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As For Me And My House

             But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

 

            The votes are in, winners are being announced. I have to admit, I hope some specific people are happy with the outcome, and that others are not. While every moment of every day of our lives is a Joshua 24:15 moment, elections are vibrant examples of what Joshua was talking about, not only in the sense that we chose yesterday who we will serve (or at least allow to make rules for us,) but also in the sense of our response to who was chosen.

            If you aren’t pleased with the election's outcome, you must choose which attitude will rule your life – bitterness, resentment, rejection, defeat, or love. Some people have advocated withdrawing from society like the Benedictine monks (or some other group.) Some want people they approve to be elected to office so they can impose at least some portion of their preferences on society. In Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard talks about two basic methods of hating (or not loving) others – withdrawal and domination. I believe he’s correct that neither of these is what the Bible teaches Christians. In fact, there are at least hints of both in the Mosaic Law, and The New Testament makes it clear that we couldn’t live that way.

            So how do we handle life when our political party or our philosophy doesn’t provide the light by which society lives? Joshua said, “Choose you…but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” He didn’t impose the Mosaic Law; the Jews chose it. He didn’t threaten that if they didn’t keep the Law, he was going to leave – or even go off into the hills and ignore them. He said that he and his would serve the Lord. The impression given is that he would stay where he was – hold onto the property given to his family, and serve the Lord while living among those who didn’t. It wouldn’t be so much withdrawing as setting a stubborn example. It would be like Daniel who, hearing an edict that he was not to pray to anyone but the king, went to his room as usual, opened his window as usual, and prayed as usual.

            There is a small sense of withdrawal in this. We do not take part in the choices of others, but we also do not withdraw from others, go hide somewhere, pretend to fit in, or stand on the edges and rage. It’s not about debating (as much as I like debating.) It’s about doing our best to live as examples without constantly screaming, “Look at me! Do as I am doing!” or worse, “Listen to me! Do as I tell you!”

            So now that we have voted, we have a couple of weeks before we face the holiday season. It might be a good time to decide what you and your house are going to do to serve the Lord in 2023 and beyond.

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