Hope in Politics ... REALLY?!?

by Alecia Klauk
(Chapin, SC)

You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. Silence welcomed a comment that sent the room reeling with revelation. Powerful moments like these are not forgotten. It's been years, but that one statement is indelibly engraved in my mind.

That one simple sentence shook me from the reality I was in and challenged me to move toward a deeper truth. I needed to know that what I was doing mattered but that something else mattered more.

We were at a fundraiser banquet for the soon-to-be governor of our state, just a few days before the election. The room was packed with hundreds of tireless workers, most God-loving people who wanted to be involved in the political process to enact change that would glorify God. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Let me back up a bit.

I didn't vote when I was 18. A few months before Clinton's first presidential win, I became eligible, but I succumbed to my government teacher's advice and declined. Within a few years (and some better education!), I became convinced that my civic duty required me to participate.

Participate I did. I worked for a pro-life non-profit agency that worked for political and legislative impact. I was in daily contact with legislators, reporters, and politicians. I worked on campaigns and went to $1000/plate fund raisers. The first fax I ever sent was to Strom Thurmond. I was even a lobbyist for about 10 minutes. Strange alternate reality, but I lived in it. And I was happy there ... for a season.

Problem is that at some point, the hard truth confronted me that there was a limit. There was just a limit. I watched good people, great people, with wonderful intentions, those on the ballot and those behind the scenes, eventually run up against the road block of the reality that politics are messy.

I watched hearts break, even in those perceived to be tough as nails. I watched betrayal and back stabbing, and it wasn't always on the sides I expected. Most, I say conservatively, of those in politics have an agenda, and at some point, many must grapple with the cost of getting what they want.

There's no perfect solution in a man-made system, and while that mental ascent is not difficult to give, it is much more taxing to live that reality with people one truly cares about. It's hard to see honorable men and women become the refuse of the political pundits, sometimes even those believed to be friends.

It's just messy. Nothing is easy, and compromise becomes pragmatism. Lines are fuzzy. Objectives are fluid. Outcomes are subjective. Just messy.

Cynicism is a natural response, and I'll admit that I sat there for a while. But even a mild bitterness erodes, so of course, the Lord put His finger on that place and pressed it into submission through His Word:

"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." Proverbs 21:1

So really, all those in power are only living the illusion of having power. All power is God's, and He is allowing those in position to hold responsibility only for a season.

There is no power except that which is given by Power Himself.

That truth gives me great comfort and hope, and it alone is able to trump cynicism. The Lord of lords is in control. The King of kings is on THE throne, and regardless of anything else I see or long for, I can trust that my God is always stronger.

I watched the election last week with great interest. I am not promoting indifference. Just the opposite. Those claiming Christ must be involved: vote, work, pray. We need to know that we bear a responsibility for action in the system in which we find ourselves, no matter its condition. Do not hear a message of tired inattention.

I just have learned, am learning, that there is something much higher than political gain. God has called us to a life of responsibility in the spirit, and we just need to make sure that we are seeking Him above all else. We need to long for His truth above a political agenda. We need to look to Him for salvation and no other. It is a subtle but critical difference, and I think we need to be careful to guard our hearts. We need to act in this world knowing that the eternal truths of the next can only be controlled by the Lord.

You've hung with me for the whole column, and I intend to reward your patience with the jaw dropping quote. It fully encapsulates my point.

National columnist Cal Thomas gave the keynote address that night, and it was his statement that stopped the room. I believe his words were the heart of God to a room full of those most involved, most hopeful, most responsible, and maybe those most needing to know the higher hope of this deeper thinking.

I'm going to leave the quote with you as my final thought because it's smarter than anything I could add. I want you to sit with it for a bit, think about what it really means, what the implications are, and I pray that this quote gives us all the balance of hope and obligation as we navigate the bizarre world of politics:

"Jesus isn't coming back on Air Force 1."