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Navigating Election Season
The “Inside Out” Podcast from Family Life News
How can Christians show Jesus’ radical love in the social, religious, and political climate? Martha’s guest Jeff Jones reminds Christians that our primary allegiance is to King Jesus, and He’s not up for reelection. Jones is lead pastor of Chase Oaks Church in Dallas, Texas, and coauthor with Mike Hogan of the book Rebranding Christianity.
How can Christians show Jesus’ radical love as we approach the November election? “Really, it’s an incredible opportunity to be distinctive,” says Jeff Jones. “Not to take our cues from the world that is very polarized and angry and there’s a lot of misplaced hope and vitriol.”
Jones is the lead pastor of Chase Oaks Church in Dallas, Texas, and coauthor with Mike Hogan of the book Rebranding Christianity. He points out that a believer’s model is Jesus, and He reached out to those who disagreed with Him. “As Christians we get to show a better way. In fact, it’s not just that we get to, we’re commanded to. We’re Jesus-followers, and so we take our cue from Jesus and how did He relate to the world, how did He relate to people who disagreed?” he says. “If we can just shift from sort of culture war mentality to mission field mentality–that’s a major shift–but it’s shifting from fear dominating us to love dominating us. What would it look like to relate like Jesus, who moved toward people in love, especially those who disagreed with him?”
And it’s especially meaningful to remember Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers, recorded in the Gospel of John.
“In a divided world, to see a united church where we can remember ‘hey that’s what we agree on–and that’s Jesus and His mission and His truth, and our hope is in Him,’” Jones says. “And what an opportunity to do that this fall and really stand out as believers, if we’re willing to do that.”
Recognizing our primary loyalty can help Christians avoid getting tangled in partisan rhetoric. “Our allegiance is to King Jesus, which is above all this other stuff. And our hope is in Him,” Jones says. “We await a Savior from there, not here. Our hope, our focus–all of that—as we go into these elections: let’s remember who we are, and where our hope is. And then we don’t have to be afraid. Because it really doesn’t matter who gets in or who doesn’t get in. King Jesus is not up for reelection.”
Learn about Jeff Jones and the book he’s coauthored, Rebranding Christianity. He contends that the Christian “brand” is losing relevance and influence in the U.S. A key reason is that Christians, who represent the brand to the world, fail to display what Jesus wants us to be known for — radical love. Jones says the next five to ten years will either deepen the decline or witness a movement to become more of who Jesus called us to be.
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