Stand For Truth, Even When It May Be Used Against You
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(4) …the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. (5) Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”’ (Daniel 6:4-5); ‘The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.’ (Psalm 118:14)
When Christians enter into the political fray, the pundits typically will do two things – look for something to find fault in the character of the Christian, and if that fails then to portray the Christian as weak due to his or her beliefs and out of touch with ‘today’s reality’. This does not matter whether one is simply providing commentary or actually running for office, scrutinizing the Christian is always heavy.
This is nothing new; we find this happened to Daniel when King Darius of Babylonia was about to appoint Daniel as his regent, or as the number 2 guy who all other folks would report to. Daniel, being Jewish, was envied by the people who would report to him (all being Babylonians, Assyrians, and Medes) and began to look for cracks in Daniel’s character.
Finding no such character flaws, they then decided to attack Daniel using his Faith in God as a weapon against him. Daniel’s devotion to pray to the Lord provided his enemies a means to accuse him of being treasonous to Darius, ending in Daniel’s tossing into the lion’s den. Fortunately for Daniel, God sent an ‘angel’ (possibly Jesus Himself) to protect Daniel, and the tables turned on Daniel’s accusers as they and their families were fed to the lions instead.
In the US, we have not faced with such a fate for speaking or acting as Christians on the political scene, though there are moments when accusations grow loud. We see some righteous people taken through the wringer through previous unrighteous actions or transgressions, or holding their Faith against them. A concern in 1960 was John F. Kennedy’s Catholic faith would interfere with his ability to be President. The public perception of Jimmy Carter’s Christian faith made him too meek and weak to be an effective President. Both Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump were criticized for their ties to the Evangelical Christians leaders influencing them.
In each of these men’s time as President, their Faith was not a cause of weakness but of strength. Now we know each of these men had faults in character, but they prayed and sought God’s council when faced with big decisions. They were not afraid to provide their Faith in the Lord openly, and earnestly and publicly asked for God to bless the American people.
Do not fear sharing your views to others, or to speak up when faced with unrighteous opinions. If you are led to run for a political office, such as a School Board member or a county or city commissioner, remember the Lord is with you and will stand while you face those who are against you, or through you against Jesus. Be ready when speaking up or running for office; you will be criticized and if there is a ‘skeleton in the closet’ it may be brought into the public. But have Faith that the Lord will mitigate that, as He has forgiven you, if you’ve ask Him for forgiveness of your transgressions.
