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Written by Eddie Foster
As the Republican presidential candidates hash it out over who will receive their party’s nomination, the rest of the U.S. groans, knowing that another election season is upon us. Amid the mud-slinging, accusations and “I will …” statements, many wonder if American politics is broken. Is the best candidate even in the race?
The Republican candidates have been fighting for their party’s nomination for several months now. Some have dropped out, while others have joined the fray. Reminiscent of most primary elections, the candidates started out attacking their opposing party, specifically the president. However, they have inevitably come to attacking each other now.
The news media focuses endlessly on the various candidates’ scandals and faux pas of the moment. You’ve also heard the basic template for attack ads time after time: “So and so supports [fill in the blank with something shocking]. Vote for me instead!”
One has to wonder if the writers of these sorts of attack ads really believe what they are writing. Though the ads are over the top, the actual record of all the candidates—and all previous candidates—is cause for deep concern. Not one of them has the real ability to accomplish the miracles this troubled world needs.
Who is my candidate?
As a Christian, when I was baptized and received the Holy Spirit, I was proclaiming Jesus Christ as my permanent king. Unlike candidates today, who present several plans to save the country, God presented a plan to save all mankind at the foundation of the world, and His plan includes my candidate! In fact, my Candidate—Jesus Christ—is the key in the entire plan.
In Acts 4:12 Peter explained the importance of what Jesus Christ offers: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
So all those candidates telling us, “If you’ll just vote for me, I’ll make everything better and you’ll be fine,” are overestimating their abilities. The guy on television who says, “I’m so and so, and I approve this message,” cannot save us from medical woes, nuclear holocaust, poverty, war, hatred and inequality. The only One who can solve these monumental problems is Jesus Christ, the One who gave His life for all of us.
What district/state/country does Christ represent?
Another interesting thing about my Candidate is that He is not in America. He is sitting at the throne of God, which brings up another complexity about the candidates on earth asking for our votes: They have a limited perspective.
When they tell the public, through ads and speeches, that they are the solution for America, they are thinking small. Christians are given the opportunity to think bigger than America and its current situations; we can think about and seek the eternal Kingdom of God.
Christ said this about the world we live in when He was about to be crucified: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36).
His Kingdom was not of that age—or the current one. But He promised He would come back to save humanity from self-destruction and begin a new world ruled by the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:3, 22).
What about this world then?
If a kingdom is coming that includes Jesus Christ as a perfect and sovereign King under God the Father, then who is running the show now? God promises to change all the woes and sorrows when His Kingdom comes, so what happens until then?
Unfortunately, the trend of human history toward violence and suffering points to a much different culprit ruling things now: Satan the devil. Ephesians 2:2 points out that this ruler is considered “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”
Amazingly, some today would rather focus on his way of running things, which includes having candidates hurl lies and insults around.
Praying for the Kingdom
Christians can say no thanks to Satan’s policies, including his version of what government should be. Marvin Gaye may have described this world’s system best in his song “You’re the Man”: “Politics and hypocrites is turning us all into lunatics.”
Thankfully Jesus Christ—our Candidate—has been preparing His campaign against Satan for 6,000 years, and there is no question about who will win. Seek first the Kingdom of God, pray fervently for that Kingdom to come soon, and you won’t have to give in to the lunacy. Sanity and perfect government are on the way.
Eddie Foster, a school speech-language pathologist, and his wife are members in the Cincinnati/Dayton, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.
For more posts by Eddie Foster, see:
