Picking a godly leader

So many people have asked me lately, how could we end up in America having Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton become the candidates for the presidency? Who would have guessed that this could happen in America? 

Our political system has been polarizing for years and it has now reached extremes in its polarization.  The manifestation of that polarization I believe is Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.  I have often seen the Republican Party as focusing on masculine values like accountability, responsibility and fiscal responsibility, and that independence, freedom and self sufficiency is a large part of their mission.  Where the Democratic Party is much more feminine with values like inclusion, care giving for those in need, equity and government support for these goals.  Mom will take care of you and dad will push you out of the nest!  How did we get this polarized political system and is it healthy? Is it our only option? Are we stuck?

Os Guinness in his critique of American culture says that polarization, “false antagonisms” or “either/or” thinking undermines the health and spirituality of our nation. He believes that polarizations are a large part of American culture.(1) When a mom and dad fight over whose values are right or the best they undermine the health and functioning of their family. Competitors make for poor partners! When a couple loops - is emotionally reactive and polarize rather than join and work together for the greater good the family deteriorates.  When arguing and fighting is normalized the family becomes unhealthy.

Several years ago I was asked to lead the city prayer vigil after the January 8^th shooting which involved Gabriel Gifford.  We had the service at the court house and it was heavily covered by the news media.  The most common question from them was, “was this shooting a result of political conflict?”  I responded that it was mainly from a mentally ill person and that assessment got me little press.  However as a therapist I also mentioned that unresolved tension increases the likelihood of the marginalized to act out. Diversity creates tension in our culture, but great leadership unifies diversity. So our political leaders need to be real about their differences but respectful rather than vilifying differences.  We need peace makers for our communities to thrive. There are issues that need to be defined as wrong and the politicians need to define their convictions on these issues, but vilifying an issue is different than being judgmental or critical of a person. Several political leaders after the shooting confessed their sins of hostility and being judgmental with one another and pledged to be “civil.”  There was some repentance that came out of the tragedy for us locally.

The other night I was watching the news and a discussion arose about the dog fighting between Trump and Rubio.  Part of the critique was the interviewer asking John McCain about the fighting.  McCain stated that the candidates were giving up their integrity.  The interviewer said that those who fight and enter into nasty exchanges gain more votes. McCain retorted that to gain the votes they have to compromise with their integrity.  The interviewer confronted McCain and said because you would not fight this way you lost the election and he responded by saying, “but I didn’t lose my integrity.”  Leaders have to have a handle on good and evil to lead or they will hurt us bringing curses rather than bring blessings.  “Listen you leaders of Israel!  You who are supposed to know right from wrong, but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.”  (Micah 3:1-2)

The primaries are about people who want to be public servants courting the American public so we will vote for them to be our servants.  We need to gain a confidence that they have the power, competency, integrity and the ability to take charge so they can serve well.  We need to believe that they have the character to be trusted, and not abuse their positions of power.  We really need to know their record of service more than promises and great rhetoric.  Substance is much more important than image or emotional appeal for good service.  God uses governments as a part of His plan and rule in that it is His servant, but His reign is preeminent not political systems or leaders. (2)  Too many Christians define faith politically today rather than spiritually.  Timothy Keller says, “…Christians should never identify too closely with a particular party or philosophy.” (3) 

When Nehemiah picked leaders for the stability of his nation and city he picked people who “feared God more than most and were faithful.” (4)  Maybe as a democracy we the people are at fault for the candidates we have.  Maybe we have produced this political system with the evil that is manifest in it and that we need cultural reform to gain political reform.  Maybe we need to look to God as our political leader more than man.  God in His sovereignty can use anyone He wants to use to lead or rule and He does.  He has used a donkey and can surely use an elephant. (Daniel 4:17  …the most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.  He gives them to anyone he chooses) In scripture and history we have had many types of leaders, even in a theocracy there were good and bad kings. The righteous ones were the best for the people.  We need to vote for good and godly people to lead us!

Diversity is even a part of the Christian Community; it is surely a part of the faith community and even more a part of the American community. We are not all the same! Yet God rules over all, loving and caring for all of His creation.  He does not force conformity but creates and invites diversity while drawing us into faith in Him.  Are the candidates manipulating us towards conformity or using control to gain votes or are they respecting diversity within the greater community?

 Have we as Evangelicals defined what characteristics a mature godly political leader should have? Are we committed to prayer and service in our country? Are we seeking His will? Do we as Evangelicals know what the Kingdom of God requires of those who would be political leaders under the rule of our King? 6 (Micah 6:8) Are we supporting those who are godly and have integrity more than those who have image and lack substance?

1.  Os Guinness, “Fit Bodies Fat Minds Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to do About it.” Pg 30
2. Romans 13:1-7
3. Timothy Keller, “Generous Justice.” Pg 163
4. Nehemiah chapter 7
5. 1 Samuel chapter 8 (I have a short Bible study on this passage on the blog site)
6. Micah 6:8

If you want more about voting as a person of faith in this election go to Dr. Ben Carson’s www.myfaithvotes.com

The Down Turn of 2008

The other night President Obama gave his speech about how the new leadership is going to turn the recession around. What I think they have overlooked is that this recession is a consequence and a correction of our culture. We have been greedy and lived beyond our means for a long time. We should not be putting the blame on one party but all of us taking personal responsibility for our parts in this down turn. There has been an accumulation of individual, corporate and government debt. We have over inflated the value of many things and under valued others that are even more important. We have speculated on our housing and driven the prices up through bad lending practices and naiveté. Then we leveraged our homes to live higher life styles. As the housing prices corrected themselves many became upside down in their mortgages and began to loose their homes. This put pressure on the government and they became anxious. Their sense of responsibility and anxiety moved them to start rescuing many institutions and industries that need correction badly. Crisis is not always a bad thing even though there is suffering involved. It is often a time for self reflection, learning, forgiveness and change. Compassion and empathy does need to be applied especially to the poor and vulnerable of our society, who often experience the greatest burden in recessions. I do believe that God made government as his servant for the common grace of people and that government has a responsibility to be a part of a societal safety net. However, they also are to lead and serve in ways that make things better, not worse. Of course this is a complex situation and a paragraph of thought will not do justice to its complexity and the solutions needed to solve the problem. However, in relationships when a parent figure takes too much responsibility driven by fear and anxiety they often create dependency rather than empowerment. We all know that the culture has been moving towards bad financial habits for many years. The savings rate for Americans in the 1960s was between 8-10%, by the 1980’s it had dropped to 6% and by 2007 it was at 0%. In the 1960s the debt percentage of the gross domestic product was 40-50%, in the 1980s it was up to 70% and by 2007 it was at 110%. We have been warned about a coming recession because of excessive greed, living beyond our means and debt accumulation for a long time by the prophets of economics. The solutions for this problem are something we all need to take responsibility for and work together for the common good.