How to Pick a President

Most likely, quite a few of you groaned when I announced this topic! We’re all tired of sound bytes, slogans, promises, and talking heads, aren’t we? The election hype, the dire warnings that come from both sides promising that the US of A is doomed if the other guy is elected are so over the top that I wonder how the candidates utter them with a straight face?

∙ Are there differences between the Republicans and the Democrats? Sure there are.

∙ Will the election of one party or the other really effect American history? Most certainly! Public policies for the next decade will be changed by the legislation enacted, the national security choices made, and the judges appointed during the next four years. This election has the potential to change the course of our country in a way very similar to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. In that pivotal election, our country took a sharp turn to the right that lasted through two decades. In this election, despite all the rhetoric, we will be choosing between two very different governing philosophies.

This morning, I am not going to repeat talking points, not going to discuss environmental issues, won’t speak of economic issues, or tax cuts, or health care. I want to talk about something that is critically important in choosing any leader - a President, a pastor, a local town councilman, or a PTA chairperson! What’s that?

Character!

As I begin, I need to acknowledge my heavy debt to an article that appeared several months ago in Christianity Today.
The artwork above is taken from that source as well. If you’re interested in reading the article you can go to

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/june/17.22.html

PRAYER -

Leadership is a gift!

Whether you’re talking about the PTA or the nation, about a local fire department or a church; leadership is one of key components in making a group effective and/or successful in their mission.

∙ A weak or ineffectual leader cripples the whole group.

∙ A strong, visionary leader inspires.

∙ A leader who knows his strengths chooses people that complement his efforts.

∙ A leader who attempts to ‘do it all’ limits success to his own reach.

Well led people tend not to recognize the key role of their leader. A good leader does not need to trumpet his successes nor does he need awards. He is sufficiently rewarded by the knowledge that he is helping the group succeed! But, when leadership fails - sometimes because of incompetence, sometimes because of a tsunami of events that overwhelm him, sometimes because of complacency bred by a long run of success, and sometimes because of opposition that robs him of the power or influence he needs to lead - there is usually an outcry against him!

So, we’re about to choose our political leadership in America. On Tuesday, we will select thousands of people for various public offices and charge them with caring for our government. How can we choose good leaders? Despite the title of this message, what I will talk about applies much more broadly than just about the President!

Turn with me to a text - 1 Samuel 16: 6- 13 PB 444

(Tell the story of Israel’s desire for a king, of Saul’s selection and failure, and of the Lord’s commission to Samuel to select a new king. God sent him to Bethlehem, to the home of Jesse.)

READ TEXT

For the purposes of this message, let me paraphrase part of v. 7.

“Since the LORD evaluates a person based on the content of his heart, you must do the same!”

What a good guideline for us in our choices of leaders! We tend to use leaders based on competence, on experience, and because they ‘look like’ a leader. I am not suggesting, for one moment, that competence is unimportant. However, none other than Gandhi, the leader of India at the time when she won her independence from Great Britain, said, “The obligation of accepting a position of power is to be, above all else, a good human being.”

Our leaders, including our President, need to be people of virtue, first; and people of competence, next. A competent leader who lacks virtue is just more effective in doing evil things or advancing his own interests. One does not have to look long at history to find all kinds of examples of competent leaders who lacked virtue. None is more compelling than one of the 20^th centuries greatest monsters, Adolf Hitler. The man was incredibly competent. He climbed from nowhere, with no advantages, to lead Germany out of the ruins of World War 1. His government brought prosperity, stability, and renewed national pride to a broken and bitter nation. But, he was a man without virtue, who worshiped power above all things and who nurtured deep and twisted hatreds. His competence allowed Nazi Germany to take on the world and conduct a war that was horrific in costs of both property and human life!

On the flip side, we can look to one of our recent Presidents. Jimmy Carter was and is a man of great virtue. His Presidency raised the issue of human rights into the world conscience. But, his Presidency largely failed to accomplish good things for our country, most historians agree, because he was not a terribly competent leader, who let himself be derailed and misdirected by other policy advisors.

So, what is virtue that we need to seek our leaders?

“Virtue is a suite of values-soaked abilities that in active combination form a person’s character and give shape to a life.” - CT, McCloskey/Taylor

The ancient Greeks, who gave us the concept of democracy, believed that virtue was that which gave a person the capacity to influence one’s self and his community for the better. They believed that virtue was more than holding correct ideas. Virtue was practical and demonstrated in daily decisions where what a person was became visible in what he did. A virtue was not a flash of good that happened in a moment. It was a recurring response to life, a moral habit that flowed from what a person had been trained to be.

The Greeks trained their sons not only with information and skills, but to be virtuous. They defined virtue with four qualities that were, in their opinion, inseparable. They are:

1. Prudence, practical wisdom

2. Justice, fairness to all

3. Courage, and

4. Temperance or Moderation, born of humility

In the New Testament, Jesus and Paul both laud these qualities and add three more: Faith, hope, and love. Through history the Christian church has claimed these seven qualities as the ‘cardinal virtues.’ Again, they are: Wisdom, Justice, Courage, Humility, Faith, Hope, and Love

Can you imagine a forum where all the questions centered on discovering the depth of a candidate’s commitment to these qualities?

∙ “So, Senator, can you give us three examples where you demonstrated your commitment to being a loving human being?”

∙ “Mr. Smith, would you explain to us how you have shown real prudence in your personal affairs, the way you take care of your personal finances?”

∙ “Mr. Jones, would you tell us how your voting record demonstrates genuine courage, in that you were willing to do what was best for your nation rather than just what would gain more votes in the next election?”

∙ “Congressman, can you explain how you reconcile your claim to moderation and humility with all the promises you have made, which could only be kept if you were a god?”

And, yet those are exactly the kinds of things we need to try to uncover as we choose our leaders!

Jesus taught that the highest laws are but two: “Love God with your whole being and love your neighbors as yourself.” Indeed, Love is the baseline, the root source, from which flow all the other virtues!

Let me quote McCloskey again.

Love has its ultimate expression in the things of God and the Spirit, but it is relevant to our political and social lives as well. If love is the greatest of the biblical virtues, it is possibly also the ultimate home for all the virtues.

We are courageous in order to protect people and things we love.

We fight for justice for those we love (even at a distance).

We exercise the self-control of moderation and seek to bring wisdom into the world for the sake of what and whom we love.

Our earnest love for a certain kind of world gives us faith and hope that such a world can be brought into being.

It is very difficult to assess the quality of love in political candidates.

Perhaps one manifestation of it is passion. Passion comes from the Greek word for pain or suffering. To say we love or are passionate about something is a declaration that we are willing to suffer for it.

(So we ought ask... )

What are candidates passionate about?

That is, what are they willing to suffer for?

What have they spent their lives doing apart from jobs and political office?

What loves or passions made them pursue political office?

So, how can we discern virtue in our leaders?

We need to know how they live in ordinary situations. Honestly, church, that is one of the reasons I have so little time for TV church, for media religious leaders. We simply cannot see how they treat their wives, whether their kids love and respect them, if they pay their bills, keep their word, and build healthy relationships.

In our political world, especially in national level office, the same situation exists. We only see our candidates through the lens of the camera. We see their performance. Even the glimpses we are allowed into their personal lives are subject to being stagecraft! But, with diligence we can try to pull back the curtain and piece together a look into their lives.

A. One way is to try to find records of how they lived before they entered public life.

For example:

Some question what McCain’s experiences in Hanoi as a POW has to do with his quest for the Presidency. I see the ways he lived during those 6 years of terrible abuse, with honor, putting his fellow POW’s over his self-interest, maintaining his dignity as indicative of qualities of courage and justice.

Barack Obama bypassed a lucrative career in law which he could easily have gained with a degree from Harvard. He chose instead to work with the poor in Chicago. That reveals something of the man’s values and what he cares about.

B. Another way to look for virtue is to seek out moments where the candidate showed real conviction. What, if anything, was he willing to do even though it threatened his career? Are there certain issues which the candidate will not change regardless of pressure from polls or party?

C. Consider how they treat those with whom they disagree. Do they try to win others through dialogue or intimidate with threats? When President Nixon resigned in disgrace after lying about Watergate, it should have come as no real surprise! For his entire political career, Nixon was combative, paranoid, and always on the offense when it came to anyone he thought might be a challenge to his position or policies. History reveals that Watergate was a logical conclusion to a career that included many dirty tricks.]

D. Related to this is how a person takes loss of power. President Lincoln said, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

McCloskey/Taylor writes: “Virtuous leaders hold on to power loosely. They share it easily. They encourage it in others. They see it as invested in healthy institutions, not in themselves personally. Unvirtuous, and therefore dangerous, leaders accumulate power for themselves (and their causes), use it to intimidate and manipulate, to reward and punish, and never release it voluntarily.”\

E. Try to find out how the candidate has handled hard times in his own personal life. Every one of us deals with failure! There are no perfect lives, no perfect people, and no perfect candidates. Our failures are great revealers of our character. Virtuous people learn from their mistakes, repent of their sins, and find ways to change themselves.

You might wonder that I have not included “is this candidate a Christian?” in my list. This is intentional for several reasons. First is that no one can adequately know that! Many profess belief and are even able to quote the Bible and recite a creed, but knowledge does not translate into true spiritual life. So, we cannot know.

Secondarily, plenty of those who have real faith still manage to have little virtue! The faith of our most recent President is unquestioned even by his enemies! George W. Bush has had a real experience of Christ’s transforming grace, but he has not proven to be strong in some of the virtues mentioned in this message and he ends his Presidency under a cloud of distrust. Only with time, will the American people be able to have the perspective necessary to evaluate the true successes and failures of his Presidency, but at this moment, many think he has not governed well.

Obviously, true and lasting virtue comes from a life that is attuned to the wisdom of God, to the person who seeks the Lord with humility. So, it is both desirable and instructive if a leader shows himself to be a genuine Believer.

But, “born again” as both Bush and Carter have shown is not, in and of itself, a reason to elect a candidate to office.

Close:

On Tuesday, we have the wonderful privilege of selecting our leaders - from our local town, to our state government, and for the nation. I urge you to be very prayerful. Exercise your citizenship with wisdom and in keeping with your primary calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Many will vote along lines of self-interest. The choices made in the voting booth are so often shaped by questions like:
"Who offers me more promise of benefits? Who is most like me?"

Disciple, be different!
Ask God to help you to see through the haze of the campaigning with a discerning eye. Then, vote for those that you believe will most help all of us to fulfill God's demands of all people.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and
to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8, NIV)

Amen.

Jerry D. Scott, 2008