I’ve done ministry with Chris Lake of Vere Institute, among other things, promoter of Mark Greene’s book Fruitfulness on the Frontline that I’ve referred to recently. Chris’s ministry colleague, Diana Gruver, wrote the most marvelous essay, putting the election in perspective and reminding us, as I wrote yesterday, there are people we love and respect on both sides. The essay is too good not to share. Here’s how she opens:

When you read this, the election will be in the past tense. The votes will have been cast. And (Lord willing) the results will be in. Some of you will be rejoicing and relieved. Some of you will be mourning, angry, or afraid. Those feelings will coexist in our churches this Sunday. Brothers and sisters in Christ will worship together (whether in-person or virtually), and some will be offering thanksgiving while others are asking “why?”  

That is why I am writing these words today, before I know the outcome of this 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Emotions are running high. Fear is running high. The divides are painful, and they run through our communities, our families, and our churches. And no matter what the outcome of this will be, there will be people in our lives—people that we love—who will experience those results differently than we will. – Diana Gruver, in an essay written in October, published November 4.

Then she introduces some certainties:

I don’t need to know the election results to write this post, because a presidential election does not alter the call of discipleship. Some of the practical ways we work out that call may be different based on election results, but the call itself has not changed. So today, I can write to you about what is still true.

1. God’s Kingdom is secure.
2. We are called to seek the good of the city.
3. We are called to continue the work of discipleship.
4. We are called to be peacemakers and bridge builders.
5. We are called to care for the poor, the oppressed, the needy, the outcast, and the downtrodden.
6. We are called to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven. 
7. We are called to continue to preach the gospel.

That’s a good and Biblical list. I encourage you to read the entire essay.

(Supporting #2) Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29.7, NIV)

(Supporting #5) He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” …As the Father has sent me, even so send I you. (Luke 4.16 – 19…John 20.21)