Give the Gift of Mercy and Change Our Nation

Did you notice some confusing behavior from voters in our recent election? Here in Wisconsin we elected 5 out 8 Republican representatives to Congress, provided a Republican majority to the state Senate to go with the Republican Assembly and Governor, re-elected a Democratic President and most surprisingly elected one of the most liberal Democrats in the country as our Senator. Wisconsinites had to have voted for conservative Republican candidates and liberal Democratic candidates on the same ballot. One congressman stated this in fact happened in his district. Most of the media will be analyzing these results and focusing on demographic issues of race, age and gender, or on the range of the liberal – conservative spectrum. I don’t believe this is a political issue, this is a spiritual issue. To be more precise, this is a spiritual warfare issue.

God is always speaking to us through His Word, the Bible, and on Friday after the election I read these passages in Ephesians chapter 2:  ¹And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. English Standard Version

The confusion among the electorate is being sown by Satan, influenced by their own selfishness, pride, and disobedience, just like we were before we were given the gift of mercy and switched sides in this war.  ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 

A person (like me for instance) who has been offered the gift of mercy, accepts it, submits himself to Jesus Christ as savior and lord and pursues a deeper knowledge and relationship with God, will be transformed into someone who elects a God honoring government. That complete transformation takes place over time and requires discipling from others who have come to know these truths. Discipling doesn’t happen Sunday morning in an hour or two, just like evangelism doesn’t happen Sunday morning in an hour or two. Discipling happens in small groups of four to six men or women, studying the Bible, praying and learning how to love each other and share that love with those confused people around us. Expand that discipleship group to a missional community living out their faith 24/7 and you have real impact for the kingdom.

In order for our nation to be changed, we have to change one person at a time and that is up to each of us to do. We need to share the gift of mercy and grace with those around us at work and in our neighborhoods. This requires we obey the commands Jesus Christ gave us in John 13: ^34”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ESV

Note that word “disciple” again. We have to share our faith by building relationships with them, showing them love, not hate, offering them the gift of mercy through Jesus Christ, and then discipling them as they begin the journey of transformation. I was given this gift by someone who loved me, who gave me the opportunity to hear the truth of the Gospel very clearly and accept the gift. Eighteen years ago at the age of 34 and a child of the 60’s and 70’s with liberal ideas of what is okay, I began to be transformed. I wish I could say I was discipled early on that path, but that didn’t happen, not the way it should have, according to the biblical model. In God’s grace I was still transformed and continue to be transformed and thankfully that is now in a discipling relationship. Let’s all enter into discipling relationships, let’s all share the love of Christ with those around us, let’s all change our nation one new believer at a time, multiplied over and over through our personal sharing of this gift. It’s not going to happen from the desks of television and talk radio or even from the pulpits of the churches. It’s going to happen in the places we work, the neighborhoods we live in, the places we recreate in and the places we serve in.