Political Debate

I have been interested in politics and political debate for quite some time now. I’ve studied a bit of man’s attempt at self-governance (with all the results of that governance), in other countries as well as here in the United States.

During my study I have watched both Democratic and Republican candidates try to project their ideas during these discussions, and I acknowledge the ability of a person to effectively share those ideas with others. However, is that all there is to it?

Is political debate just about the ability of getting your ideas across effectively, or is there more? Can the front-runner that has great personal appeal actually be wrong for the job they’re seeking? As always, we can look to the Word of God for answers.

The first king of Israel was a man named Saul. Israel wanted a king instead of following the Lord through the judges He provided. The people of Israel were warned that, if they persisted in their desire for man to lead them instead of God, the consequences would be severe. Nevertheless, the people insisted and their wish was granted. Saul appeared to be just what the people wanted! He managed to say all the right things. He looked impressive. He had all the right qualifications – at least in outward appearance, but the people should have been concerned with his heart attitude. He eventually degenerated into rebellion and pride, ultimately committing suicide.

God continued to provide Israel with kings, yet at the same time He provided prophets to help steer the country back to Him. Samuel was one of those prophets, as was Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah and Joel, among many others. The prophets repeatedly tried to lead the people back to God through repentance and obedience to His Word, and were repeatedly rejected. The end result was that the people continued to place their trust in man and not God, eventually leading to thousands of years of dispersion, misery and heartache.

I can’t help but make the comparison of our political debate to the people of Israel. The people of the US keep asking for someone to have all the right answers and say all the right things, just as Israel did. We want our leaders to look good, just as Israel did. Some of us even want our leaders to operate as the rest of the world operates, just like Israel did. Can we really expect different results if we continue to place our trust in the man we elect, as opposed to placing our trust in our Creator? Our end will be just as perilous as it was for the nation of Israel!

So what can we do? First of all we need to refocus our attention on God, and trust in Him supremely. We need to pray that He would place godly leaders over us. We need to pray for the leaders we already have (whether we agree with their policies or not!). Most importantly, we need to be sure that we – individually – seek God and His ways more than anything else in life.