It's a change of the heart, stupid!

I'm hesitant to write in my blog this morning though it has been since summer since anything was posted. But I was drawn to consider how I should respond to the present election process here in the United States. I received so many emails and links to various pro this or anti that and I was getting pretty put off by it. I was also part of several blog sites/facebooks discussing the propositions and the candidates; their virtues and failings. But what I liked most about the past 6-12 months (though it has been going on for 2 years) was that I had to think and pray through a bunch of things. I had to consider who I was as a believer, how I was to wade through all the information and responsively respond as a believer who has been touch by God. Yes, I voted. And no, I won't tell you how!

I was drawn to the first part of an old book and reminded of the stories of a nation who were called out by God. This nation went through a lot and we have a lot to learn from them. They went through times of peace and prosperity, they dominated their region for a season and they went through times of severe depression or persecution. They had good leaders and bad leaders. They had strong revivals and utter moral and religious failure. God spoke to these people over and over and many times they returned to God with all their hearts.

But what caught me about this story was that even though they had an occasional righteous leader who did great things for the nation - removing idolatry, restoring justice, refocusing the people on  the worship of the one God - they quickly fell back into injustice, unrighteousness, and the worship of created things once the leader passed. A leader would help for a while but eventually it all returned to self-worship. 

I am thinking about this a lot right now because I feel like it's deja vu all over again with this election and the one in 1992. Certainly, in the past an unrighteous leader - and America has had many - opened doors, removed obstacles for a further moral slide. I remember the repeated mantra, "it's the economy stupid!" when it came to why this person or that was elected. Then we had this conservative guy take office in 2000 who we thought would stem the tide of moral decline and lead us into an era of peace. He would be a take-action kind of president. Well, he did some good things up front, responding to terror and taking the battle to the source, but he lost support in our land. People had little tolerance for a protracted battle against terror. It became the economy again and our need for stuff and leisure. We lost our way again in the midst of his leadership. And there were enough people who hated this guy to make it really hard. And of course he fell from favor with most. In fact, most of our government lost favor with the people.

So here we are again, with a new election and new leadership. There are many forecasting doom for America. Judgment will come through this man and his administration. But let's get real church. It isn't about electing a righteous president and congress and judges that will bring peace to our nation. It is about turning the hearts of the people back to God. I believe that too often, we as Christians rely too heavily on the election and proposition process to bring righteousness when Jesus told us to go and "make disciples of all nations." He said that we are, "to love the Lord our God" and "love our neighbor as ourselves."

Israel's failure in the past was not having their hearts converted. Kings would make righteous changes, but the heart of the people would only be changed for a moment. It wouldn't persist to the next generation. But the day was going to come when the heart would change and soften. 

An encounter with Jesus will change your heart. Righteousness can be learned and it can be taught, but if it is not linked back to the Source it will only remain as long as the will engages or the constraints are in place. But God calls us to relationship with him. And out of relationship comes response to change that will influence a family, a neighborhood, a community and hopefully a nation. The church's business is to share good news and make disciples. In that process, people encounter God and they are changed.  

While many are saying, "it's the economy stupid!" or "it's borders and security!" I say, "it's a change in the heart, stupid!"  Jesus is calling the church to wake up, pray for the nation's leaders, be good citizens, but most of all, be a true ambassador of the Good News, living and proclaiming it daily. Let's get back to our calling and our purpose and watch a nation revive! 

(I have other thoughts on the matter - like a return to the study of american church history and the revivals that struck our land in the 18th and 19th and early 20th centuries ... truly a time when hearts were changed! Let's pray for another revival in the early 21st century.)