BY
Matthew Warner
If
you're discouraged or think the world is upside down, I have something for
you.
Guess
what, regardless of who won the election, today we still have millions of babies
being aborted every year. We still have 50% of marriages ending in divorce. We
still have a supposedly Christian culture that has separated sex from marriage
from procreation. We still have many Americans who are more likely to vote based
upon peer pressure, or how nice somebody is, or their own self-interest, or by
what the media told them, or by what's socially easy than they are to vote based
on their own moral or religious convictions. We still have lonely and suffering
people in our communities who need to be loved.
Whether
marriage is redefined now or later, whether our religious freedom is trampled
now or in 10 years, these are not at risk because politicians are getting
bolder, they are at risk because our convictions are getting
colder.
And
if you're waiting for a politician to fix that, you're wasting your time. Sadly,
most politicians are not leaders. And that's because politics has become less
about leadership than it is about marketing.
Politicians
are not in the business anymore of changing people's minds (leadership). That's
too hard. They are in the business of marketing. They look at the cultural map
of the day and then create a platform and a message that tickles enough ears to
win them an election. And that's not all bad when you consider that they are our
servants, sent on our behalf to accomplish our agenda. We get the politicians we
deserve, as the saying goes.
But
the lesson is this: Elections are not the leading edge of
change.
Elections
are the lagging indicators of what's already changed. They tell us where we
already are. So stop waiting around for politics to change this country back or
to move it forward. That's not what politics does.
And
if you find yourself talking about whether Romney (or any politician) lost
because he was too conservative, or not conservative enough, or he should have
talked about social issues more, or the party needs a "bigger tent" - just stop.
Those are political games focused on trying to mirror the culture rather than
change it. It may lead to political victory, but it changes little. Culture
warriors have chased such illusions for too long.
What
we need is to impact the culture by changing hearts and minds. We have to shift
the entire conversation and cultural values, not just gerrymander the platform.
We don't need a bigger "tent." We need to make a more convincing case. That's
what brings about real change. That's leadership.
That's
evangelization. And it rarely comes from a politician.
Does
that mean elections don't matter? Of course not. They matter a
lot.
But
if you want to change their results, the mechanism is not a political one. It's
cultural. And politics rarely drives culture, it's almost always the other way
around.
So
stop worrying about how to change the politics and go sit down and figure out
the next big way that you are going to change our culture for the better. How
are you going to lead?
Figure
that out and the elections will take care of themselves.
The
world is surely upside down. Mother Teresa agreed. She said, “I think the world
today is upside down. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for
greater development and greater riches and so on. There is much suffering
because there is so very little love in homes and in family life. We have no
time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy
each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the
world.”
Real
change starts in the home. Not in the Whitehouse. In *your* home and the homes
around this great nation. That's where it begins. It ends in the election booth.
If we're only showing up to fight in the election booth, we've already missed
the battle.
And
if you are discouraged after the election, Mother Teresa has something to say to
you about that, too:
“If
you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own
power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will
inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already
full. It is as simple as that.”
It's
as simple as that, folks. Transform discouragement into the motivation that
moves you to change things. (And for more inspiration from Mother Teresa, read
her 7 steps to a holier life.)
What
we need right now is leadership. And if you're waiting for a politician, you're
going to be waiting a long time. We need leadership 1) in your home and 2)
in the culture. We need cultural leaders. We need individuals and organizations
to rise up and provide inspiring, convincing leadership that will lead to
conversions of mind and heart.
That's the
surest way to change the politics. That's where real change will come from. And
we already know where our hope comes from (and it ain't from a
politician).
Start
with the culture. Start with your home. Start with yourself.
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