I’ve been thinking about
the upcoming election…and wondering why I am so uncomfortable on all levels. I
just turned off the morning news after hearing the ad about what Richard
Mourdock said about rape and abortion for the umpteenth time. That ad really upsets
me, because I know he didn’t mean that rape is a gift of God, but that life is. I also believe that the
‘misunderstanding’ is being played up for gain, if possible.
I agree with Richard that
life is a blessing and needs to be cherished as God’s gift however it came
about. Children born out of sin are as loved by God as anyone else, and it
grieves Him for them to be aborted. That story, along with a lot of others,
needs to be told and grappled with in our society today. That is not why I’m
uncomfortable, though.
As I keep thinking and
meditating on these things, I think what makes me uncomfortable is the
realization that we need more than just people with correct moral principles in
office today. Some of the most dangerous people are ‘pharisees’—those who are
morally right, but have wrong application of those principles.
I don’t know about Richard
Mourdock—I only know the few things I see. But I’m considering the election as
a whole—and frankly, I’m scared. I think it’s also because I’ve been reading The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn. I knew
the ground had shifted in some permanent way when we had the terrorist attack
on 9/11/01, and that book is explaining it to me.
One thing of many I am
being reminded of from that book is that America will not get right with God
just through correct principles. Without relationship with Him those correct
principles will be applied wrongly. That lesson is driven home in the Bible
many times, and the story in John 8:3-11 is a good example of this potential
for wrong application, and how relationship with God, as opposed to just
correct doctrine made it work out right:
John 8:3-11 As he [Jesus] was speaking, the teachers of
religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act
of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 "Teacher," they
said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of
Moses says to stone her. What do you say?" 6 They were trying to trap him
into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and
wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood
up again and said, "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw
the first stone!" 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9
When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the
oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10
Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, "Where are your accusers?
Didn't even one of them condemn you?" 11 "No, Lord," she said. And
Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." NLT
The Bible says we need
correct doctrine or principles. But we also need to hear how to apply them in a
life-giving way. What did Micah in the Bible say God wanted of us? Mic 6:8 But he's already made it plain how to live,
what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what
is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And
don't take yourself too seriously — take God seriously. The MESSAGE
That’s what I’m looking
for in leaders—is that what we will get? I’m praying to that end…
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