How To Lead In A Divided Nation
What a crazy year! In so many ways this has put to the test all of our endurance, our leadership, and our peace of mind.
What’s clear from this year is that our nation is deeply divided. Over 75 million voted for Biden and and almost the same amount voted for Trump. Election results aside, we have to admit that there are a whole lot of people who deeply disagree- no matter what side you are on in the culture war!
This divide shows itself in every area of life. How you view the Pandemic. How you view the restrictions from the Pandemic. What you feel about the leaders of our country and the leaders of our states. And everyone wants you, as their pastor, to pick a side and fight.
There are a few principles that guide my mindset during this time.
#1 - My primary citizenship is the ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’
Paul stated it like this: “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.” Philippians 3:20
Now, we can read this in a way that makes ‘heaven’ solely the destination - where I will spend eternity. But ‘heaven’ refers to more than that. It is the current seat of God’s authority. Jesus rules from heaven. He is seated in the heavenly realms at the right hand of the Father.
It’s what we pray for when we pray, ‘Kingdom of God come, will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.’
So as much as I love and value the United States Of America, it is a secondary citizenship for me. My first allegiance is to the Kingdom of Heaven and to my Master and Leader, Jesus Christ. This citizenship in heaven does not make me anti-American. Of course, it is the duty of every Christ follower to honor and value, and even fight for the nation where they reside. I watched my in-laws serve in Panama and Nicaragua. They never took sides in the political fights, but they were always praying for God’s favor on the nation where they lived.
Recognizing my primary citizenship just helps me think properly about the nation where I temporarily live here on earth.
#2 - My role is as an ambassador from another place.
Again, Paul indicates this: ‘So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”’ 2 Corinthians 5:20
It helps me to think of both my status and my mission. A few years ago, I visited Rwanda. We (APC) had been a part of raising funds to transport a Cardiac Care Unit to the Kigali Hospital. This made me the guest of honor at the installation ceremony. It was there that I met the US Ambassador to Rwanda. Believe it or not, she was from Pittsburgh!
She was living in that nation as a guest. She was involved in local and governmental affairs, but not as a stake holder. She was there to influence, encourage, and assist whoever was in power for the benefit of the ongoing partnership between the USA and Rwanda.
This a great way to think about our role as pastors, leaders, and Christ-followers. We are guests in this nation. We are here to influence, assist, and work with the people here to connect in with our King and his Kingdom. Most of all, we want to produce reconciliation with God through the cross of Jesus Christ.
#3 - My goal is to lead everyone to follow Christ.
It’s interesting to me how Jesus managed to lead his twelve!
He had Matthew (a tax collector - working for the Roman IRS), Simon the zealot, Simon Peter the who was very vocal about everything, and Judas Iscariot who was getting ready to betray him to the local government officials.
Jesus managed to challenge all to set aside their agendas and to follow a greater mission: to love God and love your neighbor as you do yourself. And then also to take the message of resurrection to every person on earth, and do so from a servant mentality not as someone trying to gain governmental power that would be used to dominate others.
Simon was a zealot. Think of that. He wanted to burn down Roman power. He would have been marching in the streets with protest signs, and preparing himself for civil war against his Roman oppressors and their Jewish sell-out counterparts.
Matthew was a Pro-Roman government worker. For a season, he believed that the best way forward was to work with Roman leadership and to support its historic established role in the world. He may have believed that it was in the best interest of the Jews to work with Rome rather than see more people slaughtered in a foolish civil war.
Judas seemed to be in it for personal gain. He managed the money for the disciples and stole from their common account.
Simon Peter was just an emotional reactionary. Can you imagine Simon Peter’s Facebook page? It would have been filled with opinions for all the world to see.
What Jesus got almost all of them to do was to make their cause secondary to his cause. Eventually, Simon no longer cared about burning down Rome. Matthew no longer identified as a government pro-Roman employee. Simon Peter learned, for the most part, to focus his passion on the purpose that Jesus gave him to pursue.
Judas? Well, Judas was a lost cause. He could never really grasp the servant-oriented, death-to-self approach that Jesus modeled.
#4 - For this cause I am willing to suffer persecution and loss!
it’s true that Christians have received ‘most-favored ‘religious status over the first two hundred years of history in this nation. There has never been a nation on earth so friendly and so honoring to the Christian faith. But remember that this is not the norm in history, nor is it the norm around the world today.
In many nations on earth today, Christianity is a threat. Around the world today, there are countless pastors and leaders who are in prison for their faith in Christ. It appears to only be a matter of time before Christian leaders in this nation will be at the very least ‘cancelled’ and at the most attacked for their faith.
I know that this seems to be an alarmist position. But the momentum of the last fifty years seems to be indicating that there is a growing intolerance for those who believe in the standards of the New Testament and want to follow Christ based on his demands upon us.
The good news is that persecution always produces a huge harvest of souls!!!
Tertullian, who was a famous second century leader and writer declared, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.’ This means, the more we are hated, the more we sow seeds of the gospel in power!
While we can expect that the hatred toward Christians will increase, we can also expect that the effectiveness of the gospel will become exponentially more effective as well. I believe that we are on the verge of a massive spiritual awakening in this nation.
It may not be an awakening that will restore America as a nation to the way that it was before? Honestly, I am not certain what is in store for this nation moving forward! But as an ambassador, who lives here, I believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is getting ready to make some great gains as we seek to represent Christ and to reconcile people to God.
Maybe this is why Jesus taught us: “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” Matthew 5:11-12