An election analogy for the church

Observing the mid term election results in the USA, I began to think about the church and its mission. I wanted to share an analogy with you all. Now I know that many of you who read this blog are not conservative politically, and so I want you to understand that this is not so much a political comment, but an attempt to help explain a spiritual principle using the recent elections as an example. Please just see the example and not the politics.

I've known for a long time that the church as it now exists needed to be redefined. I don't think we need something new, the Bible and Jesus are just fine, but we need to be redefined in the sense we need to return to the original mission.

Watching the recent wins by the Republicans, I have noticed the following:

1. The "new" Republicans, that is the real conservatives, may seem new, but in
fact they are old in the sense they want to return to the constitution and limited government, the way things were designed - for example Marco Rubio.

2. The "old" Republicans are those who want to get along and keep things the same and in fact, don't hold real conservative values - for example, Trent Lott and Colin Powell.

3. The real success of the conservatives will be the old guys with vision helping the new guys with vision go forward, and at the same time, getting past the old guys that want things to be the same.

Now, applying this to God's work.

1. There are always "old Republicans" in the church - those who want to have things nice and will go along to get along. These are pastors, missionaries, and Christians that want to have contented Christian lives, but at no cost (Jesus defines His follower as someone who has to pay a cost). The new "radical" guys bother them, although biblically, what is seen as a "radical Christian" today is no more than a normal Christian in the Bible. What should be the normal Christian life is unfortunately seen today as unbalanced.

2. There are also the "new conservatives" in the church - not doing something new, but aggressively returning to our real roots and mission. These are the "biblical constitutionalists" and unfortunately, will be opposed by the old line Christians, which are similar to the Pharisees of Jesus' day.

What does this mean (to me anyway)?

I think God is calling the church to a radical return to our roots and mission. For you young people, you need to realize that, while the Word of God doesn't change, the way we do it will need to be redefined continually or we fall into the trap of thinking that our style is sacred. For you young folks, you can count on me as an old guy to support you, as long as you keep to the Word and the biblical mission.

Thank God for the new thinkers and the young Christian leaders with such passion - one of my favorites is Francis Chan. If you haven't read "Crazy Love", you need to do so.

May God richly bless you in these truly exciting times for the Christian church.