Politically Correct

Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”

“Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it.  The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.” 1 Samuel 26:21-24

There has been a great deal of political discourse in the United States this year.  If you have not paid attention, conversations have been incredibly tense and unfortunately at times violent.  It worries me that there is such passionate disagreement for I fear we have not learned as Martin Luther King once said, “I think we have got to learn to disagree without being violently disagreeable.”  It begs the greater question, “What do I do when I have such strong words or feelings toward someone I have strong disagreement toward?” How do we as Christians hold ourselves to obeying God’s word without crossing the line of being disrespectful or indifferent to others of opposing views?

God asks us to love others even as He expects us to follow Him.  I was given the words of David in my own personal dealings with political discourse.  The end of 1^st Samuel gives great insight as how one should respond to those who oppose us.  In the relationship between King Saul and David, Saul had attempted not once but twice to kill David, and was jealous of David’s growing success.  David knew this, but when given the opportunity to be rid of Saul once and for all David, in the 24^th verse, still showed humility, compassion, and love for him and obedience and honor to God.  He asked God to value his own life as he valued Saul’s. This parallels to the teaching of Jesus when speaking of the greatest commandment saying “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37b, 39b)  When faced with discourse, we must not only remember to obey what God asks of us but also love on others while doing so.  In fact, you cannot do one without the other!

Through all the rhetoric and concerns we may have in the world, we must always remember that God is always in control.  Whether we worry about how truly sane one candidate might be or question the integrity of another, our answer is to respond not with anger and disdain.  Instead like David, it is to choose one based on what God would ask of us, and then love and pray for the other.  After all as said in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  How will you respond to those who do not agree with you even if your view is foundationally God centered?  What can you do to be more loving and prayerful of those who do not share your faith/values/political views?  My prayer is that we value others views while following God to be truly ‘politically correct.’  Amen.