Leadership Thought: Thoughts on the Results of the Election

Dear Friends,

It’s 3:00 AM, and all last night and this morning I stayed up taking a  break from my self-motivated political news moratorium to watch the results of the election.

Although I had chosen not to watch political news for the last month and a half, it didn’t mean that I was not interested or concerned about the results of the election. I simply understood that all the political rhetoric and candidate bashing was raising my levels of anxiety and taking control of my life.

Yesterday in my Leadership Thought I exhorted Christians to tear down the political walls and help build bridges with those who may disagree with our political positions. I hope we will all strive to do that.

Whether you are a Democrat and disappointed with the election results, or a Republican who is now reveling in the outcome, we need to put aside our differences and come together to work to unify our nation.

We need to pray that President Trump will recognize the need to be gracious and charitable in addressing those who opposed him, and that he will take the lead in demonstrating a reconciling spirit toward those who were who hurt by the election results. As Christians, I encourage you to make that same prayer for yourself. May Christ lead you to be a solution to the division in our country rather than be an obstacle to that unity.

Unity is not uniformity. It does not mean that we will all agree on every issue, but it does mean that we will consciously use our different gifts and abilities to complement one another, rather than conflicting with one another

We may not always agree on every issue, but it’s important to recognize that there is a big difference between unity and uniformity. We can share a unity of spirit without necessarily always enjoying a uniformity of thought, expression, or opinion. We may not always agree with one another over an issue, but we must never allow our differences to divide and destroy our relationships or fracture our fellowship.

I love the words of the 17^th  century German theologian, Rupertus Mendentius, who wrote, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.”

That would be a good motto to hang on our bathroom mirror to encourage us to bathe every difference or disagreement in the light of this principle.  

Unity is the hallmark of Christian love. It was a great concern of Christ before He went back to Heaven. Thus He prayed for all his disciples, and for all of us, that we might be one,  just as He (Christ) was one with the Father: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them, and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity” (John. 17: 22-23).

This was Jesus’s prayer, and it ought to be ours as well. Let us glorify God through our unity, and let the world be amazed as they look into the windows of our schools, churches, businesses, homes, and marvel, saying, “See, how they love one another.”

Yours in faith,

Tom