I rarely write about politics, not because I am afraid to do so. To be honest, I don’t think much is accomplished at this point. The lines of demarcation are so clear and decisive that nothing a 62-year-old grandmother says or writes will cause other people to stop and re-evaluate their chosen political side.
So, most of the time, I write about how I sincerely try to live out my biblical beliefs daily. I share stories of who I am and what I struggle with and face in real life. And sometimes, my words prompt open, honest, and revealing discussions. Other times, they go relatively unnoticed.
That’s my approach to politics – most of the time.
But the events that occurred last week at a presidential rally for Vice President Kamala Harris at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse have troubled me greatly.
Now, I admit that the first I heard of this topic was from a Facebook post using audio clips of this rally juxtaposed alongside comments from a different Wisconsin rally made by J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for Vice President. The two clips were very similar in topic but starkly opposite in content.
In one clip, an attendee at the rally appeared to yell, “Jesus is King!” Immediately, Vance responded in agreement, “That’s right; Jesus is King!”
The contrasting clip depicted people in the crowd apparently shouting, “Jesus is Lord!” and “Jesus is King!” And Harris immediately quipped, “You guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.”
After my initial shock at this stark and sad contrast in reactions to hearing that Jesus is Lord and King, I stopped to question the authenticity of either (or both) videos. They just seemed so exactly opposite, almost perfectly scripted in their directly differing statements of belief.
So, I began to research, thinking that maybe the clips (especially the one of the Harris rally) had been manipulated, altered, chopped, or even invented via AI technology. Or maybe, it was simply a misunderstanding. Perhaps Harris was commenting to someone else that we could not hear, someone closer to the podium from which she spoke that day. (Other people voiced these same questions in the online comments to this post.)
But, sadly, after watching clip after clip of the rallies, filmed from various angles, and after listening to interviews with the two young men who had shouted about the Lordship and Kingship of our Savior at the Democratic presidential rally – the truth was clear – as clear as the comments and actions of our Vice President, her rally officials, the attending crowd, and the two young men who were eventually and forcefully escorted from the Harris rally.
And what I saw and heard hurt my heart so deeply.
Not only did the Vice President make these comments with a smile on her face, but her words were received with laughter and applause.
That alone is enough to make me fearful for the well-being of our nation. To think that the God of the universe was mocked by a candidate is one thing. But an entire crowd applauded the mocking and denial of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.
It was so very reminiscent of the crowd that mocked Jesus long ago and chose the release of Barabbas, an established, hardened criminal, over that of Jesus, the only sinless human to ever walk the face of the earth.
Then, on top of our Vice President’s open and raucous blasphemy, add the almost immediate attempts from her election team and the mainstream media to deflect, lie, and cover up her words.
Not to mention the seismic shift of blame to the Republican party for manufacturing such stupid lies and slander. Truly, it was a PR blitz about Harris’ church attendance, her support of the church, and so on and so on.
Yet, the truth cannot be denied.
Those pesky FB videos that other rally attendees made and posted on social media reveal what really took place: Two young Christian men took a stand for Christ in the midst of a speech on abortion rights and other anti-biblical topics. And they did so by proclaiming loudly and repeatedly that Jesus was their Lord and King.
Perhaps the truest words spoken by our nation’s Second in Command that day were: “You guys are at the wrong rally.”
Yes, they were.
And that truth begs one simple question of every American headed to the voting booths in a few days – but it is not a question of presidents or even political parties. It’s bigger than that.
It’s the same question asked long ago in Joshua 24:15, “…choose for yourselves this day who you will serve …. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Yep, it’s a simple question everyone must answer: Who is your king? Who is your lord?
