You’ll never guess what I saw on TV earlier this week! I turned on the news, a courageous thing to do, if I do say so myself, and I was confronted with a veritable parade of political fortune tellers! Who knew??!! It was obvious that that’s what they were, even though no one had a crystal ball or even one of those “Magic 8-Ball” thingies we used to play with. Except for one guy who was sporting socks that should have been part of a Halloween outfit, they were all dressed in relatively normal looking clothes, but they were definitely trying to predict how the 2024 Presidential election is going to turn out.

An Instinctive Desire ~
Wanting to find some way to peer into the future is a natural human desire. It’s one of those protective instincts that God built into us. Obviously, the more accurately we can predict what might be coming our way, the better our chances of either avoiding it or at least being better prepared to deal with it. Fortune tellers of one kind or another have been a part of every culture throughout history. While most are just opportunistic predators preying on the vulnerabilities of naïve people, some people offer observations and predictions of the future in a genuine effort to help people make better decisions and healthier choices – like my sweet little grandma was prone to do after Halloween when I was a kid. 

She’d see me gazing at my newly acquired treasure trove of chocolate and ruin it all with dire predictions of dental disaster … “Now, Ronnie,” she’d say, “don’t you go tryin’ to eat those candy bars all at once. They might taste good, but that candy will rot your teeth ‘til every one of them falls right out of your head.” I remember looking at all that delicious chocolate and thinking that losing my teeth might be worth it. After all, my grandparents both had false teeth and seemed to be doing just fine. So I could enjoy my Milky Ways, and if my teeth fell out, at least there was hope.  

Fear Is a Key ~
Though all prognosticators are not nefarious fraudsters, it seems as though most of those who step in front of a camera to predict our future almost always seek to tap into our fears in order to influence our behavior. Given the state of our country and the world at large at this point in our history, the forecasters in every category certainly have an incredible volume of material to work with. We can be assured that there will be no shortage of economic and political fortune tellers popping up in the days and weeks ahead. They all want to influence our thinking and ultimately, affect our behavior at the ballot box. All of us have an important choice to make, but for followers of Jesus, the first step in making that choice isn’t to dig out our Magic 8-Ball or listen to another speech. We should begin by looking at the situation from a higher vantage point.

A Dismal Picture ~
If we could step back and consider what the spiritual and moral condition of our country looks like from the 30,000 foot perspective, it would be overwhelming. We’d be astonished at the extent of the evil and depth of corruption infecting our land. Our hearts would grieve to see the collective Church of Jesus Christ largely standing silent with no national voice. Tears of shock, outrage, and deep grief would flow as we’d watch scenes of horrible violence and slaughter perpetrated against the most innocent and least threatening people we have. 

• • We’d feel righteous indignation at the blatant displays of selfishness, arrogance, and narcissism. 
  • We’d want to stand up and repel the forces applauding and promoting every kind of filthy, perverted practice imaginable. 
  • We’d feel shame to see God’s principles openly mocked while church leaders stood idly by, afraid to openly affirm God’s Word lest they’d be attacked on TikTok. 
  • Our minds would reel in astonishment at the millions drunk on everything from mood-altering substances, to power, to their own lust for pleasure. 
  • And we’d bow our heads and wonder what to do because in the face of it all, we’d see ourselves as small, pitifully weak, and unable to single-handedly fix any of it. 

So, what do we do in response to it all? Do we just close our eyes, turn away, and hope an election will make everything better? Do we trust the politicians to redeem our people from the spiritual plague eating away at the very heart of our nation? All of us know that God has a better plan, one that may not look so powerful on the surface, but one that has been transforming nations and peoples for thousands of years. It’s a plan whose success is totally dependent on the commitment of flawed, individually insignificant, and politically powerless people. Our confidence in God’s plan of action gets a boost if we look back at how it has worked for over 2,000 years.

A Daunting Challenge ~
When the Church of Jesus Christ was born, the Roman Empire ruled the world. Slavery was a fact of life for multitudes. Many had few, if any, rights, and personal liberty was something only the elites got to have. Unjust death and irreconcilable suffering were commonplace, and everything about life for most ordinary people was worse than hard. It was often torturous. And into that, Jesus sent a collection of people who were politically powerless, socially undesirable, and for the most part, academically unimpressive – with a mission to change it all. 

They had no royal titles the world would acknowledge, no political backing, no military resources, and no iconic silver-tongued philosopher to represent them. They labored under the worst kinds of tyrants and despots the world ever produced. They carried out their mission regardless of economic trials, social conflicts, and religious oppression and persecution. In spite of it all, they prevailed, but not because of superior programs, clever advertising, stimulating music, and appealing surroundings. They prevailed because they took what God said seriously. They heard admonitions from God like the one that follows from the Apostle Paul and considered them to be personal directives:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1–2 NKJV)

We don’t need a fortune teller or a Magic 8-Ball to know how to help affect a return to righteousness, justice, and sanity in this country. 

• • Those followers of Jesus living under the cruel boot of the Roman Legions changed the world – and so can we. 
  • They began by confessing and forsaking their sins and inviting the Spirit of God to rule in their hearts – and so can we. 
  • They admonished one another to carry out their civic duties – and so should we.  

Lastly, as followers of Jesus, we are fortunate to be blessed with the right and the duty to make God’s voice heard through us at the ballot box by casting our votes for candidates who best reflect His values and purposes in order to be blessed as a Christian nation for the generations that follow us. Let’s not waste our time trying to predict the future. Join hands with each other and take part in creating a future better than anyone is predicting, one where love is genuine, joy is real, hope is defiant, and where life goes on – forever.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.

• • • If we could step back and consider what the spiritual and moral condition of our country looks like from the 30,000 foot perspective, it would be overwhelming. We’d be astonished at the extent of the evil and depth of corruption infecting our land. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • God’s plan may not look so powerful on the surface, but it’s been transforming nations and peoples for 1,000s of yrs. Its success is totally dependent on the commitment of flawed, individually insignificant and politically powerless people. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • Everything about life for most ordinary people was worse than hard, often torturous. And into that, Jesus sent a collection of people who were politically powerless, socially undesirable, and for the most part, academically unimpressive with a mission to change it all. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • In spite of it all, the early Church of Jesus Christ prevailed, but not because of superior programs, clever advertising, stimulating music, and appealing surroundings. They prevailed because they took what God said seriously.  @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • Those followers of Jesus living under the cruel boot of the Roman Legions changed the world – and so can we. They began by confessing and forsaking their sins and inviting the Spirit of God to rule in their hearts – and so can we. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 

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© 2024 Gallagher’s Pen, Ronald L. Gallagher, Ed.S.  All rights reserved.