For some reason people who gravitate towards living in the Seattle area (or dare I say "Western Washington") tend to think of themselves as a more educated set. As such the tendency to lean more to a liberal way of thinking in politics is the way of things here. As such I hear a lot of remarks against our current President for being "less than intelligent". I hear this from non-Christians especially, but I hear it from Christians around me as well. (Or maybe a little more close to home here in the NW, complaints about the current Governor (on the Christian side of things, don't hear too many complaints on the secular side about her))
I ran across 1 Peter 2:13-17 this morning and I again found myself wondering, as Christians, how we can dial up the "hate" so much for people in authority when it says very clearly in the book that we claim to live by, not to.
Of course I don't think the Bible advocates sitting by and not doing anything. But God has given us a country where we can change things by speaking about them instead of starting an uprising. (That, however, is an interesting question: When is it ok to plot to overthrow the government? Dietrich Bonhoeffer (who wrote some EXCELLENT books) helped in a plot to assassinate Hitler. (Which failed and he was executed) And while it might be easy in hindsight to say, "Duh, it was Hitler they were trying to overthrow!" I wonder about what Bonhoeffer was thinking when he decided to proceed.(I think I have to wander into the camp of pacifism though when it comes to violence and killing. (See below for why)))
I guess I write this, as one President is on his way out and another is on his way in, as a reminder that no matter who wins, that God is the one that is in control of everything. (As "little" as one person's cancer, to as "big" as who is the next President of the United States.)
Just stuff that ran through my head this morning...
~B.
This really does aggravate me, especially when Christians do it. If we disagree with our leaders we need to pray for them. If we agree with them we need to pray for them.
ReplyDeleteSeparate from that these charges saying that George Bush is stupid I find not helpful. I don't know if it's just respect for the office of president or something else but these comments bug me. I keep thinking back to when Bill Clinton was president and the scandal that came late in his term. I really didn't like what he had done but I still respected him as president. He still needed prayer because he was leading the country.
So if this guy decides to do something and doesn't check the polls to decide policy I find that refreshing. Do I think his mission will be successful? I don't think democracy will come to the middle east until the end of time and Jesus comes back.
On the flipside I am really sick of how long everybody has been campaigning. Who is paying for all of this?
Okay...sorry for the political rant. I totally here ya Ben. Pray for your leaders.