"It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant." Matthew 20:25 Are you ready for the "Catch Me if you Can" game to begin? What sort of game is this? It is the adult version of tag, where the political candidates who are running for office in 2016 try not to get tagged out. The last one standing wins. It works like this: As candidates give their speeches, shake hands and kiss babies across our fruited plains, they must not let the pesky journalists and reporters tag them out. Our media is aggressive. Daily they are trying to dig up evidence of some past act of misconduct or malfeasance, or they try to trip up the candidates to say something incriminating, so they will be un-electable. If they can get someone to bow out of the race, that is considered a tag. Journalists of our day take pride in causing people to fail. Politics, as they say, has become a blood sport. But there is a good reason why we play the game so ferociously; corruption in politics is everywhere. Instead of running for office to serve, most candidates run for office to selfishly gain. People want power and riches, so naturally they are prone to corruption. If you can take money from foreign nations, hide incriminating emails, lie under oath to the American people, and get rich doing it, why not try it? So the candidate's number one goal is to try not to get tagged. They will even hire their own attack journalists and media spinners to keep other journalists off their scent. The more you can deflect attention and throw mud at your opponents, the quicker the other guy will get tagged. It's all about winning. But in this game, we (the American people) all lose. Wouldn't it be nice if candidates were in it only to serve people? What if each and every candidate took Jesus' words to heart? But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” What would this look like? (1) For one, candidates would campaign on what they think is best, not what they think will get them elected. I would love to see a candidate stand up and say, "This is what I believe and if you don't like it - don't vote for me." It would be refreshing to elect someone who doesn't need the job, they just want to serve. Boy, in the last 8 years, how many politicians changed their views on marriage simply because it was popular? (2) Secondly, candidates would not be afraid to admit their mistakes. Be honest. Most of the art of journalism these days is trying to catch politicians in lies. They are told, if you did something wrong don't get caught. "Plead the 5th, you will get off." And sadly, most do. It is as if getting caught is the true crime, but the crime itself is just a hazard of the job. What if a politician admitted a mistake, miscue instead of fighting it to the death? I know what you are thinking: they would be tagged out! And maybe that would be a good thing? (3) Finally, candidates would confront their own party members when they are blood-sucking money from the average tax-payer. Instead of agreeing to pork and privileges, they should say "this bill is wrong." I know that some try. I know that some stand up. And I know most get lambasted by attack dogs when they do. I guess I am only dreaming? Maybe Jesus was just too good for our world. Now I know why he was crucified!
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