“If the Republicans win, do you think that America will make it?” was the question asked of Jon Stewart, the host of The Daily Show. My three sons and I were attending the taping of the show in Tampa during the RNC. The show gets most of its laughs coming from a liberal or progressive point of view and would never be accused of being friendly to Republicans.
“Of course,” was Stewart’s instant response in this pre-show Q&A. “Do you remember that this country once had a civil war and that in the sixties we assassinated our favorite leaders?”
He didn’t take the bait. He had a different perspective than the entertainer sitting behind the desk.
Perspective. It colors everything. Just ask Chuck Norris. Or, I dare you to ask my barber about Bill Clinton’s already famous speech from the DNC this week. Something about the“devil in person.”
Politics. Great theatre.
This Sunday the Gathering Church begins a message series, not on politics but on A New Perspective, a study of the book of Philippians in the New Testament. The writer, the apostle Paul acts as if the coming of Jesus has changed the perspective on every human experience: purpose, status, passion, relationships, conflict with others, problems, worries, achievements, happiness. You name it, it all is being re-shaped by what he calls the Gospel.
What we discover is that people captured by the momentum of the Gospel have a different kind of joy, peace, and love than can be produced by anything else.
This Sunday we begin with Philippians 1:1-11.
By the way, the Gospel will even change your politics.