Many of you may be, or may have been, thinking like I have thought at
times over the past few years and decades. You may have thought, ‘With
this big election coming up, is this the best we have to offer as a nation in
terms of the final candidates?’
Well, I used to wallow in that – particularly during election years. I
lamented the question of whether there is real faith in Jehovah God among
these candidates. Now understand – I have never wavered in my
commitment to vote, and to encourage others to do so. But in the past, I
felt I couldn’t do that enthusiastically and often felt like I was looking at the
‘lesser of two evils’. But at some point a few years ago, I realized that I
was looking at it wrong – all along. Elections are really NOT about the
lesser of two evils – as much as they may so seem.
Let me explain by citing two points. First – In the Bible, God did a lot of
work through people who didn’t ‘look’ like the spiritually mature, hero-like
Christ followers. Think of people like Moses, a murderer, David, an
adulterer and murderer, Saul, a prominent persecutor of God’s people.
Think about the dark days of Israel, one period of which is known as the
period of The Judges. Go read that book, right after Joshua in the Old
Testament, and give me your moral evaluation of some of those who
served as Israel’s judges – men and women that God used during that
time. Not all had questionable character, but a good number of them did.
SecondinbusinesstheCEOroleissoimportantinsettingdirectionforan
Second, in business, the CEO role is so important in setting direction for an
organization. But it is the other senior, mid-level and even frontline level
leaders and managers that set more strategic policy, and execute on that
policy. So – a great CEO can have mediocre leaders under her, and not be
effective (of course, a competent CEO would either re-develop or replace
those leaders that produce mediocrity, or risk being replaced themselves).
That being said, with any CEO-type level leader, the people around them
are SOOOOO important! And so it should be with our elected offices –
particularly those that represent executive functions. Have these people
had to balance a budget, create jobs, build a healthy culture, etc.? Most
importantly – do they and will they lead by principles that are rooted in the
truth of God’s Word?
So – I think that while I had been looking at candidates – and still look at
candidates – asking’ ‘Who among them seem to be promoting, and living
by, the Judeo-Christian principles that we find in God’s Word – and on
which our country was founded?’ I’ve realized that this is the right
question. But it’s not the only question.
For me another appropriate question goes like this: ‘Which candidate is
likely to appoint people who share my faith as a Christ-follower? Which
candidate is more likely to appoint to key roles, people of the JudeoChristian faith? Which candidate is more likely to appoint people whom,
even if they don’t profess to be Christ-followers, will hold similar stances to
mine on important moral and social issues?’ I other words, which
candidate will likely surround themselves with people who will govern by
principles that align with God’s Word. (In our initial 12:2 Conversation this
week, my buddy Kevin Jordan referred to this very point….)
So once I shifted the questions in my mind to those that I believe more
closely relate to the reality that it’s not just about one person – the one at
the top, I can have much more clarity about our national elections. And
now I do have that clarity. With this clarity, I can enthusiastically go to the
polls. I can talk with others about why I can do this enthusiastically, and
hopefully help them – certainly Christians being a big part of this group –
develop a similar enthusiasm.
So now – I think I’ve got at least a Big part of this election thing figured out!
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