(This post was written by Michael Wallace, High School Pastor)

As we wrap up an awesome teaching series at Faith Promise Church about compassion, my mind has wandered over to the role of the government.  Pastor Chris mentioned this past week that wherever you can find suffering and pain, the church is there.  I think I sometimes want to delegate compassion over to our elected officials.  It’s easier to simply rely on welfare and food stamps to impact the hurting of our community than to rub shoulders with a person in need.  As I process this mentality, I am realizing something:

The government is not the church.  They provide helpful programs and national security, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  But in the end the government is filled with fallible, human people.

While the government is filled with people, the church is made up of people who are filled with the Holy Spirit.  The government is designed to maintain order and the church is designed to change lives.  If we blur the lines between the purpose of the government and the purpose of the church, we will worship the wrong things and miss out on opportunity after opportunity to change hearts and lives for Jesus Christ!

I believe with my whole heart that no matter who is in the oval office or which party controls the house and senate, our God is in control.  The needs and conditions of the world are not too far for Him to see.  And He loves us despite even the conditions of our own hearts.

Let’s support the government and be involved, but first let’s love God and be the church to a hurting world.  In the end, only Jesus saves.  Are you as passionate about His cross as your cause?  How are you modeling this in your family?