by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear friends and family of LBC,

I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord! I’m sure you are all aware that we are in a very significant point of time in our nation’s history. The upcoming presidential election is going to be monumental regardless of who wins because we’ll either have our first African-American president or first female vice president. And what a job they will have to take on! Our economy is seeing its scariest low point in years and the war in Iraq rages on. Just walking on campus today at SDSU, there were representatives of both parties trying to get students to register to “Rock the Vote.”

Of course I feel like every American should exercise his/her right to vote this November. Especially since it looks to be another close election, every vote counts. But it would be good for us as believers to remember that God’s plan was never for our ultimate hope to be established through government or politics. It is not to say that these things are unimportant (quite the contrary!), but it is vital to remember that the greatest problem in this nation is not the economy, or the war, or gas prices, or the housing market. The greatest problem in this nation (and the world!) is sin and the greatest hope (the only hope!) is found in the gospel. The only way any kind of lasting change for good can occur in America is if people respond to the call of the gospel.

I only write this because I know that it can be really easy to get excited about the issues surrounding the upcoming election. It can be really easy to think that the next political leader is going to solve all the problems of this nation. Let’s be thankful that while government is always changing, our God is constant. It isn’t necessarily wrong to get worked up about politics, but what does it say when you are more angry about the economy than about sin in people’s lives? What does it say when you show more enthusiasm for a political leader than for Christ?

Our government has been established and sustained by the grace of God. Please remember that God calls us to pray for our governing authorities (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1-3). Although our nation grants us the right to free speech, God tempers us with the call to submit to our governing authorities (cf. Rom. 13:1-7). But at the same time, let’s guard our hearts against an imbalanced attitude towards government lest we forget that our greatest war is spiritual, our greatest problem is sin, and this world is not our home.

In His grace,
Pastor Patrick