Will you choose popularity or faithfulness?
I have spent many years in and around legislators, both in Congress and in the states.
It has often been quoted to me, and repeated by me, that we should pray that the leaders of our nation, particularly those of faith, should act like Daniel in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar — with wisdom and tact (Daniel 2:14). In this way they would be counted upon for counsel and direction when considering the ways in which the nation should be ruled, even when serving in the great, and evil, city of Babylon. And from their counsel, the people might flourish.
This has led many to act for the good of the nation and with a hope for the fruitfulness of its people.
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But what happens when those things become unpopular? Not unpopular across the nation, but amongst their own constituents. Is it still the example of Daniel that is followed? Or the example of the kings of Israel?
Daniel and his three friends were asked to consider not just their political life, but their physical life as the cost of their principles. The kings of Israel were asked the same.
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — counselors raised for the very purpose of giving guidance to a king who rejected their God — were called to forgo what they knew was right, and just, and good so that they might retain not just their authority, but their lives.
The kings of Israel were called to guide the nation in what they were continuously reminded was right, and just, and good.
Yet, when the crucible came and the ravaging jaws approached, Daniel and the three showed that what is right, and just, and good was of greater worth than even their own lives. The kings of Israel kowtowed, giving up what was right, and just, and good, instead turning to what at the moment appeared to retain their own power. They paid homage to the lesser of two evils, not wisdom, but what appeared to have the power to keep their fear at bay.
Every Vacation Bible School felt board reminds us of the consequences. Though they tried to retain all by giving up what was right, just, and good, the kings were destroyed and led into captivity by the fear they had tried to prevent.
Daniel and the three, though giving up their very lives, held onto what was right, just, and good; they, unlike the kings, received the power, authority, and glory the kings had fought so hard to hold onto.
Every member of Congress who has ascribed to the principles of human flourishing, who has given verbal assent to the idea that life starts at conception are now being called to the fore without the veil of Roe to hide behind. Out of 266 self-described pro-life members of Congress, only 145 of them asked the Supreme Court to ensure protections for women against the harms of the abortion pill. Candidates for office who were for full protections for the unborn two years ago are now claiming a supposedly politically palatable position of allowing exceptions so large they swallow the rule.
Wisdom and tact are understanding that not everyone headed in the same direction will agree with a particular approach but that disagreement does not an enemy make. It is understood that a common goal to be achieved by common men may take uncommon means.
Wisdom and tact are holding to your principles when the political winds blow against them in the vain hope they will be picked up again when the winds change. It is not compromising where the two options are literally life or death.
Wisdom and tact are very different from political expedience.
Jim Elliott summed it up like this, “He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
And just recently, Al Mohler reminded us, “The threat of not winning an election cannot justify assuming an immoral position.”
Fame, power, your seat in Congress, are all fleeting. Standing up for what is good, what is right, what is just, echoes down through eternity. Will you abandon such things to keep what will not last?
Bradley Kehr is a lawyer living in Idaho.
