Electing the King

It’s election season. For those of us who cannot escape the phone and mailing lists, this means receiving stacks of scalding flyers on opponents and listening to long, flowery speeches on the phone. Now, it’s not all bad, and granted there will always be some negativity in a race. But with the selfish “every man for himself” attitude that is so evident in secular societies, politicians have resorted to pointing fingers and childishly babbling (over the tiniest things!) to get ahead and claim our votes. Recently we received a flier with the bold headline “Congressman Fortenberry got too close to the culture of corruption”, and at the end “reject congressman Jeff Fortenberry” . The flier went on to accuse Fortenberry of accepting money from Tom Delay and Duke Cunningham, painting as dark a picture of him as possible and attempting to associate him with the bad guys.

Now, this is coming from a Democrat who sweet talks to the small town, but most likely does not attend any church and definitely does not display any Godly attitude in her campaigning. Pointed fingers and heated accusations is what we have gotten and still expect from Democrats these days, but conservatives? Republicans? Sometimes it takes some looking to find a politician who doesn’t resort to such methods. So we ask why; why are people who profess (and very well may be) to be Christians and strong conservatives act like everyone else when suddenly the race has begun? Simply put, it’s the belief that anything different can’t survive in a culture “defined” (dominated) by liberals. Even among our churches and supposedly Christian organizations is the thinking that anything too “strange” or “weird” will scare people away, and this is the exact opposite of how God intends for us to impact those around us.

Scared of the dragon

When the mainstream media and loud, badmouth Democrats are all out to ruin us, it’s hard to stay strongly outspoken and clear on our conservative beliefs. So when faced with the flashing stage lights and questioning crowds, the fear of an invisible dragon ready to spew it’s fire and melt us away can slowly dim our confidence in ourselves, and the sword we carry. Suddenly our armor seems silly and flimsy amongst the snazz and glamour, and our shield and sword are being mocked at for their unique design and appearance. And so we apologize to our King, promise to keep loving and serving Him, but in shame we put our sword in it’s sheath and hide our shield behind our backs. We have lost the battle to a dragon, even as our King and His unnumberable army stand behind us, ready to aid us in the battle. We have lost. We have given up our whole reason for entering the arena and accepted defeat. Conservatives MUST not tremble before their opponents, no matter how fierce or big they may seem. An army of angels stands behind us, ready to aid us when the time comes, and our God is too big to be defeated.

Go with the flow or ruin the show

I while ago I was talking with someone about politics, and I mentioned how conservatives need to learn to be different and take the clear opposing side; for if someone doesn’t take a stand against the Democrats, why even have a conservative party? The reply I received was this: anything too different won’t go over at all; it will simply scare people away, so why risk it? Had I been able to respond quickly with a clear answer (like some people can actually do!) I would have stated that risks are what Christians are all about. It’s not about going with the flow and being like everybody else. When one accepts Jesus into their hearts and lives, everything changes, and so a person becomes different- unique among the crowds of people who all look, talk, and think the same.

Too often we are tempted to be the in-between when it comes to our stand in the political arena. We are scared to say yes or no and step across the line. We don’t want to step on any toes or get on anyone’s bad side, so we opt for the gray; speaking out on some issues, yet shying away from the uncomfortable and heated areas. That guy’s a conservative, right? So even if he doesn’t battle against same sex marriage, he’s still a better candidate than that Democrat…

When it comes down to it, we cannot allow any hesitance or indecision. We must do what is RIGHT, regardless of the costs. If every conservative politician would stand for what is right, instead of opting for the in-between or dancing around it, then there would not be such a price to pay for speaking out honestly and decisively in an election. We cannot let our fears of man blind God’s purpose and vision in our lives. We must hold high the sword of God and stand fast behind our shield of faith, never looking in doubt at our armor, but holding high our head; confident of the army behind us, and our King before us.

"So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house..."

1 Kings 11:37, 38