We just voted ourselves permission to talk about why more than 70% of people in exit polls said they were “dissatisfied” or “angry” with “the way things are going in the country today.” Let’s seek wisdom from Holy Spirit and the Word of God to respond with respect to those who are “satisfied” or “enthusiastic” about where we’ve been heading.

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We live in New York City, where there was a surge in votes for Donald Trump, making it the “closest New York has come to turning red in 30 years.” Still, we’ve heard quite a bit of disappointed ranting in the halls. We know of someone seriously considering a move to another country. I saw a video on social media of a woman just screaming, and on another video a fellow concluded that America is steeped in white supremacy. Some have even reportedly committed suicide over the results.

Clearly these folks still believe the news.

The rest of us voted legacy media is no longer trustworthy.

We don’t believe the spin that Donald Trump is Hitler, and we know his legal convictions come from lawfare directed by political opponents.

How do we respond?

As friends and relatives try to process with us we should consider the Apostle Paul’s advice to his mentee, Titus: Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you (Titus 2:15).

What are the things Titus is to speak? Paul lays them out in verses 1-14. In summary, Titus is to disciple Christians from various walks of life to live virtuous lives.

Then he pretty much sums up the Christian walk in a single sentence:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14).

First Century Crete and 21st Century America

Titus was called to speak this into a very pagan culture. He was stationed in Crete when he received Paul’s letter, and the Greek island was known for sexual corruption, greed, and lying. Falsehood so infused their culture that kretismos, which literally means “Cretan behavior,” became the Greek word for “lying.”

Those reading Titus 70 years ago may not have seen much similarity between ancient Crete and America. In 1607 (13 years before the Pilgrims arrived) Robert Hunt dedicated our nation to the Lord at Cape Henry:

We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World.

Our first colleges were founded to train pastors, and the Bible was our textbook. The Church made great headway in abolishing slavery, and Christians have led the way in erasing the stain of slavery — racism.

Marxism

But in the 1940s Marxists came to America. They knew they couldn’t force communism on us, so they infiltrated our institutions. They wanted government to be god, so they undermined the Church and Scripture.

We’ve been hurtling back ever since to a pagan culture similar to ancient Crete.

Titus was to “exhort” Christians to counter-cultural lifestyles. Some translations use the word “encourage.” The Message says it this way: Build up their courage. … The Christians of Crete needed to be brave in order to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, as we do today! But, as Blaise Pascal wrote, “The serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world next to the power of God.”

May we remember in this season of transition that we’re being watched from a new angle. We can’t try harder to live holy lives. We must call upon the One who set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

Lord, help us to live soberly, righteously, and godly.

And let us boldly live for Christ, even if we’re mocked. Someone passionate about exposing and ending the persecution of Christians in other nations mocked me because I was expressing concern for the persecution of Christians in America. In Janet L. Folger Porter’s book The Criminalization of Christianity she pointed out in 1997 how we’re on a trajectory for greater persecution if we don’t speak up.

Now is a great time to do so.

Paul urges Titus to rebuke with all authority. He gets his authority from Paul, Scripture, and God. Let us not rebuke with our opinions, we must stay in the Word.

We have plenty to rebuke in our day. We certainly hit the big three from ancient Crete, which have all been exacerbated by Marxists:

Lying – “Accuse the enemy of doing what you are doing to confuse the conversation.”

Greed – “Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent, and it will be easier to take (tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.”

Sexual corruption – “Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as ‘normal, natural and healthy.’”

We should be calling these things out, especially when those who bear the name of Christ are engaged in them.

Some say the Gospel is so important we shouldn’t get involved in politics.

Ungodliness, worldly lusts, and lawless deeds certainly infuse politics!

As we walk closely with the Lord, in the world but not of it (John 17:15-16), Holy Spirit living within us will give us a platform to speak with His authority what we know to be true.

Verse 15 finishes with this: Let no one despise you. The Passion Translation puts it this way: Be willing to expose sin in order to bring correction with full authority, without being intimidated by anyone.

So if people ask you why Donald Trump won, don’t be afraid to let them know Marxists have been corrupting our culture in order to take over, and we the people put a stop to that.

Now we must pray revival and awakening spring up!

Jonathan Cahn recently said about this season, “If we change the laws but don’t change the hearts, the unchanged hearts will change the changed laws back again.”

Though we shouldn’t be intimidated by those who disagree with Scripture, we must remember they are Image-bearers, and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Post your prayers that we can reach those we disagree with in this pivotal season.

Rich Swingle has presented in 42 nations on six continents, mostly with his own one-man plays. He plays Wesley in Janet Porter’s What’s a Girl to Do? He and his bride Joyce Swingle have 41 screen children. The Swingles live in New York City. www.RichDrama.com. Photo Credit: Christina Morillo/Pexels.