What a stem winder! Who expected the 2024 elections to turn out this way, but here we are, four weeks later, wondering what happened, why it happened and what it means for the future? Everyone has his own opinions, and mine are no better than yours, but perhaps I may be allowed to express a few thoughts on the matter. I avoided public endorsements before the election, but now that it’s over, I believe it is appropriate to express a few personal observations.
“In nearly half of congregations—45%—their leaders thought most participants didn’t share the same political views, making politics a sometimes treacherous topic.” - RNS
“Here’s a look back at 2024 through 14 of our most striking research findings. These are just a small slice of the Center’s many research publications from this year.” - Pew
“ ‘Our people were elated, for the most part, over the election results,’ said Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor.” - RNS
Read the series.
The fourth characteristic that God emphasizes about himself is that he is “abounding in lovingkindness.”
If you’ll compare the different ways that last word is translated, you find that it has a broad range of meaning and significant theological depth—
In other passages it’s rendered widely: kindness, mercy, devotion, favor, loyalty.
“your neighbor who voted differently than you may not have the power to destroy or save democracy as we’ve been told. Correspondingly, any pride you feel in what your own vote accomplished must be mitigated as well.” - Hannah Anderson
Read the series.
God’s primary description of himself begins with his compassion, and then his grace. Next is the phrase “slow to anger” (Ex 34.6). The KJV renders that as “longsuffering”; the God’s Word translation says “patient.”
“It’s not like the Episcopalians only give money at high rates. They also score near the top on putting up a political sign and working for a candidate. One type of political activity is highly correlated with another type of political activity.” - Ryan Burge
“politicians have to navigate many competing values among their constituents which means at best we will only get some of what we want. How do we reconcile this with making choices about who we support?” - P&D
