October 12, 2010
Titus 3
Pastor Farrell Lemings
How should we respond to our governing authorities when they are making poor decisions, acting in incompetent ways, or simply not giving strong leadership? I must confess that my first response - and one that I have been convicted of lately - is to bash our political leaders. This is a response of my flesh. The anger and frustration are not about a political party but that leaders - both Republican and Democrat - elected to serve for the good of our nation and to uphold our Constitution…are failing in the process.
As Christians, I don’t believe that we should sit silently and do nothing. However, there is an appropriate, respectful, honoring way that we can challenge and support our leadership.
In Titus 3:1-2, we are directed to “respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God’s people should be bighearted and courteous.” (The Message). From this passage, we discover that we have a responsibility before God to honor our leaders and be productive citizens as we live out the Faith. I believe that we can accomplish this by:
- Praying for our leaders, rather then condemning them
- Being a part of the solution - not the problem - as we offer our help
- Appropriately and respectfully challenging wrong decisions and speaking the truth in love
- Choosing to be gracious as to how we deal with others’ failures
As we take the truth of God’s Word as revealed in Titus 3 and put it to work in our lives, we can be effective and responsible citizens, bringing honor to God and positive influence to our government.
With a “high D” personality, Pastor Farrell operates with a “get it done” mentality in his life and leadership.
