Political thoughts...

 Respect everyone…

Worship God.

Honor government. (First Peter 2:17)

Jesus has something to say about how we behave in our political world. For example, there’s that obscure miracle that frees Peter and Jesus to pay their poll tax (Mt 17). And, the more famous teaching of our Lord: “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God's" (Mt 22:21). The Apostle Paul himself, to everyone’s surprise, was a proud Roman citizen: “Yes, I am a citizen of Rome” (Ac 22).

Maybe Peter sums it up best: “Treat everyone with respect. Love the family of believers. Worship God. Honor the emperor” (1Pt 2:17). That’s our Apostolic instruction. It has always been tricky to worship God alone while honoring government. Caesar feels threatened when we worship Another, and not him. But, that’s our path: To respect all, to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, to worship God and to honor our government. We do not ask government to be our savior; but, simply to protect us and let us be. We honor that.

Despite the mayhem at our nation’s capital this last week; our constitutional democracy holds firm. For that we should be grateful. As nations go; ours is one of the best—bigger than any one personality. My rule of thumb for any president is to hold up Abraham Lincoln’s second Inaugural Address and see how the two match up. The closer any president’s speech comes to Lincoln’s, the better.