Like many Americans, I’ve had my TV on more than usual during the past several days—drawn into the buzz over the long-anticipated US presidential primaries. So far, the excitement of the reality on the ground may actually have exceeded expectations.
 
     Upstart candidates Obama and Huckabee took Iowa by good ol’ Midwestern tornado. Now, with New Hampshire voters at the polls as I am writing, we wait to see if one of the more experienced candidates can spring to the front of the pack. To hear most political pundits talk, the largest question out there is this: What do voters want? Change or experience? Most seem to think it’s change.
 
     Americans are tired of the battles dragging on in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everybody wants that to change. Many people also hope for a better economy, a better national healthcare plan, a more secure Social Security system, greater respect for life, a return to a moral foundation for society. We all have our priorities.

And presidential candidates, eager to curry favor with every voter, are quick to promise high mountain summits if not the moon itself. They all promise more than anyone could ever deliver. And they all promise both change and experience.

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Many people think we should avoid talking about politics and religion in polite company, so I shall now break both taboos and include God in this conversation about politics.

Although He is said to be a person of considerable experience, God might not do well in the current political climate. “I am the Lord,” says He. “I change not” (Malachi 3:6).

Of course, that’s a point many politicians also want to make. They want us to believe they are for change, not that they have changed. But the more experience a politician has, the more he or she is associated with the way things have been.

God has a similar public relations problem. Having been around for a long time, something like an elderly Senator in the minds of many people, He gets blamed for nearly everything that has gone wrong with the planet. And since most people conceive of God as very old, they often think He is incapable of fresh, creative thinking about the earth’s problems. But stop and think about this.

When Jesus began his public campaign, it was not to get elected, it was to reveal God. As a 30-year-old, He shook up the establishment like none before Him. People say Huckabee and Obama are inspiring when they’re out on the stump, but people said no one had ever spoken with the power Jesus had (see Luke 4:32-35). And He wasn’t just an orator. His ideas were fresh—and electrifying. (If you don’t believe it, stop reading this and go read the Gospel of John from chapters three through nine. Check out the effect of Jesus’ words on His contemporaries. While you’re at it, check out the effect of those words on you!)

It’s not that what Jesus said was new. He revealed God as He had always been. God never changes, remember? The problem was that an accurate picture of the true God had been buried beneath massive piles of religious regulations and tedious traditions.

God has never been out of fresh ideas to solve human problems. The problem is His ideas are inconsistently followed. Let me ask, what would the nation be like if:

• Everyone truly honored God as the Infinite One He is?
• No one made material things into idols that take God’s rightful place?
• No one dishonored God by slandering His name?
• Everyone took a day each week to rest and to reflect on God’s role in their lives?
• Everyone always honored their parents?
• No one ever took the life of another person?
• Married people always honored their marriage vows?
• Everyone always respected the personal property of others?
• Everyone always told the truth?
• No one ever became bitter because other people have more than they do? (See Exodus 20).

What would that nation be like? I’m not asking what it would be like if people said they believe these things. No, what would it be like if people consistently did them. Which of the nation’s major problems would still exist? 
 
     Jesus said those ten basic concepts are summed up in just two:

• Love God supremely.
• Love your neighbor as yourself.

If people actually did that, would the presidential candidates have major issues to discuss? There wouldn’t be many.

Even before Jesus came along, the Old Testament prophet Micah made a pretty good summation:  “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

God got His platform right the first time. Why are the planet and the nation in such difficult times? Because God’s ways are so often ignored. (Such a God He is that, despite His omnipotence, He allows us to make that choice!)

So, in a perilous world fraught with unparalleled challenges—a world in which the best solutions are often given little attention—the nation now gets serious about choosing the next president. Despite their best intentions, none of the candidates will solve the nation’s problems. That is because they cannot solve the basic human condition. Only Jesus can do that.

Nevertheless, the nation needs good leadership, and I wish all the candidates well. The campaign season promises to be a long one. For those of us who enjoy keeping track of such things, it’s likely to get even more interesting before it’s over. May the best person win (I truly mean it). And may God bless America (we surely need it).

     B.W.