Politicians

January 29, 2008

Do you read church signs? Some are humorous. Some are silly. Some make you think. Rarely have I seen one that offends and disturbs, but recently I did. I will not dignify it by quoting it but I will tell you that it is about politicians. It makes the assumption that when a political figure speaks they spread that which is foul.

Why do I find the sign offensive? For one thing, the sign reflects a total lack of understanding of history. It was a politician, William Wilberforce, who was responsible for the ending of the British slave trade. In fact, this member of Parliament would spend his political career seeking to end the slave trade. It was a politician, James Madison, who led in writing a Constitution that secures for Americans the right to worship as they please.The sign also makes the mistake of putting every politician in the same boat, so to speak. To be a politician is to be bad. That simply is not true. There are men and women serving in politics that do so simply because they love their community, their state, or their nation and they want to make a difference. We desperately need young adults that have a Christian worldview to step up and run for office. Signs that categorize all politicians as bad certainly do not inspire gifted young leaders to run for office. In fact, the type of thinking reflected on the sign actually makes people cynical toward the political process, a process we desperately need Christians participating in. Beyond that, the type of thinking reflected on the sign could well cause people not to vote because they might feel, “Why vote? It will not do any good.”

A few thoughts to think about….
- Be thankful to live in a nation that has a political process such as we have.

- Pray for the men and women in office. Scripture commands us to do this in 1Timothy 2:1-2 It is hard to pray for someone when we have the attitude presented on that sign.

- Disagree with them if you will; vote them out if you must, but don’t assume all are bad.

- Maybe you should consider running for office. Some of you reading this have ideas that could make a difference.

- If you serve in public office... Thank You! I may not agree with you. I may not support your parties platform but I thank you for your willingness to do what you do.