The United States remains bitterly divided over a clash of worldviews, yet the surrounding nations are embroiled in much the same clash. It is not a simple matter of Red and Blue—though arguably this divide is in part representative of the battle at hand.

Election years are always interesting to me for the simple reason that it reveals what much of the world holds in high esteem. Surely, the 2020 presidential election for the United States is no different than the rest in that regard, though it will undoubtedly shape up to be interesting, to say the least. The reason I say this is also relatively simple: it seems that no matter the outcome, the results will be highly contested and make the 2000 fiasco with hanging chads seem like a well-organized and relatively benign controversy.

The United States remains bitterly divided over a clash of worldviews, yet the surrounding nations are embroiled in much the same clash. It is not a simple matter of Red and Blue—though arguably this divide is in part representative of the battle at hand. Indeed, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). What we often refuse to acknowledge in the midst of this is that things truly are embedded into one of two major worldviews, which are in opposition to one another.

We tend to focus on the physical reality at play, forgetting that the devil genuinely is in the details, and those details undergird a greater spiritual reality that is always and ever at play. The powers and principalities which reside in the “unseen realm” inform what unfurls in the “seen realm.” Despite appearances, there is much greater unity in our world than meets the eye. While there is a myriad of ways to accomplish the desired outcome of a world without God, the net result is the same: the nations seek to throw off the fetters that bind them. There is only one true worldview that binds the hearts, minds, and souls of every man, woman, and child, and that is the Christian worldview.

The reason I boil this down to a worldview clash is that despite agreement among party affiliations on contentious issues, there are truly only two spheres of reality at play: there is the realm of vileness and impurity, and there is the realm of sanctification and honor (1 Thess. 4:7). Those who are not in Christ are in the realm of vileness and impurity. They have not been cleansed of their sins and are therefore under the wrath of God at this precise moment (Jn. 3:36). They, along with the whole world, are contently wrapped in the bosom of the Evil One (1 Jn. 5:19). Here therein do we find familial lines drawn then between children of the Devil and children of God. While you might feel a particular affinity to one child of the Devil over the next, perhaps the most subversive work Satan can do is to convince Christians they are right at home among his offspring.

I’ve made mention of it several times before, but I truly do believe that comfort is the greatest threat to the church. Not martyrdom, persecution, or even infringement upon constitutional rights. Comfort. Comfort takes my attention because it is all the more pernicious and subtle than the threat of suffering. Suffering has the profound ability to snap the Christian out of their slumber, whereas comfort lulls them to sleep. Persecution purifies the whole, whereas comfort tends to soil the lot. Martyrdom spills the blood of the saints, yet builds the church, whereas comfort leaves souls content in thinking it will always be someone else’s job. The great question of pastors worth their salt is never how comfortable you are, but if you will endure to the end, despite how very uncomfortable that task often proves to be.

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