Angela Chininin Buele

I think we can all admit there are some downright shameful things taking place and being revealed on the campaign trail these days.  It is so sad to know that, in all likelihood, one of two scandalous and untrustworthy people will be elected to the office of President this November.  But I have noticed a trend in the way pundits address this situation.  They are shocked.  Some are shocked that the candidates – both of them – say rude and offensive things.  Others are shocked that investigations into past business dealings – again, of both of them – haven’t led to criminal charges and the end of a campaign (or race).

My question is: Why are we shocked?  This nation has tuned its ears and eyes to the latest buzz of both of these people for decades.  I have seen their family scandals on the evening news since I was a teenager.  From multiple marriages to multiple affairs, the news was full of gossip about both of these people, and yet they were still like brand names because we weren’t counting those sins as fatal flaws back then.  Fast forward 20 years.  Now they both want to be President, and the more we peel back each of these onions, the more pungent the aroma.  While a common reaction is to send the Presidential Sampler Platter back to the kitchen, we have, in fact, gotten what we ordered.  We first branded them, and now we want to shun them.

The cry of the culture at large has been to have a ruler that will let the people do what pleases them.  And when these two have dared to jump on the wagon and do what pleases them, they are called “unfit to serve,” “untrustworthy,” and “disastrous.”  I personally think these terms accurately describe both candidates.  However, we cannot ignore that we have centered our families, our laws and our culture around what “feels right” to us and the rejection of absolute truth.  This is how we end up tangled.  If kids are told that their own respect needs to be earned, but they are unwilling to show respect to earn respect from figures of authority in their community, there is an impasse.  One demands respect while refusing to humbly earn the respect of another person.  From another perspective, a woman is told she can abort her unborn child for any reason without question, but a rape victim who kills her attacker would still have to face some questioning to formally determine that she acted in self-defense and that no criminal charges will be filed in the death of the rapist.  So the rapist is afforded more legal protection than the unborn child who has not ever expressed any intent to harm another person.   What chaos!

Key Question: Where do you draw the line of truth – from yourself, from those around you, or from the Word of God?

Unshakable Truth:  All throughout the book of Judges we see the people of God – foolish as they were – crying out for a king to rule over them, being mistreated by the kings, and repenting and returning to the Lord.

The masses have cried out for an earthly king, and they have suffered under the reign of their ruler.  We must pray for the Lord to grant us repentant hearts, that we might turn from our idols of autonomy and to the unmatched care of the Lord.

The Real Choice: Will you bow before the King of Kings and offer yourself to Him to see His perfect will realized?