Author: Jon Gauger

The election is coming!  The election is coming!  To hear some folks, the outcome of the upcoming election will determine whether the human race…and planet earth itself…will survive.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm concerned about the election, too.  I look forward to fulfilling my patriotic responsibility and casting a vote.  I'm researching the candidates, studying the issues.   But my concern about this election is much bigger than which candidate wins the White House, or which party controls congress.

My concern is that too many Christians view this election just like non-Christians: we put way too much hope in it.

To the extent that a government passes just laws and upholds biblical principles, its representatives are to be highly esteemed.   So it DOES matter who's in office.  But not in an ultimate sense.

Because there is no “correct” party.  No party that is not filled with crooked and corrupt characters who look good, smell good, sell good….but who are morally and spiritually bankrupt…even if they do have noble intentions.   Isaiah 64:6  “But we are all like an unclean rag.”

I've listened as our current President promised us hope and change…and seen America slide further down our moral mud slide.

And I've also observed what happens when Republicans control the White House and Congress: We continue down our moral mud slide.

So there IS no salvation for America in either party.  Sin resides in both.

The evidence notwithstanding, too many of us are too quick to put too much hope in government and political parties.  As Joe Stowell reminds us in his preaching, “We are a fallen race in a fallen place.”

America's ticket back to prosperity will not be found on any ballot other than than the votes you and I will cast with our daily lives in favor—or in disobedience against—God's written Word.

As for me, I want to join the short list of folks listed in Hebrews 11 longing for a better country—a heavenly one.

So until then, I intend to be a good citizen.  I'll pray and vote and do my best to image a loving God reaching out to a fallen world.  But I will NOT place my highest hopes on this—or any election.

Halloween. Like it or not, the season is here. Christians can disagree over whether it's okay to dress up or go trick or treating.  But I am not interested in that discussion at the moment.  My focus is much more fundamental.  I want to talk about evil itself.  The evil that is increasingly celebrated at Halloween.

The “Spirit” chain of Halloween stores has grown from 63 in 1999 to nearly a thousand this year!  In our neighborhoods, many homes now put more effort into decorating for Halloween than they do Christmas.

The other day I passed a car with a giant applique depicting a young woman with a bloodied axe.  Just what I want my four year old granddaughter to see.  And by the way—how would it somehow be “more acceptable” if she was fourteen?  Does the sight of a bloodied axe at fourteen become less evil?  I think not. 

Consider the exponential increase in Fright fests, gore stores and Haunted Houses.  I read online about a “Club AntiChrist” Halloween party. Among other things, it features a performance by Sexor…snake-hipped belly dancing from Hell.  Okay, so that's an extreme.

But horror isn't just for Halloween anymore.  Not just for movie theatres.  It's gone beyond Twilight and Freddy Kruger.  Now it's highly successful television fare.  Even favorites like the CSI series seem to cherish and embellish every possible moment of blood and gore.

As our culture has been desensitized, it takes more and more to truly shock us.  So the “slightly scary” of a generation ago, has been replaced by the ghoulish and ghastly.  

But to my point: how does any of this help a follower of Jesus follow Jesus?  You say, “Brother Jon, you're preaching to the choir.”  Not at all.  Christians are among the biggest consumers of this stuff!  (1:45)

Many listeners will disagree but I boldly make the statement anyway.  It is wrong for us to watch this stuff, to buy this stuff–in the theatres, on television, or at parties.  It's wrong. 

The culture’s comfort notwithstanding, our growing fascination with gory will NEVER bring glory to Jesus.  Ever.  Let's have nothing to do with the dark side. 

When did America begin to self-destruct spiritually?  Do you ever wonder?  I have.   Ask ten people and you'll get ten answers.

Some say it began in the 60s with the Beatles and permissive parenting.  That lead to drugs, free sex and a general contempt for authority. 

Others say, “No, it began before that.  It was the 50s—think Elvis and his wild hip gyrations.” 

Some point to the roaring 20s, with speakeasies and crime sprees and dime novels with questionable characters.

But Harvard historian Dani Shapiro offers a disturbing piece of evidence that dates much earlier yet.  It was the year 1860 when a young American toymaker named Milton Bradley schemed upon an idea for a successful board game. 

Seems he retooled a popular British board game called the “Mansion of Happiness.”  Players in this game sought to free themselves from vices and—at the same time—accumulate virtues.  All of this in order to outrun their fellow players—pilgrims if you will—on the road to heaven.  Hence the use of the term, “mansion.”  If it smacks of influence from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, there's no accident.  Consider the long shadow Bunyan cast.  Nearly 200 years after Pilgrims Progress was first published, it still influenced the entertainment of British culture.

But back to Milton Bradley.  He took the “Mansion of Happiness” concept and infused it with a focus on self-fulfillment through the acquisition of money. Historian Shapiro said Bradley–quote– “chucked the piety.  In his version, originally called the Checkered Game of Life, players raced through life's stages seeking maximum material wealth. Quite obviously” says the writer, “our ideas about life's purposes had changed.”

Sad, isn't it?  Our slippery slope has been a long time in coming. The Game of Life.  The world says the objectives have changed. Jesus begs to differ.

Leadership.  It's quite a buzz lately in Christian circles.  Have you noticed all the leadership chatter?

Consider the enormous popularity of Christian publications like…

• Leadership Gold
• Leadership Journal magazine.

Then there are all those Leadership conferences.

But go ahead and Google Christian conferences on “Following Christ”…and you won't find much.   Following lacks the flash and fun of being a leader.  And, in my opinion, therein lies the danger.

Now hear me carefully.  I'm not saying we don't need leaders, or that there shouldn't be any new training for leadership.  But I AM saying I think our current emphasis is probably out of whack. 

Is our biggest problem today in Christianity really a lack of good leaders?  I say it's a lack of good followers.  While there may be problems in leadership circles…we are dying for lack of obedience in the pew.  And in the end, the very best leader cannot conjure up an ounce of obedience. 

So why all the conferences and DVDs and books on leadership?

The ugly truth is, too many of us want to be leaders because leaders get to call more shots.  Leaders are entrusted with more power.  Bigger salaries.   Nicer perks.  Even in Christian organizations.  But that's the world's value system. 

The call of Christ is to be fishers of men, not leaders of men.

The Great Commission is about making disciples…followers…not leaders.

The truth is, when we have good followers, we will have good leaders.  Because an effective leader is nothing more than a follower who follows well—and who encourages others to do the same.

Yes…there's a place for vision casting and setting the pace…  But there's an even bigger call to quietly run the race with integrity and humility. 

It's time we stepped back a bit from our fascination with leadership.

It's time we stepped up our determination to follow Jesus all day… every day. No matter what the cost.

Only THEN will we create a new generation of leaders worth following.

By now news from the London Olympics is so old, it's not even in the rear view mirror.   We've moved on.  There’s a presidential election just before us…the NFL season is in full swing—complete with the REAL refs… These are the headlines that now dominate our attention.

But a misstep in marketing takes me across the pond nearly every day.  Let me explain. 

At the train station that I walk there lingers a set of illuminated photos of Olympic hopefuls–the heart of a bank's advertising campaign.

The campaign’s idea was to suggest that in choosing the bank on the sign…you’d be signing up with winners.  One might say the bank was using these athletes who were going for the gold…to go for YOUR gold.

Walking through the train concourse you come face to face with

Two brothers who've played tennis together since they were kids.

Several swimmers…

A marathon runner…

Track and field athletes

Now that the Olympics are more than over, I've lately been intrigued with the idea of finding out exactly how these athletes finished.   So one by one, I've Googled these athletes, tracking down how they actually finished.  Some did great.  Others didn't place.  Some were projected to medal in their event…and never got close.

In my opinion, this marketing campaign that has stayed well past its prime…has a message for followers of Jesus.

What about us?  How are WE doing in this race called the Christian life?  We who been given wonderful teaching in Bible-loving churches….we who have gone to Bible school….or been mentored by a strong Christian friend.  We who live in a nation with more resources and more opportunities for Christian advancement than any other on the planet….How are we doing?

What if it was YOUR image on the sign promoting Christianity’s effectiveness and impact?  What kind of advertisement would YOU be?  Would your life be the gold standard?  The silver?  If you’re like me….you know you’d fall short. 

But like it or not—we are in a race. People really ARE watching.  They’re really is a finish line.  And they’re really is a prize. 

Recently, my wife and I sat down with our three year old granddaughter to watch the 1973 Disney animated classic, “Robin Hood.”  If you haven't seen the film—or it's been awhile—it's quite charming in every regard. As we sat there with Joslynn, giggling at all the onscreen antics, I was struck with an observation.   Though the storyline is a classic, and Robin Hood, Maid Marion, and the whole cast are delightfully depicted, it was the lesser characters that grabbed my attention.

They are so well developed, so carefully crafted that I found myself looking forward to their every appearance.  For instance, there's a herd of elephants that blast their trunks as if they are regal trumpets.  They have such a look of royal sincerity on their faces as their trunks collapse and expand in beat with the music, you almost have to stifle a chuckle.  There are stern faced rhinos that attempt to walk with grace and dignity ill befitting their stereotype.  This, too, is amusing.   Then there's the crocodile who only shows up once or twice with key “announcements” in a bass voice so deep, the speakers in your audio system will rattle.

But all these lesser characters do what they do with amazing faithfulness, carrying out the smallest of tasks with an enviable panache.  For me, they become the heart of the story.  Yet…we're never even told their names.

Without wanting to sound preachy, I ask myself…how many of us in the body of Christ are content to be “lesser characters?”  How many of us are willing to simply develop, hone, and sharpen that smaller role we'll been given in the Kingdom story?

Seems to me, one of the biggest problems in the church today is our rush to grab for the lead role…our lust for the limelight.

But John the baptist has a word for those of us reaching for the stars:  “He (Jesus) must increase but I must decrease.”

That's what I've been pondering lately.

Capricious.  When it comes to properly evaluating sin, that’s you and me.  And it's not a good thing, either. The word, capricious, means whimsical.  Fickle.  Given to unaccountable changes of behavior.  And like I say, that's many of us, when it comes to assessing our own sins.

You see, the Bible calls all sin…sin.  

But you and me?  Most of us have managed to downgrade a whole list of sins into…something less sinful than sin.  For example…

Anxiety.  We brush it off as a fairly harmless habit.  Like biting your fingernails: it'd be nice if we could quit—but no big deal, really. 

But anxiety IS a big deal when you're the God of the universe and you've clearly said many times in your instruction book, “Do not worry—about anything.”  But again, many of us blow that off.

Same with impatience.  “No big deal,” we say.  But God sees it all as sin, just the same: being pushy in line…consistently squeezing through yellow lights as they turn red.  It's sin.   Sin—as in if that's the worst we ever did it really would be enough to keep us away from the presence of a holy God. 

But you and I, we're capricious.  We've added sin to our sin by choosing to ignore our own infractions, while judging others for more—quote–obvious sins:   Cheating, lying, stealing, murder, drunkenness, homosexuality.  “Now THESE are REAL sins,” we insist.

No question that some sins come with more of a stigma.  More consequence.  Maybe more darkness.  But again, all sin is sin.

So where do we get off being so hard on others…and so light on ourselves?   How dare we be so capricious?

It's time we took the focus off the–quote– “big time” sinners around us.

It's time we felt a godly grief for the sorrow our own sins bring the Savior. 

To a watching world filled with sinners in need of that Savior, worrying about the moral mud on our own shoes might just prove winsome. 

Time out for a pop quiz. 

Question one: Please name the country with the worst record of abuse toward Christian believers. 

Question two.  Please list the names of any countries you've prayed for in the last week where believers are heavily persecuted.

Now pass your papers forward, please.

How'd you do?  Did you get the answer to the first question?  It's North Korea, the most restrictive nation in the world for Christ followers.

I'm actually more interested in question number two—the number of countries you've prayed for in the last week. Places where Christians are treated with open hostility.

If you're struggling, you're a typical American Christian.  Our sense of global geography is so shrunken, there's little wonder we know so little about the persecuted church worldwide. But that doesn't make it right.  Nor does it excuse us from having the persecuted church OFF of our radar screen.

Did you know that a recent global study concludes 75% of all religious persecution is aimed at Christians?   And did you know that in more than 30 countries, Christians are significantly hassled for their faith?  Worldwide, more than 200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith.

Hebrews 13:3 commands us (note this is NOT a suggestion):

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

What if BEFORE we asked God to bless us with more…we asked God to lift up a soul sagging under the weight of persecution?

What if BEFORE we ever prayed for our loved one with cancer, we prayed for loved ones overseas right now suffering for their faith?

Like some practical prayer helps?  Go to persecution.com or…opendoorsusa.org.   That’s persecution .com…or opendoorsusa.org.

The persecuted church MUST be on our radar screen.  Otherwise we are living outside the declared will of God.

According to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights… solely because of their faith.  If current trends continue, by 2025, an average of 210,000 Christians will be martyred annually.

We hear numbers like these and feel disturbed…but powerless. Or at least I do.  That's why a recent article caught my eye about a senate bill under consideration.

The bill would appoint a religious freedom envoy that would operate in the Near East and South Central Asia.  The purpose of the envoy would be to monitor and report on abuses of religious freedom.

The envoy, to be appointed by the President, would report on countries like  Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco,  and Saudi Arabia, to name a few. But of course, religious persecution is also a huge issue in south Central Asian countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.   

The Senate bill that could help bring these troubles to light is number S1245.  It was introduced last year, but has yet to be brought to a vote.

And that's the point of this commentary: to invite you to step up.  To take a stand for our persecuted brothers and sisters by encouraging the Senate to pass this bill.

Heb 13:3  Remember the Lord's people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don't forget those who are suffering, but imagine that you are there with them

What should you do? Write your Senator a short, but sincere letter, asking them to pass S-1245.  That's S-1245. You'll find a sample letter you can use as a guide at  Advocacy.opendoorsusa.org. That's   Advocacy.opendoorsusa.org.

Persecuted Christians. These aren't generic names and faces.  They're family.  The Bible tells me so.

Forgive me for offending you.  But to make my point, I'm afraid I must offend some.

It is a well-established fact that I cannot stand the taste of creamed corn.  The truth is, after one bite, I honestly begin gagging.  I wish it were not so…but it is. (See—now I've gone and done it–offended all the creamed corn lovers out there.  My apologies). 

At a recent Christmas party, I turned down someone's prized recipe for creamed corn and was entreated with a familiar line: “If you'd just try it…..I think you'd like it.”  Trust me—ain't gonna happen.  And it’s not like I “tried” to whip up some awful hatred for creamed corn. What could be more American than corn?  I just honestly, sincerely, don't like creamed corn.

In the same way, I think we Christ followers sometimes miss the mark when sharing Christ with the people around us.  We logically assume that in a culture that reveres experience over just about anything, it's a powerful argument to say, “Just try Jesus.” 

For some people, that simple invitation may indeed be the tool the Holy Spirit uses to redeem a life. But an increasing number of people have a built-in distaste for a faith of any kind.

Just like my strong aversion to creamed corn, there are people who simply can't stand the notion of surrendering their life to Christ.  [All the pleasant language in the world about a King who longs to make right a world that's gone terribly wrong makes no difference to these folks.]

Does that mean “End of story….let's pack up and go home.”?   No! It just means that these people will need something else: the powerful evidence of life change in US.

If you were to do a life inventory, how much change could you—would you—honestly claim for this last year?  Are you and I tangibly more like Christ today than last January?  What will ultimately win hearts and minds, as Colossians 1:27 eloquently states, is “Christ in you—the hope of glory”–not fancy speech.

Christ in you.  And in me.  Now THAT's a taste we can ALL agree on.