2020.11.15 The Problem with our Politics

Judges 4:1–8 NASB

1 Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 The sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years. 4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. 7 ‘I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’ ” 8 Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

Matthew 25:14–30 NASB

14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Problem with our Politics

Broken human beings will lead as broken human beings.

In OT reading, Deborah calls Barak. Deborah was the “Judge”

(DID ISRAEL HAVE A KING AT THAT TIME?)

Barak hesitated to do what he was told to do. He told Deborah he would only go if she went with him. Knowing that women didn’t go into battle, I’m not really sure what he thought her reaction would be … but she DID go into battle with him. And Israel won the battle under Deborah’s leadership. Then the opposing army’s general was killed by another women in one of the most gruesome events in the Old Testament. If you want to read that event, keep reading Judges 4 at home. It’s a wonder we don’t name our daughter’s Jael for her courage.

We just had an election … a grand scale election. More dollars were spent in this election cycle than any before it. And I’m sure that the 2024 election will dwarf this election’s spending and venom.

As an aside, let me tell you that the leader we just elected will only disappoint us. They will do some good, some bad, and lots of in between. As Christians, we put WAY too much trust and expectation into political leaders.

They aren’t terribly different than Barak. They’re afraid to lead the hard way. They’re afraid to really attempt to solve difficult issues … because they’re busy trying to be reelected. They’re PLAYING IT SAFE! THAT is the problem with our politics.

We expect human beings to be our savior, and no human being running for office will ever be capable of saving us from our brokenness. Only Jesus can do that.

Tie into the parable of the talents - we squander the opportunities not just by squandering them away, but sometimes by paralysis. We let fear or something else paralyze us into believing we have to answer God’s call in our own strength.

Politicians would rather run for reelection on the same issues, and tell us, “Well, I couldn’t get this done in my first term so I need you to send me back for a second term to get it done.” In reality, they haven’t tried to resolve difficult issues.

We’ve been talking about immigration since the Reagan Administration. Still not fixed. Still not significant movement either direction. Is this issue unfixable? No. But if it gets fixed, both parties lose an winning fundraising issue.

Healthcare has been talked about, and a plan the American people didn’t want (according to research) was forced on us. It didn’t really fix the main issues, so the opposite party has pledged to overturn it. Yet, they haven’t.