Politicians

By David ReayTuesday 25 Jun 2013LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes

Read 1 Peter 2:13-15

13 For the Lord’s sake,respect all human authority-whether the king as head of state,14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.

15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. (NLT)

It is commonplace for us to criticise our political leaders. They never quite measure up to our expectations. They don’t always keep their promises. They can hide behind their media advisors rather than being authentic. There is much to criticise irrespective of which group is in power.

However,it might be helpful for us to realise that our politicians are a more public and at times more extreme version of ourselves. We let others down. We don’t always keep our promises. We put on an act to impress others rather than be authentic. We are all too human and thus all too fallible. And given politicians are human too we can say the same about them. Would it be that much better if we were in their position?

A due regard for universal human fallibility may help us obey the spirit of this passage. Respect and honour might not be the first words that come to mind when we think of our political leaders. But perhaps a more robust grasp of that old-fashioned concept of ‘sin’ may help us regather it.

We all have our faults. Politicians’ faults tend to be very public and affect more people,but they are likely no better or worse than we whose faults don’t make the headlines in the same way. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,but some do so in the public spotlight!

Blessings
David Reay