I am Jesus Christ and I approve this message

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted”. Romans 13:1-2 NIV

You can read that verse 1,000 times and will not find one of those readings easy to hear if you are a staunch supporter of one political party. The “authorities” spoken of here were also not Democratic or Republican. My bible has a section before each book describing the audience, the writer, the major themes and other pertinent information. It tells me that it was written to “the Christians in Rome and believers everywhere.” These were primarily Jewish people living in Rome. Keep in mind that Christians in Rome were living under the power of an Emperor. It was not a democracy.

We are a bit more than a week away from electing our next President as well as many members of Congress, State Representatives and more. I am a registered as an Independent. I have probably voted for people in three different parties in my lifetime, counting Libertarian. I know people who are so locked in to a particular party, they would not consider voting for a candidate in an opposing party. I also know people who will decide on a single issue. Abortion, for example is non-negotiable issue for me. It is also a non-negotiable for those who feel the exact opposite way about that single issue. We are not called to agree with each other or with every leader, but we are called to subject ourselves to them.

Whatever your decision-making process, the verse does not seem to leave room to negotiate. We are to subject to multiple layers of authority here. I think this is one of the ways God teaches us. If we cannot subject ourselves to an elected official who will eventually be voted out of office, how are we supposed to be subject to Him? You cannot vote Him out. He has some rules that are not convenient. Thankfully, He gives me grace for the many times I need it. But whoever wins the next infinite number of elections, God has a plan and a path.

I will also come clean in saying that I have never been more ready for an election to be over in my life. When I was a kid, I was not paying attention. As I have grown older, I have more completely understood that we are like no other country on earth. We can vote. We argue, but we get the right to vote on our leaders. Millions upon millions of people do not get that chance. However, I also admit that as I have grown older, I am so tired of Political Action Committee ads on television I can hardly stand it. You know which ads, “He eats babies for Breakfast!!” If ads are sponsored by a candidate, you have to hear “I am Rick Claiborn and I approve this message.” Either way, I do not like them.

I have been thinking this week about whether or not Jesus approves of my message. I know I am not a perfect human. You also do not have to gossip about my personal issues. I will be glad to tell you all about them. But He did tell us to “go, make disciples”. He most definitely did not tell us to go make Republicans, Democrats, Libertarian’s or Tea Party converts. We are all called to make disciples of Jesus. That’s the end of the great commission. Jesus.

The gospel is simple, even if we try to complicate it. Believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the son of God and the Holy Spirit. Jesus died, descended into hell, was resurrected three days later and ultimately ascended into heaven. Believe in Him and ask Him into your heart for forgiveness of sin is the only path to salvation. I get to choose, but I have been given the gift of choosing to accept Jesus as my Savior. Simple.

God has given me a life, a job, a family, a future of hope and peace, and blessings that I do not have room to list here. He has given me a platform, a life that others end up seeing my message. I am called to be a witness, to make followers. That’s the message God has given to each of us.

What message am I delivering about Jesus? What message are you delivering?

Does the message I am trying to deliver match the message others are receiving? Does it line up with Gods word?

Challenge: Does Jesus Christ approve of this message? If not, we should change our message.

Rick Claiborn