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Some time ago I had a friend who liked to
complain about the president, and some of the things he managed to
blame on the president were incredible. Whether a friend was out of
work, insurance was too expensive, or gas prices were too high, you could depend on him for a loud and sarcastic, “Thanks Mr. President!”
He blamed the president for at least one problem just about every
time I saw him. He made a practice of it. As you might imagine, his
diligent negativity got old fast.
Whining about the president is not
funny, nor is it clever. It is an annoying, fruitlessly, and
patently unchristian behaviour. Please understand me, it is
acceptable and even necessary to, at times, speak out against the
actions of a politician who you find fault with. We do not owe any
earthly leader our silent unconditional submission. Making a practice out of
complaining is something outside of godly citizenship.
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Consider the effect of this man's
constant interjections of “Thanks Mr. President!” They
helped to feed a culture of negativity wherever he went. He irritated folks who liked the president, and he invited more complaining from folks who shared his views. Imagine if instead of sarcastically thanking some
politician at every opportunity, we made a practice of authentically
thanking God. After all, it's God's will for us to give thanks in
all circumstances (1
Thessalonians 5:18). We're even encouraged to give thanks during
hardship, which scripture encourages us to endure as loving
discipline from God himself (Hebrews
12:7). Paul even encouraged his readers to glory in their
suffering because of the character it ultimately produced (Romans
5:3-5). Even if God didn't work all things out for our good
(Romans
8:28); Christians would still be expected to respect the
authorities (Romans
13:1-7), just as Paul encouraged the early Christians to show
respect for the Roman Emperor, who in Paul's day was Nero.
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Challenge:
Take a moment today to thank God for
someone negative who brings you down. Whether it's a boss, a co-worker, or someone closer to home, it's God's will that we give
thanks in all circumstances. God is enthusiastic to forgive all sin,
both yours and theirs. Since you're freely forgiven, pass that forgiveness along to the person
who's been dragging you down. You don't have to tell them. It can stay between
you and God, but if you don't forgive them then they'll be free to continue to
discourage and infuriate you. Enjoy the freedom that forgiveness
brings today.
Awesome challenge - just did the challenge. In light of 1 Timothy 2:1-6 there is also advantage to praying for those in authority in light of the gospel going forth with power and grace. Your call to a godly response to authority is a sign of trust in God's sovereignty and goodness and a testimony to a lost world. May we believers get this.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about praying. One of my favourite things about visiting CTK is that they always pray for our governor and president by their first names. I should consider taking that on as a personal practice.
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