Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Instead, we
will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ,
who is the head of his body, the church.
Ephesians 4:15(NLT)
Sometimes truth is spoken, and there
is no love in it. This 30 year-old cartoon
comes to mind:
The truth is, the coach wants a win,
big-time! When he takes his hat off,
still foaming at the mouth and invites the team to pray, you wonder whom to
believe, Jekyll or Hyde? Just looking at
the players, you know they’re feeling it too; notice how the player on the far right
has a complete facial expression change from, Yeah, let’s kill ‘em
to HUH?
I’ve seen a lot of that look in this
political season; I’ve seen it mostly in the mirror. That look shows up when I’m listening to the
candidates. That kill ‘em but pray
for ‘em see-saw tone used by the wild-eyed candidates overwhelms my
ability to believe almost anything they say on the campaign stump.
Duplicity, Fraud, Scammer, Deceiver,
Treacherous….these are all synonyms describing people who say things that are
meant to sway the listener’s support, but the actions which follow are
inconsistent; they say one thing, mean and do another.
Now, please save the cards and
letters – I’ve heard all the “reasons” why if you don’t vote for this one, you’re
voting for the other. (Mathematically that isn’t true anyway – at most the value
of a non-vote could only approach ½ a vote).
I do intend to vote, but this
political cycle has been perhaps the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced to
making an ethical choice, consistent with God’s Word on choosing godly leaders.
All of the candidates have ethical
compromises. Each claims to be
Christian. In the case of the Blue
Party, a lifelong Methodist and Roman Catholic both support abortion; they’re both
either in the wrong church, or consider themselves exempt…or above answering to
that point.
In the Red Party, the candidates are a
self-proclaimed Presbyterian, and a born-again Evangelical Roman Catholic. In the case of the VP candidate, he still places
money over faith. He initially signed a
religious freedom law in Indiana permitting people to refuse to do business
with anyone on the basis of their faith, but
the following week signed a watered-down version replacing it when corporations
and celebrities complained.
As for the Presidential candidate, he
claims to be a Presbyterian but denies ever apologizing to anyone – mother,
father, or God. As I recall, that little
thing about confession of sin to God (apologizing) to confirm our belief is a
rather standard requirement. I do not
presume to know his heart, but going to church for a drop of wine and a little
cracker so you can feel good afterward….once every ten years, whether you need
it or not, is hardly evidence to support a claim of godliness.
Once again – I do not intend to judge
another’s heart relationship with God; in fact, I just wish they would all
leave that part out of their speeches.
But, no matter what, it is going to
be a rocky
road to November 8th.
For You Today
I invite you to do what I have committed to do…pray
hard…every day…for the candidates to speak truth…and to learn to speak it in
love.
And then, relax….God’s got this, believe it or not!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have
a blessed day!
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