My eyes have been opened over the last 10+ years to the reasons people choose a church, a denomination, and even a religion. Our reasoning really ends up all over the place. Some choose based on style. Some worry about specific substance being taught. Most choose to check things out because a friend or relative invites them. We check out church and, through that process, God because we see the difference God makes in the person who is close to us. God leads our friend. Our friend leads us.
That's exactly the way He intended things to be. This is what the apostle, Paul, meant when he said, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV) Follower-ship is about following someone worth following. Leadership is about wisdom and integrity. Wisdom and integrity cannot exist without following the leadership of God.
Somehow, over the years, we've lost this vision in the political arena. We've stopped voting for a person and started voting for issues. Issues have become a litmus test for a person's wisdom and/or integrity. But neither is true. Issues are often far too complex to boil down to a box of soap flakes. Yet that's what political operatives do to win our votes...and we listen.
The only thing that should matter, in a republic such as ours, is the person. A republic is all about selecting a person who will lead - who will make the tough decisions that we don't know they are going to face. We didn't know that 9/11 was going to happen when we selected the leaders who would navigate our country through that time. We didn't anticipate the great depression, world wars, or even the war that would split our country in half and eventually end slavery. But we selected the people who led us through it. We relied on their wisdom and integrity. Wisdom and integrity come when someone follows God.
My grandfather was a typesetter (worked with printing presses). I have a plaque that he made that dons a quote from Abraham Lincoln. "I do the very best I know how..the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.. If the end brings me out wrong, ten thousand angels swearing I was right would make no difference..." Lincoln knew his actions would be judged in the presence of the angels. That knowledge is the beginning of wisdom.
I know that that the political arena has conditioned us to believe that there must be a separation of Church and State, but that does not mean the separation of God from our leaders. A leader's consistency in following God is the only criteria that matters. All of his or her decisions, then, will emanate from the wisdom that comes from God. Their follow-through on those decisions will match their integrity in following God.
History is filled with great kingdoms that have grown because the leaders followed God. History is also filled with kingdom after kingdom that has fallen because they did not follow God. My father gave me a plaque that reminds me of that reality throughout history. It simply states, "I didn't call it the ten suggestions. -God" A walk with God should be our only criteria in selecting a leader.
I find it interesting that an atheist/agnostic friend of mine gave me a plaque that said this: "Vocatus atque non vocatus, deus aderit." It's a Latin sentence that roughly translates, "Bidden or not bidden, God is present." Will we "bid" Him to lead us. We do that when we select people who already ask Him to lead them. We make them our leaders.
I know that I am saying things that most people will never read and that many who read it will scoff. Nonetheless, it needs to be said. Today, I was the one called to say it. Another family reminded me of that nine years ago when they gave me a plaque that reminds me, "God's gifts and His call are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)
I'm praying today that you will, if empowered to do so, vote today.
Choose wisely. Select leaders who walk together with God.
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