The Next President and the Church, or Why Cows Don’t Mind When the Power Goes Out

I live in a region of the country that loses electrical power multiple times a year. Tree branches falling on powerlines is part of the price to be paid for living in a forest. We have backup options available when we need them, but usually the local power company has everything running in just a few hours, and rather than hooking up our generator, we just enjoy the peace and quiet.

When the power flickers we all have our little routines. Someone fills the water pitchers and others find lamps for reading at night. During the day, I like to stare out my window and watch my neighbor’s cows, or our bees and the songbirds whose lives are not changed one little bit by the coming and going of the electrical grid. No one goes and tells a chicken when the power comes back on because she was designed to eat, drink, lay eggs, and incubate them without a power cord.

Did you know that Jesus designed his church to function in the world before the United States of America was even an idea, much less had a president? If I ran around screaming that the cows were all going to die because the power went out, my neighbors would think I’d lost my mind or that I had some odd and rather pathetic cows. Can you even put a cow on a ventilator?

In the same way, if we as Christians were to go full on Chicken-Little-the-sky-is-falling like whoever the next president is might trigger an existential threat to the future of Christ’s church, our neighbors would think we’ve lost our minds, or that we had a really pathetic church that needs to be propped up by political power. Now, I’m not saying that as partial citizens of this world we shouldn’t have an interest in the things going on around us. And I’m not calling for us to stick our heads in the sand. All I’m saying is that the political paranoia that is prone to colonizing the minds of many believers reveals a loss of focus (at best) or an ignorance (at worst) of what really powers the church. Her worship, mission, health, and strength are not directly tied to the political power grid. As a Christian, burying your head in the sand is better than burying your head in the collective anxiety of the internet. One will merely kill your body, the other will sap your soul, and murder your public witness.

Obviously, the analogy breaks down a bit. If I were to freeze to death, that would have a future impact on the wellbeing of the animals around me and if our country were to descend into chaos, that would impact the ease with which we go to church. I’m not saying that the church and culture aren’t related. I’m just reminding us that the culture doesn’t power the church. We can keep right on ruminating and reproducing regardless of who is in political power. The eternal Kingdom of God is not derailed by quadrennial elections in November in America.

However, how we communicate our political interests, fears, and opinions is a crystal-clear reflection of where our confidence actually lies. Out of the overflow of the heart, the fingers like, post, and share. Remember, those sitting in darkness have seen a great light, and on those sitting in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned, and I’m not talking about the blue light of a screen.[1] Let’s live in light of the reality of Christ’s presence and power before we are tempted to get too bent out of shape about our possible political problems, priorities, and preferences. Wean your wellbeing off unstable systems, take hold of the life that is truly life, and speak with confidence about the things that matter into eternity. You can discuss the rest of it until the cows come home.

[1] Isa 9:2, Mt 4:16