A question you need to be asking yourself as we approach November is, “Do the candidates I support leave a wake of peace or division behind them? Are they unifiers or separatists? Does drama follow them wherever they go or do they tend to settle the drama in favor of a better way?”
Jesus was a peacemaker and people who follow Him will peacemakers, too. Think about the situations that surround Jesus in the gospels. Demons make a scene, Jesus casts them out. He doesn’t shout or rage or ramble on and on. He just gets business done. He casts the demon out so He can deal with the person. Someone is sick and dying. Jesus doesn’t make a scene. Often, He asks onlookers to leave! He quietly but convincingly heals the individual, helps them to their feet and sets them on their way. Someone is in need of wisdom. Jesus speaks it and leaves them with the choice of obeying or disregarding the advice. Jesus never creates drama. Drama begs for people to look at its source. It’s an attention getter. Jesus is never divisive in the political sense. He doesn’t pick fights. Division is a scramble for power and authority. Jesus doesn’t need any more. He has all the authority of Heaven at His fingertips. We need leaders who make peace, not drama and division.
Truth will always be divisive. There will always be someone who disagrees. That doesn’t make them evil, but it does mean someone will be wrong. We need leaders who can admit their faults and not flaunt their victories. The culture that leads right now nullifies truth by saying “You believe what you want and I’ll believe what I want.” That makes truth neutral. You can’t have two opposing truths in a relationship. Eventually one will win out. If two people agree that theft is wrong, they’ll get along just fine. If two agree that theft is perfectly ok, they’ll probably start a crime ring and they’ll get along just fine. But if two friends disagree on the law of personal property, a fight is coming. Truth is naturally exclusive (and I realize that is a cuss word today). Both parties cannot both be right at the same time.
We desperately need leaders who have a basic concept of truth. Without that, peace will never be possible. Peace isn’t placation. It’s not the politician saying what you want to hear so he can do what he wants. It’s not him buying time so he can eventually get his way. Peace isn’t doing the right thing in public and the wrong, contradictory thing in private. In order for peace to be present, truth must also be present and so must character. These are basic things every leader must have to lead. If they are absent, people will hate him/her. They won’t hate the leader because of a religious disagreement. They will hate them because the person who isn’t a peacemaker will always end up robbing the populace of its rights.
What do you think about this? Are you willing to vote party lines, just to get a victory? I realize each party represents a set of values. Are they yours? Do you live by the values your party espouses? As believers we have a higher standard than any political party can set. We must be people who look at the fruit of a person’s character, not just what they say or don’t say in a speech. As much as possible, we must examine their heart.
You know as well as I do, Jesus made enemies. Everyone didn’t love Him then and not everyone loves Him today. But the people He healed, forgave and delivered were His to their last breath. Allegiance wasn’t something Jesus struggled with. You either love Him or you hate Him. People don’t walk away from Jesus saying, “That’s just a nice guy.” When a leader says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life AND no one comes to the Father except by me,” You don’t get much more exclusive than a statement like that! He ends up making some enemies. I’d say throw Him out…unless the statement is true. And if it’s true, we’d better get in line. That’s exactly what I’ve done. Have you?
Where are the leaders you are supporting? If they are in line behind Jesus, you’ll see the effects of His heart in their speech and their actions. There’s no masking the truth. If they’re in another line, you have to ask yourself if their values are compatible or exclusive and vote accordingly.