It's interesting to watch society in the day and age of social media and blogs. Social media erupts over epic global calamities, Super Bowl halftime shows and President's making policy changes. 

Over the past few weeks, many have been make half-cocked statements about their amendment rights and swearing to move to Canada and other pithy comments angrily mumbled over lunch with a friend, sneaked into a Pastor's sermon or blatantly spewed on social media. (As if that's the reason we follow our friends on social media in the first place.) A wise person once said "All your political comments on facebook are making me want to switch my stance on the issues. Said no one. Ever." I think it was Abraham Lincoln who first said that.

I heard about a guy who is doing a 40 day fast for President Obama. I think that sounds a whole lot more like Jesus than all the complainers and haters.

A few weeks ago, I asked on this blog: "How is the world supposed to see the grace of God, if the people of God are not gracious to each other or to the lost?" I think this goes for how we treat the least known person in our society, to the most well known - the POTUS. 

Scripture is crystal clear on this subject: "Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God's people should be bighearted and courteous. It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it." (Titus 3:1-6)

Listen, if we go around in this world announcing our opinions (and especially our objections) to everything everyone ever does, we will soon lose all credibility to say anything ever again.

The Bible tells us that "when the Holy Spirit controls our lives" we will have certain characteristics that show that His character is rubbing off on us. In what we say and what we do, people should see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. If we are speaking out of bitterness, anger, frustration, fear - these things are not of the Spirit, not of God.

Some Christians who've been acting out of what they assumed was radical obedience to God, have actually been living completely opposite to the Spirit of God and need to repent.

This by no means, means that you have to agree with the President or even your Pastor on political issues. It simply means there needs to be a whole lot more respect, and graciousness out of the people claiming the grace of God has entered their lives. Their needs to be a whole lot more prayer, and a whole lot more getting involved to help make our nation better. We should make a point to talk about where we agree on points, instead of our only coverage being where we disagree (does this mean we are as bad as the news media at times?)

Lastly, there's always someone who wants to ask about the angry, ancient prophets or Jesus with the money changers. True, the prophets weren't nice in what they said or how they said it. But that was before Christ entered the scene, when God was still leading people to kill alien nations. Now, that we all have access to the Holy Spirit's power to control our lives, through Christ's sacrifice, we are to walk in gentleness and respect as the aroma of Christ to the world around us.

And as for Jesus with the money changers, we need to remember that he was turning over tables inside the church, not outside. Judgement needs to begin with the house of God, with my own heart.