I was drifting off to sleep for a Sunday afternoon nap when my phone and smartwatch buzzed with a notification. I was jolted awake by the news that President Biden had announced on Twitter/X that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsing his running mate and the nation’s vice president, Kamala Harris. I wrote last time that the parallels between this election year and the 1968 presidential campaign were striking and worrying, given that year's turbulent nature. I mentioned that if President Biden decided to drop out of the race, it would mirror even more closely the events of 1968 since that was the last time an incumbent president and candidate for reelection decided mid-campaign not to seek another term in office. There are differences; Lyndon Johnson dropped out in the middle of the primaries, so there was still an active competition for the Democratic Party nomination, and the Democrats had several months to choose a successor through the electoral process. Biden’s withdrawal a month before the convention and after the contested primaries in which he was selected as the presumptive nominee is unprecedented.
Still, the similarities are incredible for a student of politics and history like me - schisms over issues of race, religion, gender, sexuality, and other cultural flashpoints; an assassination attempt against a leading contender for his party’s nomination, the one in 2024 fortunately unsuccessful as opposed to the murder of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968; the Democratic National Convention being hosted in Chicago during a period of unrest because of overseas conflicts, Vietnam in 1968, and Ukraine and the Gaza conflict in 2024, and the potential for protests during the convention as a result; the nomination of the sitting vice president as the party standard-bearer, Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and, assuming she wins the endorsement of the necessary number of delegates, Vice President Harris in 2024; a third-party candidate with sufficient electoral appeal to be a spoiler, George Wallace in 1968 and, ironically, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in 2024; and a Republican Party that is mostly unified behind their candidate, Richard Nixon in 1968 and Donald Trump in 2024.
I hope there is no further violence or upheaval this year, although we are just halfway through it. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of the unprecedented or exceptional to last me for a long while!
Many people are commending President Biden for the decision to end his quest to retain power, and some are paying dearly for expressing that sentiment. Former Vice President Mike Pence, once the darling of conservative evangelical Christians, is being criticized for praising Biden’s decision and, by all appearances, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Brent Leatherwood, was fired from his position by the chair of the ERLC Executive Committee for the same reason, only to be reinstated less than 24 hours later, with the committee chair resigning for his role in the affair.
History tells us that George Washington was remarkable for relinquishing power when he could very well have offered himself as a king, and the populace would have willingly crowned him, and he did this not once but twice. He resigned his commission as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1783 after the Revolutionary War, and he chose not to run for a third term as president in 1796, setting a precedent for his successors that was honored until Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died after being elected to a fourth term. Subsequently, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1951, limiting the president to two terms in office. According to American artist Benjamin West, who lived in the United Kingdom and did several portraits of King George III, the king is said to have marveled at Washington’s decision to surrender power, saying his actions made him “the most distinguished of any man living.”
We can’t honestly assess the magnitude of President Biden’s decision in this highly polarized culture. However, I believe history will treat him kindly for his decision to step aside.
Before President Biden’s withdrawal, I was persuaded that a Trump victory in November was likely. I now believe the race will be much more competitive, although, with the country so divided and so few people undecided, it is still very possible that Trump will win. Both sides are proclaiming this to be the election of our lifetimes, and it’s tempting to dismiss these statements as hyperbole, given the historical record:
“"If we don't win this election, I don't think you're going to have another election in this country." ~ Donald Trump, 2024
“This is maybe the most important election, no matter how young or old you are, you’ve ever voted in.” ~ Joe Biden, 2019
“We are facing what may be the most important election of our lifetime, if not ever.” ~ Ben Carson, 2016
“This is the most important election of our lifetime.” ~ Newt Gingrich, 2012
“This is certainly the most important election in my lifetime – not just because I'm running.” ~ Barack Obama, 2008
“My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of our lifetime.” ~ John Kerry, 2004
“2000 historically is the most important national election in my lifetime.” ~ Zach Wamp, 2000
“It's the most important election of our lifetime.” ~ Ralph Reed, 1996
“…[T]his is the most important election in a generation.” ~ Bill Clinton, 1992
“It may be the most important election of this century.” ~ Robert C. Byrd, 1988
“This is the most important election in this nation in 50 years.” ~ Ronald Reagan, 1984
“…the most important of this century.” ~ International Union of Electronic Workers, 1980
These quotes represent the presidential elections that have taken place in my lifetime since I reached voting age in 1977. The year before that, President Gerald Ford declared, “I think this election is one of the most vital in the history of America.” So you can see where I might react with skepticism when I hear something similar repeated in 2024.
However, upon reflection, I believe this election marks a turning point in American history. For the first time, one of the candidates is a former president who has refused to concede his previous election loss, breaking a time-honored tradition of nearly 250 years. His attacks on our electoral process have sown the seeds of mistrust among the American populace, as articulated by attorneys Christopher B. Dolan and Matthew D. Gramly:
There also has to be faith in voting as well as in our elections and their outcomes after the ballots are cast and counted. None of these traditions are being honored at present. President Trump is actively calling these traditions into question, ignoring them and/or actively refuting them. None of this has ever happened before. These are all lines that have never been crossed before now. The effect is to cast doubt on our entire system of democracy, to further erode the trust of the citizenry in our government, and to open the door for those who already wish to question the legitimacy of a Joe Biden Presidency.
When they wrote these words, they didn’t know that President Trump would urge his supporters to descend on Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, march to the U.S. Capitol, and attempt to disrupt the count of electoral votes to formally declare Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris President and Vice President of the United States. The insurrection ended over two centuries of peaceful transfers of power in America from one president to another, once a source of great pride for us as we compared ourselves to other nations. This violent attempt to hold power changed the equation of American elections forever. While 57 U.S. Senators found Trump guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” under the impeachment process, they fell ten votes short of the two-thirds majority the Constitution requires for conviction.
This set into motion years of continued and baseless accusations regarding the integrity of the electoral process, and Trump continues to insist the 2020 election was “stolen” from him. He and his surrogates have made it clear that the only acceptable outcome of the 2024 presidential election is a Trump victory, and the implications of a loss are frightening to contemplate since his constant assault on democratic norms has left them on a weakening foundation. Then there is the potential composition of a second Trump administration, during which he is determined to punish perceived political enemies and dismantle the administrative state that he believes actively opposes him.
In Trump’s wake, a collection of think tanks and policy groups seeks to reverse the social and cultural outcomes of the 1960s and beyond and return the United States to a vision of American “greatness” that resembles the post-World War II era. To them, “making America great again” means returning to a time when conservative white male Christians set the cultural and political agenda; married women were stay-at-home mothers under the rule of a benevolent husband, and single women aspired to that role; minorities were content with their station in life, and no mention was made of historical or current oppression or denial of human rights; and anyone who diverged from “accepted” sexual norms was forced to hide or suppress their identity. It’s a nostalgic perspective that obscures the fact these were not good times for minorities, women, and other marginalized groups seeking the rights guaranteed to them under the U.S. Constitution, and who believed, as writer Jessica Govara put it, “in the revolutionary idea that the government cannot deny men and women an equal opportunity to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Christian dominionism, a philosophy that states Christians are biblically mandated to claim dominion of the seven “mountains” of cultural influence—business, arts and entertainment, media, government, family, education, and religion—plays a significant role in this regressive plan for American society. That not all sects of Christianity subscribe to this “seven mountain mandate” illustrates the danger it represents since it imposes the narrow and exclusive vision of a select tribe on all of society. For them, Trump is a means to an end that threatens to change America profoundly and disturbingly. A secular, pluralistic republic that has evolved over more than two centuries would become something many of the Founders warned against based on their observations of human history, particularly Thomas Jefferson, who declared in Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom “that our civil rights have no dependance [sic] on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry,” and his good friend James Madison, who wrote:
Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion & Govt in the Constitution of the United States the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies, may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history.
Madison also said, “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.” That a faction in American politics wants to introduce this strife into society should alarm us all.
I am genuinely concerned that a Trump victory will bring dramatic and tumultuous changes to our society. It is also frightening to fathom what a Trump loss could mean since he didn’t go quietly the last time. Moreover, whatever he or his supporters do won’t go uncontested, and resistance in a nation essentially split down the middle is inevitable.
For once, perhaps this is the election of my lifetime.
If there is a predominant emotion in this year’s election, it is fear.
On one side of the political divide, people fear the threat to our democratic republic posed by Trump and the populist movement he leads, believing his triumph will lead to the loss of freedoms for minorities and marginalized people who do not conform to his worldview.
On the other side, they fear the “Judeo-Christian” culture that shaped the nation and brought God’s favor upon the land will be wiped away by undocumented immigrants, race-conscious minorities and their allies, and people who reject sexual and gender norms for more fluid forms of expression. To them, the values and beliefs that made America arguably the world’s sole superpower will be overcome by a licentious authoritarianism that rejects morality and order and punishes those who stand for them.
In effect, both sides fear the loss of America as they believe it should be.
Fear is a complex emotion, necessary at times to keep us safe but potentially damaging to our physical, mental, and emotional health if we allow it to persist and overwhelm us. Fear in a cultural context can also spawn anxiety about the future, which can lead to anger and metastasize into hate toward those who, in our minds and hearts, threaten our way of life. An ancient philosopher phrased it very well:
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda, Jedi master
My geekdom aside, the words of the fictional Star Wars character are descriptive of the polarization we now face in America. Polls consistently show that we don’t just disagree with our opponents, we see them as an existential threat to the nation. Ironically, a literature review conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reveals a fascinating finding:
However, most partisans hold major misbeliefs about the other party’s preferences that lead them to think there is far less shared policy belief. This perception gap is highest among progressive activists, followed closely by extreme conservatives: in other words, the people who are most involved in civic and political life hold the least accurate views of the other side’s beliefs.
The survey goes on to describe the difference between ideological polarization, which they conclude is not as great as it appears on the surface, and the real issue that pits us against each other:
Even though Americans are not as ideologically polarized as they believe themselves to be, they are emotionally polarized (known as “affective polarization”). In other words, they do not like members of the other party.
This dislike has been fanned into hate by external sources - television, talk radio, social media, and partisan political figures - and hate has led to suffering as we have witnessed conflict in the public square, our communities, our social networks, and our families.
Even our churches, which are supposed to be our sanctuaries, are not immune from what is happening in the greater society. Joseph Holmes of Christianity Today writes:
It’s not news that modern American Christians are deeply divided over politics—to the point that it may seem we have more in common with people who share our political beliefs than with our siblings in the faith. That division raises the question: If we’re all reading the same Bible, how do we end up with such conflicting and conflict-prone politics?
This is a question I ask myself often, with this critical amplification: “If we’re all reading the same Bible, and we all have the same Holy Spirit dwelling within us, how do we end up with such conflicting and conflict-prone politics?”
I’ve written before that Christians can quench the Holy Spirit, allowing external factors to influence us in unhealthy ways. As I endeavor to “think Christianly” about what is to come, we must acknowledge that, whether progressive or conservative in our politics or theology, we have allowed fear to overwhelm us. Jim Wallis, a well-known progressive pastor, says:
I talk to pastors, and they’re getting death threats from congregants and people in the community. So there is a great fear out there. So how do we deal with faith and fear?
While Pastor Wallis gives voice to the progressives’ fear of conservative believers and non-believers, a recent survey of American pastors indicates their congregations are gripped by fear over the current and future state of the nation, the world, and the Christian faith:
A Lifeway Research study finds almost 7 in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors (69%) believe there is a growing sense of fear within their congregations about the future of the nation and world. Additionally, more than 3 in 5 (63%) say their churches have a similar increasing dread specifically about the future of Christianity in the U.S. and around the world.
It’s at this point where I’m supposed to tell you how many Bible verses say, “Do not fear,” “Fear not,” “Don’t be afraid,” or something similar, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). I could also remind you how the Lord explicitly told us we live in a depraved and broken world, and that those of us who surrendered our lives to Jesus would endure mockery, persecution, even death for our beliefs. However, appeals for us to call on the indwelling Holy Spirit that gives us “power and love and self-control” to overcome fear have failed. We are surprised and offended when we encounter these truths and lash out “as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
Are we really that shaken when non-believers behave differently than we do? Must we consistently take offense at a world that the Lord told us consistently is offensive and would treat us poorly? As author Brant Hansen said, “Jesus encountered one moral mess after another, and He was never taken aback by anyone’s morality. Ever.”
The apostles lived in a world as depraved and broken as any we’ve experienced in modern times. If anything, the Roman Empire was much worse, as Calvary Chapel Bible College’s Jasmine Allnut recounts:
The Romans had become degraded in their sexuality—“promiscuous” is putting it mildly! Theirs was a society completely addicted to sex. Not only were sexual acts often committed publicly, they were also portrayed in artwork and on common household items; the Romans never bothered to shield their children from such things! When adultery for women was outlawed, many upper class women simply registered as public prostitutes in order to continue their promiscuity. Not surprisingly, marriage was a pretense and generally disrespected; in fact, it was rare to find a faithful spouse.
Homosexuality was also quite rampant, but what most people don’t realize is that this occurred primarily in the context of pedophilia. The upper classes, and notably the emperors themselves, were prolific in this area; in fact, Emperor Nero actually “married” two young boys. The Romans even practiced bestiality, having given themselves over in the realm of sexuality. No wonder Paul wrote in Romans 1:24-26, “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.” When you consider these verses in light of Paul’s audience, it certainly gives context and perspective to his words!
Infanticide and child abandonment were grim byproducts of this libertine culture, and it was this dark and damaged world into which Jesus Christ came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
However, He rejected the religious leaders' shunning and condemnation of sinners. Indeed, His statement about seeking and saving the lost was motivated by His insistence on dining with Zacheus, a tax collector, and “All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner’” (Luke 19:7). This was typical of Jesus, who went against cultural norms to reach the people who most needed him. His apostles followed His lead, reaching out to the Gentiles as far as they could travel. They turned the world upside down, eventually ending the Roman Empire, not with campaigns, social media diatribes, laws, or armies, but with the “power and love and self-control” of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s be honest. Whether we realize it or not, we have allowed our fear about the world and the fate of Christianity to make our God small. We sing and preach on Sundays about an infinitely powerful Lord and Savior, and we pray to Him because we intrinsically know He has the power to do whatever we ask. However, Christians have differing visions of what the world should be, as evidenced by the schism between progressive and conservative believers. Our faith falters when God doesn’t act on our vision, giving fear an opening. Once we’ve reduced God to the size of our vision, we feel obligated to “help” him, so our vision, which we improperly bestow on Him, may become a reality. Since we’ve given our vision a holy imprimatur, the ends justify the means, even if those means were never employed or endorsed by Jesus Himself, and without truly knowing even a “jot or tittle” of God’s plan for the world.
We need to remember who our God is and what He expects of us, and if we lean on that knowledge and the affirmation of the Holy Spirit within us, we will be transformed, as will our presentation to the world.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’ (Isaiah 46:9-10)
So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)
Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Do you have peace? As Jesus asked Mary and Martha when He said He was the resurrection and the life, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).
Before ascending to heaven, Jesus declared His dominion over all things: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). He promises that “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
With these assurances and the guarantee of eternal life, why are we the way we are? While they were human and had their moments, the remarkable thing about Jesus’ disciples, the apostle Paul, and the early church was how much peace they displayed in their public ministries amid depravity and persecution. And why shouldn’t they be at peace? They knew that their suffering brought them closer to Jesus and that whatever happened to them, they would be with Him one day in paradise.
He only asked them, and us, to bring as many people to Him as possible, to be “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). That is our sole task, not to seek earthly dominion or rage against the culture, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
However, will anyone ask us about the hope we have if we’re not displaying it?
I don’t understand why things happen as they do, and the outcome of events this year may not be to my liking. Still, I am daily internalizing the guarantee that nothing on this planet will thwart God’s plan, He will prevail, and I belong to Him.
As I’ve said before, I endeavor to focus like a laser on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission - love God with all my being, love people, and make disciples. Love covers everything God expects of us:
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
Whether it’s President Trump again or President Harris, whether America ascends or descends, whether art we’ve idolized as sacred is praised or mocked, I will still love others and have joy because He loved me enough to give me eternal life despite who I am. My God is so powerful I cannot comprehend Him, and yet, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The love of an omnipotent God is the best antidote for fear.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
We have one other task as we move forward with peace and confidence. While the world is what it is, and we shouldn’t expect anything different, the church should not be like the world, and we need to speak out when it is. Paul and the apostles didn’t write letters to the world but to the church with instructions on how believers should conduct themselves. I leave you with Paul’s warning to the church in Corinth; let his words convict us in modern times of our duty to the church, the bride of Christ:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)