate is probably coached to reference God a certain amount of times per speech. Isn't that interesting, when the perception is that God isn't so popular in America any more? Well, most Americans want to believe that their candidate believes in God, but don't want them to allow their faith to influence their public policy. Such a thing is absurd, of course, if faith is real at all, it cannot be tucked away at home.

Still, sometimes the "God talk" unnerves me as well, if not for the same reasons. I get nervous, if a candidate is claiming for themselves or their party to be the voice for God. I get even more nervous when I see Christians believing that a particular party would be the party for Jesus. Both parties have good emphases and both parties have points that would certainly be pleasing to Jesus. However, both parties are defined by their ideologies and their constituents not Jesus of the Bible.

Jesus is abhorred at some of the practices and beliefs of our two major parties. I can never see Jesus going around talking about a woman's right to choose when that choice requires the sacrifice of the most innocent of lives. I cannot imagine Jesus would approve of a party filling their coffers with the likes of the NRA, Big Tobacco, or the ACLU.

Some might suggest that Jesus would just stay out of politics all together. I'm not suggesting that Jesus would run for office, but the teaching of Jesus and the kingdom of God shake the very foundation of all political structures. The question is what would Jesus have his people do in a society where they can literally influence the society at large with kingdom values. Would he have them set on the sidelines, if their involvement would mean more justice to the fringes of society, the very people that Jesus' kingdom message purports to include?

I say Jesus would have us be involved in the political process. It doesn't mean that every person has to be a political activist. We all have different callings. However, a totally passive response might be to neglect justice for those that desperately need it.

Jesus would have us care for the un-born, because they don't have a voice to protect themselves. Jesus would have us care for the poor, because they are always close to his heart. Jesus would have us stand against racism, for he has made a kingdom of all nations and tribes. Jesus has many concerns in this world. I believe our major role in politics is to give voice to the voiceless. I have been heavily influenced by Jim Wallis and John Yoder in this, even though I don't agree with them on all points. They do articulate an exclusive allegiance to Jesus over any party or political system. I couldn't agree more.