Our National Past-time is Not Baseball or Football

It seems way too early for a blog article like what you will read below.  I’m writing this in early March and the US election is 9 months away. But maybe like it says in the Bible, this is being written at “just the right time.” To be honest, what I’m about to say applies whether or not we are in an election year.

Football has finished up with the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl. Spring training for baseball will soon begin.  Many people say football has replaced baseball as America’s favorite sport or our national past-time. But I disagree, it seems clear to me that politics has taken over the title of America’s past-time.

Our daily news is now mostly political talk - not just at election time but throughout the whole year.  People get paid millions to analyze and predict what is going to happen when they have no idea, just an opinion like everyone else.  Every day we hear about a new poll which is supposed to tell us something important. We are told that Hispanics will vote one way, women in the suburbs another way and we “can’t forget about the black vote” even though nobody will cast a vote for many months.  

Our country, which has the name “United” as the first word in its name, is definitely not united. One group gets pitted against another and the name-calling starts early and never ends.  It can get overwhelming and it will only get worse over the next few months.

So, how can we take a step closer to Jesus during this whole political mess going on in our country? Here are a few ideas:

• Keep your perspective.  As a follower of Jesus, the Bible says we are a citizen of heaven.  As the old song goes, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through…We may be living in the USA right now, but whatever happens here does not affect our eternal destination.
• Keep your balance.  If you decide to follow the political discussions, try and balance out all the negative talk with something positive.  How about for every 15 minutes of listening to politics, you read 15 minutes in the Gospels?
• Keep your identity and purpose. Don’t let the politics define who you are or what you do.  Over the next couple of months, a lot of labels will be put on people.  You might be called MAGA, a liberal, a home-grown terrorist, un-American or a lot worse. Jesus got pulled into the politics of his time when the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman officials teamed up against him.  Jesus did not allow them to deter him from his mission.  He could have retaliated against the name-calling, beatings and humiliation by calling on angels at any time.  Instead of getting caught up in the politics, he stayed true to himself and his purpose.
• Keep yourself pure.  There is an old saying that when you wrestle with a pig, all you accomplish is getting yourself filthy and pig may even enjoy it. Here is a better saying, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, “ Luke 6:27-28.  Jesus ended his battle with the politicians and leaders by saying this…, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” Luke 23:34.  Our response to our own political enemies should be the same.