Daily Verse | Romans 3:22
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Thursday’s Reading: Romans 4-5
Thursday. Exactly one week until Thanksgiving.
One of the things I know but have to be reminded of is that our political leaders won’t save us. By “save us” I mean that they can’t or, more likely, won’t, restore our civic society to something resembling the early years of the republic. The reason for that is that so many of them have become detached from reality, while a mob of others are only trying to secure their current positions of power and income.
Author Doug Wilson, pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, had an interesting take on this the other day.
What is the basic lesson that close observers of politics need to learn? Besides the lesson that summons you to stop being such a close observer of politics? You do know that this would help with that throbbing in your temples, right?
There are two such lessons, and when they are both held together, they result in wisdom. Just one of them taken alone, by which I mean either of them taken alone, creates a lopsided and gimpy approach to civic virtue. And the last thing we need right now is a gimpy approach to any kind of virtue.
The first lesson is that we must not put our trust in princes. The arm of the flesh will fail us. Do not hope in man, who breathes through his nose.
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.”
Psalm 118:9 (KJV)
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”
Psalm 146:3 (KJV)
But the other thing we have to remember is the fact that when the wicked are in positions of authority, the people really do groan under it. The consequences are real; the misery is a thing.
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
Proverbs 29:2 (KJV)
So if you put these two truths together, you come to the realization that bad rulers can do an awful lot of damage, and it is a joy to the people when the righteous are in authority. At the very same time, it is hazardous to look to princes as the ones who are supposed to put the righteous in authority, or throw down the wicked from their seats. Put another way, good rulers can be God’s instrument of blessing, but they are never the source of any blessing. We must pray to God for them, and not pray to them for God.
[…]
Politics is no savior, but politics does need to get saved. Actually, it would be more to the point to say that our detoxing politics needs to spend about three weeks eating soup at the rescue mission, listening to all the testimonies, and then getting saved.
This is relevant because the Republicans have clinched control of the House, by a slim margin, meaning that Kevin McCarthy could be the next speaker. Mitch McConnell will win Minority Leader in the Senate.
Here’s the thing: the midterms were disastrous, and McCarthy and McConnell are responsible for that failure. They’re the leaders of the GOP in Washington. Why should they be allowed to retain their current positions?
Forget about the Trump versus DeSantis question for a minute. Right now, the far more important and pressing task at hand is to hold Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, and other GOP leaders like Rep. Tom Emmer, the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chair, accountable for their massive failures this election cycle.
Any time wasted speculating on the 2024 primary is time not spent talking about McConnell’s dereliction of duty as the leader of the GOP — not just his horrible funding decisions during the midterms but also the past two years of facilitating President Biden’s agenda.
Yes.
Here’s my prediction: the House will undertake investigations of the FBI, the Hunter Biden laptop, shut down the January 6 committee, and perhaps address some other issues. There will be direct questions and strongly worded letters, but in the end, NO ONE WILL GO TO JAIL OR LOSE THEIR JOB.
It will all come to nothing. For the next two years.
Mark my words. The GOPe doesn’t have the stomach for it because they’re part of the Uniparty, playing the role of irritated but loyal housewife.
So, it’s good to be reminded not to get my expectations up too high, because I will be disappointed.
Instead I have to learn to live with the tension of watching my country be destroyed without being able to do much about it.