Virtually no pundits or prognosticators believed in a Donald Trump victory.\u00a0 And yet today, in mid-November of 2016, President-Elect Donald Trump not only won the election, shocked the political class and destabilized the mainstream media, he has also moved to calm tensions and recently met with President Obama to generally positive reviews.\u00a0 Disequilibrium is now the norm for the electorate and the political elite.\u00a0 Left and right continue to polarize and demonize the other \u201cside\u201d.\u00a0 Disequilibrium, even if temporary, is the shared lot of all.<\/p>\n
Are we entering into a new era in American life or are going to see further polarization and demonization in accelerated fashion?\u00a0 In the 1970\u2019s, Francis Schafer asked the question, \u201cHow Should We Then Live?\u201d, in response to the challenges of that era.\u00a0 Now, some 4 decades later, many followers of Jesus Christ are grappling with how to respond to a world in transition and people in pain or uncertainty.<\/p>\n
I am convinced that followers of Christ are faced with the single greatest opportunity of my lifetime. \u00a0 American society is filled with yet another election where the outcome is disappointing or frightening to almost 50% of the voting electorate, and exhilarating or encouraging to the remaining voters.\u00a0 However, regardless of where you are on the spectrum, this election season and election result has brought about disequilibrium for everyone.\u00a0 Street and campus demonstrations are matched with workplace, home, and church discussions that are challenging.\u00a0 Followers of Jesus are grappling with how to respond with certainty in uncertain times.<\/p>\n
So far in this article, I have not referenced Scripture.\u00a0 But the time is right for me to ask, \u201cHow do we thrive in disequilibrium?\u201d\u00a0 The answer is both clear and simple:<\/p>\n
\u201cSeek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you\u201d (Matthew 6:33).\u00a0 Jesus tells us to center our lives on the Reign of the King, to live in alignment with Him and His purposes.\u00a0 When we live in alignment with the King, our lives are safe, secure, and full of hope.\u00a0 Instead of singing, \u201cdon\u2019t worry, be happy\u201d, we sing, \u201cWorthy is the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain\u201d.\u00a0 We honor Jesus and place Him at the center of our lives and all heaven breaks loose!\u00a0 Centering our lives on Jesus affects not only how we live our lives, but how we engage in relationships and encounter the cultural waves of our present reality.<\/p>\n
Scripture tells us in Ephesians 5 that our speech should be \u201cseasoned with grace\u201d.\u00a0 I often say that you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.\u00a0 BUT, you can give him salt to make him thirsty!<\/em>\u00a0 If we want to thrive in a world full of disequilibrium, we need to know that we are carrying around the presence, person, and purposes of Jesus in our every day lives in such a way that people become thirsty to know the One who brings life and hope.\u00a0 American religious life, despite the growth of mega-churches in the past 40 years, has seen a relatively consistent decline in church attendance and the rise of \u201cNONES\u201d in our society, those disclaiming any formal religious affiliation.\u00a0 For many in church leadership, this has led to confusion about how to reach and impact the community and culture in which we are called to live and serve.<\/p>\n Many of us in the Body of Christ have lost our way in the world.\u00a0 We no longer know how to share the love of Jesus in tangible ways.\u00a0 When we read in Matthew 5:12-16 that we are the \u201csalt\u201d and \u201clight\u201d of the world, it means little to us in tangible direction of how we lead our lives.\u00a0 My friend, Dr. Ed Silvoso, says we should PRAY-CONNECT-BLESS-SHARE. \u00a0 What Ed means is that before we ever share Christ with our neighbors or community, we should have prayed with them, connected with them, blessed them in some way, and then we can share with them on the basis of our loving relationship with them. \u00a0 I believe that Jesus centered witness is all the more critical in our time of disequilibrium; the Good News must be demonstrated in the presence, power, and purposes of Jesus.<\/p>\n We know that we should pray for those in leadership above us (1 Timothy 2:1ff), even if we do not share their political persuasion.\u00a0 For many American Christians, the idea of praying and interceding for a Democrat or Republican political leader is very difficult.\u00a0 I want us to imagine the Apostle Paul in the day he wrote it; he was actually urging prayer for Roman officials who were likely conspiring at the very moment of writing to bring about persecution and loss of liberty to those early followers of Jesus.\u00a0 Imagine praying for the Caesar who was going to order the conditions that would bring pain to your life!<\/p>\n I believe we are in a time of great cultural shifting here in America.\u00a0 But during this recent election, I felt certain that the Lord was speaking to me specifically about fear and cynicism.\u00a0 I felt like the Holy Spirit was impressing on me not to spend one day in fear\u2014because I know that perfect love casts out fear (and perfect love is named Jesus!).\u00a0 I also felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me not to spend one day in cynicism, because I know the source of Hope (and his name is Jesus!).\u00a0 Today is the best day of our lives to know the Living and Risen King!\u00a0 Today is the best day in our lives to share the life and love of Jesus with whomever He places in your path.\u00a0 Let\u2019s agree together that we are going to shift every atmosphere in which He places us.\u00a0 We can shift atmospheres to His glory by living with grace and kindness and demonstrating love and life in all we do.<\/p>\n Disequilibrium could be the worst condition you have ever faced.\u00a0 Or disequilibrium could be the greatest opportunity a follower of Jesus has ever experienced.\u00a0 I think our cultural disequilibrium is a set-up.\u00a0 It sets up the people of God to live and testify to His certainty and grace regardless of the context of our lives.\u00a0 God is good-better than we think.\u00a0 The time is now to help our unstable world see the deep and rich reservoir of love and grace and truth found only in Jesus.\u00a0 Let\u2019s do this for His glory!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Virtually no pundits or prognosticators believed in a Donald Trump victory.\u00a0 And yet today, in mid-November of 2016, President-Elect Donald Trump not only won the election, shocked the political class…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,44],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"yoast_head":"\n