Worthy of posting

My friend Jeremy emailed this out after one of our YWAM intercession times last week. I think it's definately thought provoking and no matter your political stance, worthy to read and contemplate. Here's to Jeremy..

Dear Friends and Family

This is really random, but I felt like I needed to share a perspective I got from our YWAM Interecession time this week. Every week our YWAM staff pause on Wednesdays and spend time praying for each other, our local community, the nations, or various issues from around the world. It is the Intercession Facilitator's role to pray during the week, hear from the Lord about what to pray for, and then lead our staff in our prayer time. Cody leads our Intercession time right now (actually it is "Worship, Intercession, and Spiritual Warfare" time) and he led us in a time of praying for President Bush.

Now first let me say, that we don't usually pray for political issues at our base. I mean, we usually pray for staff issues or for the Central Coast or for the nations to come to know Jesus. These are the things at the front of our minds and ministry. So, when Cody said "President Bush", it threw me off a bit, to be honest. But, knowing that the Bible tells us to pray for and submit to those in "authority" over us, I decided it was most likely God's leading.:)

But, I didn't expect what came next. The picture I got in my mind was some of the humerous items for sale at Urban Outfitters and other novelty stores that like to poke fun at Mr. Bush. The picture was me walking up to novelty items and looking down at them, expecting to see a funny picture of Bush with devil horns or a ridiculous hand-puppet of Bush with a silly expression on his face and mixed up words coming out of his mouth, mocking some speech he had mixed up in the past.

But, what I saw instead, in my mind, and to my surprise, was a picture of my dad... and yours. It was like I was watching the face change to a bunch of dads I know and to people that I respected. The devil horns were still there and puppet was still there, just the face changed. And it made me sad to see the dads and loved ones we respect being mocked.

Then it came... conviction. I knew what God was trying to tell me... or part of what He was trying to tell me. President Bush is a person. He is a dad and a husband and a son. He is a child of God. What if it was my dad, or yours, that was being mocked and slandered online and at the stores and on TV? What if others thought it was funny to find your dad tripping over his words and then making a clever spoof with digital technology and passing it on to the world? The thought nearly brought me to tears when I let it sink in.

Many of us are outraged at the thought of "redemptive violence" being used and justified by our government in the concept of "war on terrorism". BUT... then we intentionally degrade a fellow human being's identity and character. We try to "make a point" by destroying a person's reputation with jeering insults and "mockumentaries", or join in with others as THEY do it. It like a mob mentality, but instead of taking a life, we kill the soul of another and explain it away as "keeping them accountable"... or by explaining how lives are being taken overseas. But, we are willingly ruining a life here. I've heard it said that anytime we hurt a fellow human being, we loose a little bit of our humaness.

Then I got to thinking about what the role of the Church and those that follow Jesus IS in relation to Mr. Bush. Should we be those that criticize and jump on the bandwagon of the mockers and media? Should we be those that blindly believe everything that we're fed from the administration and "just submit" to and agree with whatever our authorities tell us to believe? It seems that there are two major camps out there: those that harshly criticize and mock our President and then the other side that blindly excepts all that he does. It's hard to know what to do.

So, I try to keep it simple. I think that Bush is a person that God loves. I think that it would hurt me to see my dad or brother or friend screenprinted on to mocking mugs... and it probably hurts God when He sees us doing this to another person that He loves and died for. Maybe I (part of the Church) should stop jumping on bandwagons and start making them. Maybe I need to repent for joining in with the jeering crowd and see Bush as my brother and someone that God loves... just like the terrorists. Maybe I should also make sure that I don't buy into all the "redemptive war" nonsense that the Bush administration may be giving. Maybe we need to read the words of Jesus and both believe them and try (with the help of the Holy Spirit) to live them. Jesus said "love you enemies". This could mean those overseas, or to some of us, even President Bush.

Personally, like how Samual served King David. He was David's personal prophetic advisor. He didn't mock him or criticize him infront of the nations, but he also didn't agree with him all the time or let him get away with sin. He heard the word of God and firmly corrected David. Maybe that is a better example of the role of the Church; stand for love and righteousness instead of for "conservatives" or "liberals". What if Jesus really meant that we were to love our neighbors and enemies? What if that means loving terrorists and President Bush as ourselves. What if there were three options: Conservatives, Leberals, and Christians?

Any thoughts back are welcome. These are just some thoughts and questions.
-Jeremy Sizemore