Years ago, about this time of year, driving by a street corner well-supplied with campaign signs, I pondered whether those proliferating signs grow from seeds or bulbs.  “Neither,” my mom dead-panned.  “They come from nuts.”

So, we’ve come through another Election Day.  I always have mixed reactions.  On the one hand, I am deeply thankful for the privilege we have in this country of voting.  There are millions of people the world over who would give anything to be able to do so.  It is a responsibility that should be taken seriously.  On the other hand… most of the time, I hold my nose while I cast my ballot!

Doing my chronological Bible-through-the-year reading, I spent until nearly October reading the Old Testament.  Reading the Samuels, Chronicles, Kings and then the prophets, one thing stood out:  kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall.  Amazing insight there, I know.  But really, when you  stop to think about it, and consider all of history, that pretty much sums it up.  Kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall.  Within their very rising lie the seeds of their own destruction.  No matter how strong or advanced.  No matter how good or evil.  Sooner or later, ashes, ashes, they all fall down.  It doesn’t take particular punitive action by God, though there are times He has taken such.  Just as consumption of the wrong foods will lead to ill-health, not as punitive action by God, but as the natural consequences to the laws of nature that were set in motion when sin entered the world, the natural consequences of the sin that lies in the nature of man are enough to guarantee the crumbling of any earthly kingdom.  God uses the kingdoms of the earth to serve His purposes for their season, and then they fade into the mists of time.

There is no reason not to expect the same thing for America.  America has many virtues, beyond question, but no matter how sound the theory behind America’s government and economic systems or how high the principles on which they were founded, no matter what veneer of Judeo-Christian morality American has worn, no matter what “Christian nation” label she has claimed for herself, from the very start we have been a country as full of sin as any other.  We’ve always had our full complement of greed, pride, deceit, immorality, all the usual culprits.  Our story is shot through with slavery, indentured servitude, poor treatment of women and children, the oppression and even genocide of native peoples, discrimination against immigrants, sweatshop and child labor, political fraud.  Even once legal slavery was abolished, the de facto enslavement and oppression of blacks continued – and if you think it’s gone today, try reading up on our “justice” system as it relates to blacks.   We’ve traded in some of those older evils for new ones, many of which shock us with their blatantcy.  Truly, what is evil is called good, and good, evil,  reminiscent of Rome at her height.  (Or her depth, depending on how you want to put it!)  But although they are different lyrics, it’s the same melody.  It may sound louder, but it’s the same sin song as ever – and Christians are not immune to humming along.

My point isn’t that America is going to fall so we may as well give up.  Not at all.  Knowing that it will NOT last forever should put all the more urgency to our making full use of our freedom while we still have it.  As long as we have the freedom to influence our government for good, we have every responsibility to do so.  While there is still good for this country to be doing in the world, there is every reason to fight for her.  The point is that no matter how many ways God has used this country to forward His kingdom, we must not confuse the two and try to cling to the one as if it were the other.  Like Abraham, we should be making our home here “like a stranger in a foreign country … looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.”  (Heb. 11:10)  We should make use of political means as we may, but we must always keep proper perspective about it and not let ourselves get so tangled up in patriotism and politics that we forget that these things are simply temporary.  We need to be faithfully living out our calling to “live in a manner worthy of the gospel”, living as a people of Hope – a Hope that lies not in what happens in American politics, nor in leaders who are mere men, but is centered in the God Who has been working all of history toward one end, and one end only:  to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.  (Eph. 1:10)

Kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall – blessed be the Name of the Lord!