April 23, 2024
Although this question is an opportunity to witness for Christ, it is fraught with dangerous pitfalls surrounding the quagmire of political correctness that suppresses much free speech. Even many of the most partisan Democrats and Republicans are beset with questions and reservations about their own party’s candidates!
Perhaps more than ever many voters are talking about voting for the lesser of two evils. There is an obvious dearth of honesty and humility together with the too-typical absence of accuracy, fair-mindedness, and grace when characterizing/demonizing opponents.
As Christians we are neither surprised nor shocked by what we see and hear on our political stage. Once upon a time much may have been hidden within smoke-filled rooms, but now it is out in the open. Attack ads are nastier than ever, and press reports reflect the obvious bias of those doing the picking apart of the targeted candidate.
This “bad news” political war reminds us of what happens when we lose a definite and defining code of morality buttressed by Judeo-Christian foundations. George Washington’s warning in his last farewell address of how “religion and morality are indispensable” to our governmental wellbeing seems to have been a prophecy now fulfilled. Daniel Webster, a true “statesman” in the Washingtonian manner, also warned in 1852 of how far we would fall if we “violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which hold us together.”
As Christians we call for a raising of societal standards, quoting Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are: the Poor in Spirit (Humble, not Arrogant), Mournful (Compassionate, not Callous) for those afflicted by sin and sickness, Gentle (Self-controlled, not Self-indulged), Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness (Truthful, not Untruthful), Merciful (not Vengeful), Pure in Heart (Inspired by Unselfish, not Selfish Motives), Peacemakers (not Dividers), Persecuted (not Persecutors).”
We need more of such virtues if God is to continuing to bless, and not judge, America. We need people who are the salt-of-the-earth individuals we can trust and respect! We need leaders willing to go the extra mile in cooperation and even love those who are their enemies.
The Apostle Paul has a prescription second to none for our country at this time. He writes in Ephesians 5:6, 8-10, 15 words to guide every voter: “Let no one deceive you with empty arguments … walk as children of light – for the fruit of light results in all goodness, righteousness and truth – discerning what is pleasing to the Lord… Pay careful attention …”
Paul writes in Ephesians 4:25-27, 29, 31-32 words to Guide every vote-seeker: “Speak the truth … Don’t give the devil an opportunity … No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need … Don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit … All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”
What a dramatic and definitive difference it would make if we had some “Biblical correctness” transfused into Uncle Sam’s ailing body politic! Who can reasonably object to what Christ preached and what His apostle wrote? All this talk about “political correctness” has brought us to this place where we are the most divided we’ve been in many a year! We have lost not just respect for each other, but reverence for human life!
There is a mean hatefulness found within not only Islamic terrorists, but political activists and social anarchists who are consumed with their own self-righteous judgmentalism that sets themselves up as saints/victims while demonizing everyone else. There is a growing intolerance on college campuses where “differences of opinion” are silenced by vilification and marginalization while a true and free exchange of challenging ideas is disappearing.
We as Christians must stand up for honesty and humility, accurateness, fair-mindedness, and grace which are the hallmark of a civilized society with government leaders possessing a modicum of character!
This is our prayer as we stand on the kind of solid ground Jesus talked about in His story of two foundations, one that could withstand the falling rain, rising rivers, and blowing wind and the other that could not! We Christians ask: Who offers a firm foundation for the times in which we live? Who can believe that the shifting sands of agnosticism and amorality can hope to sustain and support “the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”?
