Thought experiment

I had a session of our inquirers’ class this evening—that’s the class I do for those who want to join the church and those who’re trying to figure out if they do—which left me, as I was driving back home, in a contemplative mood, just mulling over things with the church and praying a little; and as I was doing this, I’m not sure if it was merely my own thought or if perhaps it was God speaking, but I had this thought: Suppose God gave you a choice between two promises. Either you could ask that John McCain be elected president, and that would be granted (though Gov. Palin didn’t figure in here); or you could ask for a breakthrough for this church in attracting young people and young families who aren’t currently attending a church, such that we’d start drawing large numbers of younger folks, and that would be granted. The other might or might not happen, but whichever you chose, you could be sure would happen. Which would you choose?—OK, so it sounds artificial; I don’t dispute it. (That’s probably the biggest argument for it just being my own random thought, and even then, I don’t know where it came from.) Artificial or otherwise, though, the question came to mind; and while it will probably surprise some of you who’ve read my various political posts, I had no doubt of my answer: I’d choose for the church.Part of that, I’m sure, is a matter of direct personal welfare: whether or not this congregation grows will have a more direct and immediate effect on my well-being (financial and otherwise) than who gets elected president. That’s a consideration. It isn’t, however, the main one. The main one is the limitations of my own knowledge. If, through whatever combination of programs, circumstances, and whatever else, a lot of people of my generation and younger in this community started attending the congregation I serve, I have a high degree of certainty that this would be a good thing for our congregation (and, yes, for me and my family as well); and as to whether it would be a good thing for those folks, and for our community, I believe it would be, and I would be able to do everything in my power to make sure that it was. I can look at that possibility as a clear good.By contrast, while I truly believe that Sen. McCain would make a good president, and while I’m equally convinced that Sen. Obama would make a very bad one, I have far less ability to be certain of that. I don’t know Sen. Obama at all, and my only personal knowledge of Sen. McCain is secondhand; there are a vast number of unknown variables (on multiple levels) which will play into the success or failure of our next president; and Sen. Obama has a short enough track record that it’s more difficult than usual to predict how he would govern, making it unusually possible that he could surprise all of us. Then too, even if I’m absolutely right about what to expect from both of them (which is unlikely, no question), it’s possible that for the long-term good of our country, we’d be better off with a worse president for the next four years. I’m not sure exactly how that would work, but I can’t say that it couldn’t be—the ironies of history won’t let me.All of which is to say that while I know which candidate will get my vote this November, I’m content to leave the overall outcome of the election to God’s providence; indeed, I wouldn’t be presumptuous enough to think I could do better. I’m just not confident enough that I truly know for certain what’s best (nor should I be, nor should any of us be). On matters closer to home, within my purview and my circle of influence, I can be a lot more certain; and there, my responsibility is more direct, as well. (Which is why, if God actually did make me such a promise for my church, I would be thrilled.)