First, let me start off by saying I know it has been a very long time since I have written anything. My life has turned into a tree with many branches and I am the nut that is hanging on for dear life. I have missed writing in so many ways, so I am glad that despite the cajillion other things I needed to be doing today, I finally answered God's prompting to sit down and write this piece.
God has been on my heart for a while about this subject and I prayed that he would give me some clarity on it yesterday. As I was sitting on Facebook a friend of mine posted something on my page. She had no clue about the prayer I prayed or even about the internal struggle I have battled with for quite some time. I wrote back in January about things God has placed on my heart concerning our political system. This morning I felt like God had given me the green light to write about some other things that I have felt like I needed to share for a long time.
This political season has been difficult for me because my values seemed to be at stake on both sides. I am a Bible believing Christian. I don't try to pick apart the Bible to make it fit my life. I adjust my life according to the knowledge I glean from God's word. Over the years that has truly meant seeking out God for answers to questions I have had. Many of those questions being ones that people who know me today would be shocked that I had ever asked.
I believe in going to God's word for all my answers and knowing his word for.my.self., Unfortunately Christianity in this country is becoming more and more watered down, because as a nation we have become content with being spoon fed our information...including God's word. I've heard many Christians talk about their pastors not bringing forth God's word in a heavy fashion. Although I believe that pastoring is definitely not a playground activity, Christianity is neither a spectator sport.
Our church leaders need to be willing to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:16) and boldness (2Tim1:7). But, our Christians need to learn God's word for themselves (Prov 18:15, Prov 1:7, Prov 23:12, Col 2:2-4). We also need to understand God's words as it applies to our leaders and our nation. The biggest cry I hear is "separation of church and state," but I don't believe that to be Biblically possible. Understanding that as a body of believers may be the very thing to keep our nation from continuing to fall apart at the seams.
I do understand that this is all a part of the end times, but I don't think that knowledge gives us a free pass to just buckle down and succumb to it or be numb to it. This is part of our charge as Christians, to stand boldy in our faith and charge on in spite of the world around us (Romans 12:2). Now before you start hollering and getting all bent out of shape, look at this perspective. Historically speaking from Bible times all the way to the events leading to the pilgrimage to America, leaders that imposed a religion on the nation ("you must serve this or that God" have failed. But on the same token, when a nation's leader allowed his land to be devoid of morals God has allowed 2 things to generally happen...turn back to him or be destroyed.
I don't believe our leaders should impose a national religion of Christianity (because that worked so well for England), but our laws and leaders need to be of strong moral character and have a long term vision of prosperity (Deut 28:1-68). That entire chapter is a good example of why leaders characters should be built from a strong foundation. Combine that with Hosea 4:6, and we gain understanding of how lacking knowledge in God, as well as how that knowledge applies to us and our leaders can have severe consequences. Death can be brought about spiritually, physically, socially, mentally, and generationally, so it can stretch much further than the here and now.
God destroyed nations and leader because they thought they were bigger than him or exempt from his mandates, but he also gave them opportunities to turn back to him. Sodom and Gomorrah, Nineveh, King Nebuchadnezzar, and Saul are all examples of nations and leaders that did not keep God at the head, and they and their people suffered greatly. Some received the opportunity to redeem themselves with God post-destruction, some chose to do it at his warning, and others charged on in spite of his warnings and lost their chance to get it right. I don't want to be a fallen nation before we choose to turn back to God's wisdom for us and I definitely don't want us to lose our chance altogether.
I also charge people to take the roles of national leaders into consideration. The best leaders are actually servant-like in nature. People like to bring up Jesus in politics to serve their point. Guess what? I am about to do the same. Jesus was a servant leader. He put himself below the ones he was called to lead. So, what WOULDN'T Jesus do? He wouldn't run his city, county, state, or country collecting a salary with several 0s at the end while the prosperity of the people he was called to serve completely fell apart. He wouldn't put policies in place that he was exempt from. We have allowed our leaders to step out of servant status and they now rule over the people who vote them into office. They ultimately make the decisions and then we are supposed to accept that.
I honestly believe that the entire system is failing us, not just one party or one leader over another. I have my ideas about certain things (such as the Electoral College....my vote can speak for itself, thank you very much). I believe public servants should have an average salary. Not to say that they have to lack wealth to be a leader. If they've built wealth prior to taking office, it's all well and good. No one should be faulted for working hard and earning an honest living or being blessed by a family legacy. However, it is not my job as a member of this nation to line your pockets, while I live pay check to pay check. (I in general...not me specifically). I want you to desire to vote on decisions because my interests are of concern to you, not because your personal agenda and wallet depend on the vote you make. Public servants salary should not outweigh that of those who make daily sacrifices for our children, souls, safety, and freedom. Our teachers, police officers, military, spiritual leaders, an fire fighters all earn modest wages...I believe our public servants should do the same while in office. I don't expect you do to the job for nothing, but your integrity comes into questions when you get to fat cat it up on the dime of average hard working people.
I am not inclined to sway you one way or another. I am going to share the video link my friend sent me yesterday. It does put many things into perspective that I am not sure I was even prepared for, but I am glad I watched it. I do recommend watching it all the way through, because you'll miss a lot by cutting it short.
My personal belief is that I currently have things I question about either candidate. I love many things about my current president as a person and I am proud of things he has accomplished, but I am leery of his compromises as well. His heart may be in the right place, but execution has been off in some ways. I feel Mitt Romney lacks a true understanding of diversity. I could be wrong, but ultimately I feel that he will just be bringing different issues to the table. We will still be receiving poop packaged as chocolate from a political standpoint.
Clearly, I don't have this all figured out for myself, but what I do know over all is that a new president or the 2nd term of the one we have isn't actually going to solve our problem as a nation. We need to stand up, stand strong, and demand a new standard from our government. But the first step to all of that is understanding what true leadership is supposed to look like. There are severe consequences for allowing our leaders to passively drive us out of God's will.
