Scott Slayton

Increasingly, our political commitments lead us to find our hope, salvation and security in political wins. There is a simple name for this–idolatry.

It takes no work to get people to lament the state of America. Gather a group of liberals, and they will wring their hands over the impending theocratic patriarchy that will create a dystopia that rivals The Handmaid’s Tale. Conservatives remain convinced that a cabal of elites is conspiring to destroy America as we know it with high taxes, mass immigration, liberal indoctrination and sexual deviancy.

Now that you’re caught up on this week’s controversy du jour, I want to convince you that it doesn’t matter. When this controversy dies down, there will be another, and another, and another. The cycle never ends and never accomplishes anything.

The 2024 election needs to be about America's future, not a battle royal over its recent past. Unless American voters reject the status quo and choose new candidates, we'll be dealing with the latter and not the former. Christian voters need to spend serious time examining primary candidates outside the two that everyone knows. Find someone who reflects your values and choose accordingly. Then, hopefully, we will all be in a better place in 2028 than we find ourselves in 2023.

Like many who mourned pastor Tim Keller's passing, I never met him in person. Also, like many others, he served as a mentor from afar. I could talk for days about the ministry insights I learned from him, but those are not the most important. Through his sermons, books, articles, and interviews, I gleaned an approach to following Jesus and engaging the people around me with the Gospel.

Our politicians, from both parties, have learned that working on real solutions doesn't get their face on cable news or garner social media likes, both of which they turn into fundraising opportunities.

In the wake of the announcement that former President Jimmy Carter will spend his remaining days at home, political observers have reappraised different aspects of his presidency. By any objective measure, Carter’s Presidency was one of the most difficult in American history. In July 1979, Carter’s administration put him in a pinch by prematurely announcing he would give a televised speech addressing the energy crisis.

If we hear the name of Jesus and start searching for a political agenda, we have made politics into an idol. Political victory has enshrined itself in our hearts as the thing that can save us. We owe our allegiance to our political tribe and must obey the compulsion to crush our enemies.

If we want our government to change, we have to change. American citizens, particularly those who are followers of Jesus, have an obligation to improve the condition of the American republic so that it better addresses the obstacles we face. We could talk for hours about how we need to change, but here are three suggestions to get us started today...

After Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field during a nationally televised football game last week, slews of people began calling for prayers for his recovery. In one sense, this outpouring was not surprising. In another sense, it pushes back against the growing secularity of America.