I am partly
rewriting a posting I wrote before the 2016 presidential election. I was troubled in 2016; now I am simply a Christian who knows only one true leader,
actually a King. I am a Democrat who almost always voted Republican because of
my concern for the unborn. Now I have no political home. The democrats are
mostly anti-life, and Donald Trump is an immoral, bombastic liar who is suggesting
to his followers that he provides a kind of redemptive substitution for them.
He is leading too many astray..jpg)
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer wrote and spoke about the authoritarian leader just as Hitler became
the “democratically elected chancellor of Germany.” Speaking of a leader
reaching beyond the authority of the office, Bonhoeffer stated:
“If he
understands his function in any other way than as rooted in fact, if he does
not continually tell his followers quite clearly of the limited nature of his
task and of their responsibility if he allows himself to surrender to the
wishes of his followers, who would always make him their idol—than the image of
the Leader will pass over into the image of the mis-leader, and he will be
acting in a criminal way not only towards those he leads, but also towards
himself.”[1]
It follows,
according to Bonhoeffer, that the leader must, “lead his following away from
the authority of his person to the recognition of the real authority of orders
and offices. … He must radically refuse to become the appeal, the idol, i.e.
the ultimate authority of those whom he leads.”
Now it is
true that many of those seeking office, both Republican and Democrat, need to
be reminded of who they really are, in the presence of God, simply office
holders chosen to serve the people. But in Trump, one finds a need to be the
ultimate authority mingled with immorality and dishonesty. Those who follow
him, follow a lie. And those who desire to follow truth shudder because of
those who follow the lie.
The prayer
is that the king will judge his people with righteousness “and the afflicted
with justice.” He will save the children and still crush the oppressor. He is
like rain is to mown grass and “like showers that water the earth.” Everything
flourishes because of his reign. There will be peace and those who are
righteous will flourish.
“His rule is
from sea to sea.” It is to the ends of the earth and all kings (and presidents)
will in the end bow down to him. His compassion is perfect:
“For he
will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who
has no helper. He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of
the needy he will save. He will rescue their life from oppression and violence,
and their blood will be precious in his sight. ..”
The Psalm
goes on to praise God for his wonders and glory.
Many years
ago, in a sociology class, the professor asked us to take a quiz to help him
with a project he and some other professors were conducting. The quiz consisted
of choosing between two different actions we would take, at first a good action
or a bad one. But as we went further into the test both actions to choose from
became bad. Finally I returned the quiz to the professor, telling him I could
not finish because I could not choose either action. This election is the same.
I hope and
pray that many of us, who are Christians, if we must, will not vote, but will
instead cling to that One who will and does reign in righteousness.
[1]
This is taken from Eric Metaxas’ book Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, (Nashville:
Thomas Nelson 2010) see chapter 9, “The Führer Principle” However Metaxas is now
insisting that those Christians who won’t vote for Trump are sinning. Sounds
like he is making Trump an idol to me.
[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72: An Introduction & Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity 1973)
4 comments:
Hello Viola,
Again an excellent post.
My take on voting is a little different than yours. It is my sense that in a Democracy one must always make a decision on which candidate is best, or least worst. The third option of not selecting one is equal to saying I am OK with whatever everyone else decides. It's a vote for whoever wins. That is different than, say, a vote on Session, when it is clear after suitable discussion that you are in a minority, and voting for your position is a vote against the clear majority. Sometimes, in those situations, abstaining is good for keeping the peace. Specially if it's not critical to the future of the congregation.
But this next election will quite possibly determine whether there will even be future elections. Joe Biden's predecessor has already proven, by his actions, that that is a highly plausible risk. Once we have a government that is empowered regardless of the will of the People, all discussions will end. It won't matter to him if you are concerned about the lives of the innocent unborn, or the children of Gaza and Ukraine or anywhere else in the World. He will do whatever he feels like. The entire World Order will have changed, and this time there will be no Arsenal of Democracy coming to the rescue.
Throwing your vote away is saying that if those who do vote make that choice, you are a-priori OK with that. It may not be what you want to say, but without a credible third choice, those are the rules of the game.
Jodie Gallo
Los Angeles, CA
Jodie. all of those thoughts would be good, and for those, including you whose conscience is not hurt by the choice- but mine would be because I have to answer to someone higher. I keep hoping that a third-party candidate, a good one, will occur. I will probably write in Niki Haley- I wanted to in the primary but in California you can't vote for a presidential candidate of the party you are not registered in.
Viola,
I think it was just for such occasions that Martin Luther said "Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly". Even Bonhoeffer had to make that choice.
As you have often pointed out, it is not by what we do or don't do that we survive answering that higher power, but by what Christ has done. The rest of the time, we place our faith in Him and do the best we can. Even if it seems not good enough. Even if it's just three loves and two fishes to feed Five Thousand, or a pot of water instead of wine, for a wedding. Just don't bury your talent in the ground for fear of losing it and angering the Master. Be bold and fearless.
Jodie Gallo,
Los Angeles
I find my self agreeing with Jodie on this one. I am more and more convinced that when given a choice between two candidates for president, that we should vote for the one who is closest to our ideal. The problem we have is that since at least 2016, we've had to choose between two candidates who were simply bad candidates. It appears that our two parties have chosen to scrape the bottom of the barrel, rather than to put forth their best and brightest. I don't see any value in voting for a third party or write in when, as Jodie put it, we're just going along with what others decide. While we may well answer to God for our votes, I can't help bu think He'll take into consideration what the choices were.
I guess I've come around to resting in the sovereignty of God and the knowledge that He can and will use whatever happens for His glory and His purposes regardless of what I may do.
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