It's all in how we react

I'm debating what to blog about this week - take the easy way out and blog about excitement over the World Cup, or jump into the deep end and talk about the provincial elections.  Meh, I've never been one to play it safe...

So Kathleen Wynne's liberals won a majority government yesterday.  A surprise victory, as no one predicted a majority government.  Everyone thought it would be a tight - at least, tighter - race.  Not so the case.

What I wanted to write about is our reaction as Christians.  Much of this stems from what happened on the LIFE Facebook page yesterday and today - https://www.facebook.com/officialLife1003?ref_type=bookmark, and scroll to Thursday night's comment about congratulating the Liberals.  (I'm also seeing a lot of people posting their outrage on their personal Facebook pages).  It's not wrong to have an opinion, but we must be careful about how we express it.

If I can make a large generalization here, it's no secret that most Christians are Conservative, or at least not Liberals.  So the Liberals winning a majority is not what many Christians wanted to see yesterday.  Nonetheless, we have a choice in how we react, as we do in every situation, every day of our lives.  We can be upset, grumble, complain, and even trash-talk.  Or we can offer our congratulations, and pray for our new leaders, even if we disagree with their stance(s).  I believe that's taking the high road.

There is already too much negativity associated with Christians and Christianity.  We are seen as judgemental, mean-spirited, rude, ignorant, and narrow-minded.  Reacting with anger to an outcome we do not like simply perpetuates these thoughts.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."  The best thing we can do is show love.  Whether we or not we agree with a party or an election outcome.  Whether we're happy or not.  We are called to show love.

A pastor friend of mine posted the 1 Timothy 2:1-4 passage on his Facebook page, about praying for our leaders.  So many of us have posted and referenced this passage during the election.  But I love what he said about the passage - "Let us remember who was in government when Paul penned these words".  That's a great thought.  Paul was oppressed, at risk for his life, constantly beaten and imprisoned, and yet still he encouraged people to pray for our leaders.  He did not speak negatively of them.

Let's mimic a great example set by a great apostle of Christ.

You can't have it both ways...

The story out of Moncton, New Brunswick this week has been absolutely devastating.  Three RCMP officers killed, two others severely wounded, and an entire town gripped by fear and locked in their homes.  No individual, family, or community should ever have to go through that.  My heart goes out to every person affected.

As I've been watching this story unfold over the past couple of days though, something odd has jumped out at me.  On the news, I've been seeing signs on businesses and store fronts.  I've seen it all over facebook and twitter.  I've heard it said in conversation.  "Pray for Moncton".

I 1,000% agree.  I think we all would.  What strikes me as odd, though, is that people are turning to prayer.  It's a great thing.  But our North American society - generally speaking - has become anti-religious, anti-God, anti-prayer...anti-anything to do with religion.  Laws are passed to keep religion and God out of our schools, workplaces, public places, etc.  Those who do speak up about their faith are often ridiculed and laughed at...or at risk of being suspended or losing their jobs.

Then a major tragedy like this hits, and the first thing we do is turn to prayer.  And I don't mean Christians, I mean our society.  "We offer our thoughts and prayers to the families affected".  How many times have you heard a politician say that?  People post on Facebook reminding others to "Pray for Moncton".  It's the big message everywhere that everyone is echoing.  But give it a few weeks.  Once this tragedy fades from our minds, it'll abruptly be back to "no religion in our society, thank you very much."

If we as a human race instinctively turn to God in our pain and weakness, shouldn't we also turn to Him when things are good?  Wouldn't a God who created us want to know us at ALL times, the good and the bad?  We can't just call out when we need Him, take His help to work through the pain, and then ban Him from our lives when we don't need Him anymore (or think we don't).  Talk about an abusive relationship.

Sorry God.  That's pretty mean of us.