Lame Duck

Nov 18

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.

The U.S. Congress is preparing to begin a “lame duck” session next week. The 118th Congress will be concluding its work, and it will be doing so with scores of Members who will not be serving when the 119th Congress convenes in January. While this has become a fairly typical scenario, it creates a legislating dynamic that is quite different than that which exists just before an election. This year’s lame duck session is generating particular interest due to the volume of unfinished business and the fact that control of both the White House and the U.S. Senate is set to change party hands in January.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Accountability to the voters is a critical component of America’s democratic republic. Lame duck sessions tend to reduce the natural impact of voter opinion on the actions of the legislature. Because of this dynamic, it behooves America citizens to pay particular attention to the actions of its government during this time period.

This story is a good reminder for Jesus followers to “be prepared in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). The full thread of scripture clearly points us to this type of readiness in all manner of things, but it is encouraging and instructive to give specific vigilance to the particular task mentioned—preaching the Good News!

It is our theme this week. Elections and the ensuing actions of those who are elected (be they in your country or elsewhere in the world) certainly have an impact on our tangible world. Many things around us change. But your mission and mine remains the same. We are The Equipped, and we are to be perpetually prepared to preach the Good News and to make disciples. Let’s begin anew today.

Thann Bennett

Thann Bennett is the Founder and President of Every Good Work, which exists to equip Jesus followers for a life of impact. His weekly newsletter, The Equipped, helps Jesus followers engage current events through a lens of the True and the beautiful. Thann and his wife, Brooke, are co-Founders of A Fearless Life, which works to find and fund a family for every adoption-eligible foster child in America. Thann has more than two decades of high-level public policy experience, with a particular focus on the U.S. Congress and the United Nations. He is the author of In Search of the King and My Fame His Fame. Thann and Brooke live in southern Maryland with their three children: Jude, Gambrell, and Hope, as well as a host of farm animals. The Bennetts are longtime members of the National Community Church family in Washington, D.C.

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