With cable news now covering the presidential primaries 24/7, it can be easy for people to get caught up in a kind of partisan fever. The job of the communications teams for all those would-be leaders is to build up their candidate and tear down everyone else.
In heated political moments like this, it’s good for us to remember the words of Jesus when he first sent his disciples out in mission: “As you go, proclaim the Good News, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”
For Jesus, the Gospel was summarized in those simple words. In a time when Israel was occupied by a foreign power and many of Jesus’ contemporaries were ready to take up arms – Jesus said, “The Good News is that God’s reign is here right now. All you have to do is turn your life in his direction and enter fully into it.”
Charles Mackay once said, “People, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one!” In a world gone mad, let us remember the One who we serve – for God’s kingdom reigns forever!