Monday, February 4, 2008 at 12:12am
How do you choose?
Column: Interesting Times
"The Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
So Samuel passed up the experienced, seasoned seven sons of Jesse and chose the eighth — David, the one who had to be called from tending the sheep. "Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he."
Arguments about "experience" when it comes to choosing a leader are a non-starter with the biblical God. Judgment is what the Lord requires, "Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" And David unified Israel — without experience.
"And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And Moses led the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, without experience. Abraham followed One God, without experience. And the disciples left their nets or tax tables and followed Jesus, without experience.
Political reasoning is not biblical reasoning. If the Bible matters to a voter, that fact might be worth considering. Perhaps, though, politics and biblical beliefs have become so intertwined that politics, the worldly aspect of human life, trumps, for some, the Word of God? The current crop of presidential candidates have arguments that can easily be tested against biblical wisdom. But are even Bible-believers using biblical wisdom as a test on how to choose to vote for this Tuesday and beyond?
"I have 35 years of political experience" is not exactly biblical wisdom. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught" (1 Corinthians 2:6). There is a biblical argument to be made that "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory."
A friend and I were talking yesterday morning about the elections and caucuses tomorrow, and my friend asked when I had decided on my candidate. Though I cannot vote in my state's closed primary, as I am a registered Independent and one has to have had declared for either Democrat or Republican to vote, that has not kept my heart from choosing a candidate. My epiphany occurred during a recent debate when three Democratic candidates — Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama — were asked: "What is your greatest fault?" Senator Obama was asked to go first and allowed as how he could be a bit more organized — remembering his lists, car keys that sort of thing. We all know that annoying problem, don't we? Then came Senator Clinton. Her greatest problem, she said, was caring too much about the American people, and John Edwards picked up the beat to say that his greatest problem was caring too much about poverty in America.
Some days later I saw a snippet of Senator Obama saying — with a smile — in a rally that had he gone last, rather than first as asked, he would have said that his greatest problem was helping old ladies across the street. It was at that moment that I began to think of how the Lord chooses leaders. And I decided to listen to the voice in Joshua that says: "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
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Lynne Bundesen is the author of five books on religion and was adjunct professor at the Boston Theological Institute under a Templeton Science and Religion Grant. She is currently the spiritual expert for the physical and spiritual health website of Dr. Andrew Weil. Her book "The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture" was just published. Her email address is {email lynnebundesen@hotmail.com}lynnebundesen@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Lynne Bundesen.
So Samuel passed up the experienced, seasoned seven sons of Jesse and chose the eighth — David, the one who had to be called from tending the sheep. "Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he."
Arguments about "experience" when it comes to choosing a leader are a non-starter with the biblical God. Judgment is what the Lord requires, "Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" And David unified Israel — without experience.
"And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And Moses led the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, without experience. Abraham followed One God, without experience. And the disciples left their nets or tax tables and followed Jesus, without experience.
Political reasoning is not biblical reasoning. If the Bible matters to a voter, that fact might be worth considering. Perhaps, though, politics and biblical beliefs have become so intertwined that politics, the worldly aspect of human life, trumps, for some, the Word of God? The current crop of presidential candidates have arguments that can easily be tested against biblical wisdom. But are even Bible-believers using biblical wisdom as a test on how to choose to vote for this Tuesday and beyond?
"I have 35 years of political experience" is not exactly biblical wisdom. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught" (1 Corinthians 2:6). There is a biblical argument to be made that "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory."
A friend and I were talking yesterday morning about the elections and caucuses tomorrow, and my friend asked when I had decided on my candidate. Though I cannot vote in my state's closed primary, as I am a registered Independent and one has to have had declared for either Democrat or Republican to vote, that has not kept my heart from choosing a candidate. My epiphany occurred during a recent debate when three Democratic candidates — Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama — were asked: "What is your greatest fault?" Senator Obama was asked to go first and allowed as how he could be a bit more organized — remembering his lists, car keys that sort of thing. We all know that annoying problem, don't we? Then came Senator Clinton. Her greatest problem, she said, was caring too much about the American people, and John Edwards picked up the beat to say that his greatest problem was caring too much about poverty in America.
Some days later I saw a snippet of Senator Obama saying — with a smile — in a rally that had he gone last, rather than first as asked, he would have said that his greatest problem was helping old ladies across the street. It was at that moment that I began to think of how the Lord chooses leaders. And I decided to listen to the voice in Joshua that says: "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
— — —
Lynne Bundesen is the author of five books on religion and was adjunct professor at the Boston Theological Institute under a Templeton Science and Religion Grant. She is currently the spiritual expert for the physical and spiritual health website of Dr. Andrew Weil. Her book "The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture" was just published. Her email address is {email lynnebundesen@hotmail.com}lynnebundesen@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Lynne Bundesen.