For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king. 1 Peter 2:13-17
Tomorrow is “Election Day”. It sounds odd to proclaim that; probably more
than half the voters in America have already cast their ballot, either in early
voting or by mail-in ballot. The early
voting line last Thursday was an hour long. My bride and I passed the time in the stiff
winds, under our masks, still talking about the choices we would make in the
voting booth. Some are decidedly the lesser
of evils.
The apostle Peter understood that condition. In his youth the big fisherman was impetuous, idealistic, and brash. By the time he wrote the words of our text he’d lived long enough, and sinned big enough, and been forgiven more than enough, to get his mind around what a Christian’s responsibility is when it comes to separating earthly authority from heavenly authority; you respect the king, and honor God.
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For me, the choices always come down to
the candidate that comes closest[1] to what Scripture proclaims is God’s ways. Last Wednesday I watched a video sent to me
by a friend. It was Fr. Ed Meeks, a
parish priest in Towson, Md, preaching about the non-negotiables of
the Catholic church, which candidate Joe Biden, a self-avowed, lifelong
Catholic, violates…proudly.
He also leads a party that makes a mockery
of the sanctity of marriage, even officiating the marriage of two men[3] in 2016 as the sitting vice-president of the United States.
Fr. Meeks, in his homily of Oct 11th
also characterized Biden as a threat to religious liberty, also a
non-negotiable teaching of the church.
Allowing that many policies and philosophies of governing, such as
economy, national security, and much more, are debatable, and should be
scrutinized, these three, sanctity of life, marriage, and religious freedom,
are non-negotiable.
On the other side
of the ballot stands Mr. Trump. His is a
personality that leaves little room for middle ground. People seem to either love or despise him…profusely. But personality is trumped[4] by ideology in the ballot booth.
The choices become a lot clearer for those who commit their lives to
Jesus Christ. The party to which Donald
Trump belongs holds as sacred the sanctity of life, marriage, and free exercise
of religion. And the president may have
some tall explaining to do (without spin) on these issues in his personal life
when judgment day arrives. But
personality aside, the performance of his administration has tended to support
the platform which protects the non-negotiables.
On the other hand,
Mr. Biden stands unabashedly with the Democratic party, which tends toward Socialist
Marxism, a system that cannot help itself from becoming totalitarian, and,
typically, an enemy of the church. Ironically,
Mr. Biden belongs to both the church and the party. In the case of the church to which he proudly
proclaims to belong, he also rejects their most sacred tenets, the sanctity of
life, marriage, and religious freedom.
This is more than having your cake and eating it too…it is
duplicity of the most dangerous sort. I
had little doubt standing in line last Thursday. I still don’t; just a measure of sadness over
a choice between the lesser of evils.
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky
Road; have a blessed day!
Title image: Pixabay.com W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on 1 Peter 2:13-17 see: An Honorable Life and
Honorable Behavior - Part 2
[1] “Closest”
is a good word here, because we do not live in a perfect world.
[2]
Abortion may be legal in the U.S., however the right to life,
liberty and pursuit of happiness is interpretive.
[4]
Sorry…don’t unfriend me
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