Is Jesus a Democrat or a Republican?

Ok, so the election is over, thankfully.  Now we can get back to the business of how the country is doing.  Some of us were happy with the outcome and some of us weren't.  Some of us are bitter and remain bitter.  There are two truths to remain encouraged about.  One, we still live in the greatest country on this earth.  We actually can vote without fear.  Secondly, God is still sovereign.  I still worry about our country in many ways, but I completely trust in a sovereign God who is not unaware of anything.

Too many Christians make strong direct association of their faith to politics, including me.  This has done great harm to the perception of Christianity.  If we spent as much time evangelizing, serving the poor, building up people, and investing in the Kingdom, there would be a much far different perception of who Christians are.  There is nothing wrong with expressing our opinion of who we favor as President and why - I have certainly done that.  But it should be separated from who we are as believers.  I made the mistake of expressing my opinion in our workplace and denigrating the other candidate.  My co-worker calmly stated she supported the other candidate.  I was embarrassed and I apologized to my friend and co-worker.  Debbie has strong friendships with those that strongly support the other party sometimes vocally.  But she has chosen to put her politics aside because she values those people as friends. 

I spent a little time with Ambassador Tony Hall in my work with Opportunity International.  I remember giving Tony a ride and quizzing him on how he lives his faith in his politics.  He would say that Jesus could identify with Democrats because they are champions of the poor and He could identify with Republicans because they are masters of work ethic.  I asked about abortion and Tony was a proponent of life and he said that he wanted to be a vocal minority and work with his colleagues to understand this sensitive issue.  He would also say how he worked across the aisle with the other party because of his deep respect and love for people.  Tony obviously loved Jesus and obviously loved people.  Which leads me to whether Jesus would be about political parties or about people? 

Being an Infectious Person

Every since I saw the movie Contagion I have been much more aware of catching germs.  That movie is nasty. It is not for the faint of heart and probably not one that you want to see again.

I have been thinking about how we as people need to be infectious but in a positive way.  I am really blessed because I work with a group of people and have another group of people that I have as friends that are infectious.  They are positive, upbeat, sure of themselves, funny, and caring.  Their infection is themselves.  How often I tend to be the one who is the downer.  I gripe, I complain, I sometimes gossip.  I forget to thank people.

Some examples - recently one of my co-workers gave me a card and a gift.  Not anything I did but just the way she is.  She was trying to thank me for being a good leader.  I was cleaning out the basement as we prepare to move (hopefully soon) and came across a stack of cards.  When I used to travel a lot, my wife always put a card in my suitcase to know that I was missed.  On the negative side, I recently had an interaction with a Christian university and my experience was anything but positive.  Their big preoccupation was that my position on certain scriptural issues was consistent with theirs.  Now I have no problem being held to a standard on scripture but this occurred for a half hour and I felt like I was getting grilled.  It did not feel like they cared about me at all as a person.

The Bible says that the Christian is to be a "sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:14) wherever they are.  In other words when people see me, they are to see Jesus.  Man, what a tall order and one I so often fall short of.  My friends who are infectious manifest that.  I think to be infectious we have to train ourselves.  We have to constantly remind ourselves of the goodness of God and His indescribable gift of salvation.  We have to remind ourselves of the power of friends and relationships.  No matter how challenging the day in and day out grind is, there is so much to be thankful for.