Looking over the fence

In happier days when people communicated with each other more freely, it was not unusual to see your neighbor just look over the backyard fence to gain your attention of simply to say "Hi"

Not so popular in these days of fear and suspicion.

Living only sixty miles from the US border gives us a neighbors opportunity to look over the fence to their backyard.

I have looked carefully over the fence at my dear friends and neighbors at this time of crucial election choices that have to be made.

My first reaction is that I am amazed at the rhetoric of US politics and the vehemence with which positions are taken and held. Plain lies and exagerrations being used, even by Christians, to justify their opposition to this or that candidate.

Secondly, I am disturbed at the way that the political parties involved exploit and use the weapon of fear especially amongst Christians, and sadly that Christians participate and co-operate in the spreading of such fear.

There is always much talk amongst my American brothers and sisters, whom I love dearly, of theories of conspiracy and of "secret agendas" something by the way that the Liberals in Canada are also prone to do! Unfortunately they are all so "secret" that no one can really prove them anyway! When these things are ultimately revealed as being false, the very folk we want to impress are again justified in saying that "the church is out of touch an irrelevant"

Most of you know that this is an unusual subject for me to even comment on publicly as I dont really hold much hope of changing nations by politics and conformity to ideals that are politcally imposed,but much more by changing the hearts and lives in the way that Charles Wesley did in the UK in the past.

I believe there is a Kingdom Culture which should over ride the National Culture of any great nation for Christians to apply to their lives. The means are not justified by the end. Honesty is a Christian virtue and should not be sacrificed for strategic reasons. Stealing a persons reputation and lying about them is actually called LYING and is not high on Christ's list of virtues. "Dirty tricks" do not decorate the gospel of Christ and Christians should not be sucked into the secular agenda of either party.

The Bible says "everyone should be fully persuaded in his own mind"and I encourage all my wonderful American friends to vote tomorrow on the grounds of what God speaks to them personally.

God has made strange choices like Pharaoh to lead Egypt in byegone days. He knows which of these two men is most susceptible to hearing his voice, even if they dont and have never heard it in the past! Remembering His Sovereignty may be the greatest encouragement that US Christians have tomorrow.

Having said the foregoing. Tomorrow we will witness a "sea change" in American politics. Many who have never been gripped by social issues will fight their own consciences as they seek to know how to vote in such a polarized environment. Many young christians will "break ranks" with their older brothers and sisters and be captured by the vision of a changed America, and I hope desparately that they register a vote for one or other of the candidates.

Whoever wins tomorrow there is coming a radical change to America. Senator McCain is not a traditional Republican, and should he win there will be a "whole lot of shaking going on" in the "old boy" networks in Washington, that ironically will have worked hard to elect him. Conservative Christians have little to encourage them in their pursuit of a candidate who stands strongly on their important issues, and he will likely not promote their ideals any more than his opponent

Senator Obama, has campaigned on the basis of change being needed and change coming in the basic ways Americans think of themselves at home and abroad. He has waged a campaign to deliberately initiate change , and if elected may well do so! Since he has not identified strongly with the traditional values of the Church, he will not be expected to promote those values either.

So looking over the fence I see the garden of the USA with different configurations to the old garden! The days of easy choices are past! Issues like economics, social justice, and international role in the nations are all about to be challenged and many changed.

This is a time when the Church in the USA needs our support in prayer and a willingness to co-operate with God in the choice He makes tomorrow!