Lessons to be learned from the Campaign Trail- Part 3 and FINAL
Based on a story in the New York Times:
Note to self: When typing a lengthy article, always hit the “save” button occasionally. Failure to do so may lead to the loss of about an hours worth of typing!
Another clue as to why the McCain/ Palin ticket imploded: Paragraph 5. Specifically:
“it is unclear how much he [Sen. McCain] was inclined or able to stop it.” Jesus said that it is the peacemakers that are called
“the children of God”. Mat 5:9 Have you ever noticed that children can be bitter enemies one minute and best friends the next minute? A lesson is to be learned from children. And, a lesson is to be learned from the political arena. Don’t ignore conflicts. Don’t allow them to foster. As the immortal Barney Fife advised time and time again: “Nip it! Nip in the bud”.
Conflicts arise in all facets of life, including the Christian life. Allowing them to foster and take root will, and often does, destroy friendships. Moses saw two of his Hebrew brethren in a conflict…. And he was inclined to resolve it. We don’t need to sit idly by while brethren argue and debate endlessly. Abraham and Lot saw conflict and, though it meant separating, they put an end to it. I’d rather not walk with a brother than to be in a disagreement with him.
I imagine the heart break when the Assemblies of God and those of the “New Issue” separated. Must have been heartbreaking for many of them. Brethren that had preached and prayed together previously. I’m sure tears flowed freely as brethren could no longer consider each other “brethren”. I don’t know about you, but I consider the unity I have with my family in Christ as “good” and “pleasant”.
“Follow peace with all men….” is a part of a well known , and often repeated verse of Scripture, that is often overlooked and ignored. Don’t ignore conflict- be inclined to end it with all that you are able to do.
Paragraph 6 of the New York Times article: Is there anything to add? Its all there:
"The tensions and their increasingly public airing provide a revealing coda to the ill-fated McCain-Palin ticket, hinting at the mounting turmoil of a campaign that was described even by many Republicans as incoherent, negative and badly run. tensions, “public airings, turmoil, incoherent, negative.”Tension, when its allowed to reach its breaking point, leads to rifts. Public airings of grips, gossips, and grumblings gives our message an incoherent sound. Our words become nothing more than “sounding brass, and tinkling cymbals”. A church divided by tension and negativity is a receding church. A dying church. A carnal church. A people who allow these traits to exist among them are the same, whether they be Christians or politicians.
Paragraph 8. Blaming. Who’s at fault when we are in a constant state of conflict among ourselves?
Jam 3:16 For where envying and strife [is], there [is] confusion and every evil work. We are. By allowing envying and strife to rule the day, we open the door for confusion and “every evil work”. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin, as leaders of their campaign, were responsible to lead the Republican Party to victory, but they failed, but not due to outside influence. Their failure was an IMPLOSION, remember? They failure came from with in. Tension, turmoil, failure to communicate, and so on.
Now, we get to the real issues.
Excess. The New York Times suggests one cause of the demise of the campaign was excessive expenditures. This is a symptom of a bigger problem. Attempting to promote and project an image. We seem to be content on projecting an image of being a united people. Some churches even use some variation of the world “unite” in their name. Others say “fellowship”. Some churches call them selves “Family”. Would to God that more than just a projected image. This forum uses the word “Friends” in its name. Good word. But…. and lets be honest, is it a mere image we are trying to promote, or are we really and truly friends? Are we doing all we can to live up to the name “Apostolic Friends Forum”? Do we place emphasis on the word Apostolic by advocating that only Apostolic doctrinal issues are to be discussed and anything and anyone WE deem non-Apostolic should be forever barred from this Apostolic forum? Or, do we emphasize the word “Forum”, meaning we can say anything we want to say in our post with little or no regard to the feelings, views, and opinions of others?
Personally, I emphasize the word “Friends” because, more than anything else, that’s what we are here. I am friends with people all over the world because of this forum. They stood with me when I really need someone to stand with me. No, we aren’t all “Apostolic” as the word is defined by this forum. But that’s okay. We’re friends. We don’t post what we want when we want to disrespect one another. We don’t call each other names. Well, we shouldn’t just because we are a forum and forums are made to say what we want no matter how it hurts. We don’t do that, because we are friends. And we are United. United Pentecostal. That’s not just an image or a religious organization. . That’s who we are. And, we are the Apostolic FRIENDS Forum.
The End…. Finally.