DAY 88 - THE GREAT DEBATE
ZACH ATWOOD, YA EVENTS & OPERATIONS TEAM LEAD
“God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” Psalm 47:8
If you come over to the Atwood house for Sunday family dinner, there’s a high chance the dinner conversation will involve a lot of political debate. On one hand, it’s fun banter, forces us to stretch our thoughts, and it’s something fun to pass the time. On the other hand, if you combine this heated political discussion and a fight for the last piece of garlic bread, get prepped for WWIII (maybe not the best reference since we’ve already had a world war scare this year, and heck, we still have 5 months left in 2020…)
The issue with my family (and I’m sure with your family and friends) is that sometimes, this fun banter and discussion becomes heated and aggressive all because of party-lined-agendas. Rather than banter turning into compromised solutions, it becomes a battle of who is worse than who, and what so-and-so could do better.
Now don’t get me wrong, I know and believe that we are truly blessed to be born in America and we should exercise our rights to protect others, but I think the reason we become so heated and argumentative over politics is that we’ve made this system our idol. We become so defensive over something our group or party believes in, and we will defend it to the end! We fight with family and friends when a critique or discussion of another plan is introduced. We get this way because we’ve put the political process above our God.
But God needs to return to His rightful place; above it all. He is above our American political system. He is above democracy. He is above our political parties. He is above our political representatives. We think that our party has to be in control to feel safe. No. We have to trust the Lord God with all of our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.
If you find yourself getting heated when someone talks politics (especially when they disagree with you), maybe you need to check your heart and see where you’ve placed your hope. Are you placing your hope in a political party, in a person, or in an agenda? Or are you placing your hope in the one who reigns above all and sits on His holy throne?