The Next U.S. Leader - Who Would God Choose?

You are here

The Next U.S. Leader - Who Would God Choose?

Login or Create an Account

With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later!

Sign In | Sign Up

×

Sad to say, but the U.S. presidential election of 2012 is already under way. Never mind the fact that the election won't take place for another year and a half, this week several candidates announced they are off and running, while others announced that they will not run this year. Others are keeping the political pundits in suspense. In 1960 the candidates did not announce their intentions or begin running until spring, barely six months prior to the election.

What has caused the change? In part, it is money. President Obama has already stated that he needs to raise one billion dollars for a campaign. That's right, one billion dollars will be spent by one candidate to get elected to an office that pays .025 percent of that each year as a salary. It takes a lot of time to raise that kind of money and spend it on advertisements and events.

Voters will be swamped and smothered by advertisements. As most of us know, political advertisements rarely stick to the facts and often contain malicious half-truths, false accusations or slander of some kind. What is obvious is that we are dealing with the same problems year after year. Few problems ever seem to get solved. Men know how to talk about problems, but lack the courage and integrity to solve them. The solution often is to spend more money with good intentions and dubious results, but western nations are running out of money. Nearly sixty percent of the U.S. population is living off of a government check of some kind, and the percentage that does not pay income taxes is almost larger than those who do. A study of the history of nations reveals that financial collapse follows moral collapse, which we have witnessed for many years.

What kind of leader would God choose for us if we were a righteous nation? The answer is given by Jethro, Moses' father in law, in Exodus 18. Moses could not handle all of the decisions brought to him, so Jethro counseled him to appoint captains of 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 families. Israel had its first formal organization: "Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens" (Exodus 18:21).

Notice that these men were to have four qualities: 1. Men of ability, 2. Fearing God, 3. Men of truth and 4. Hating bribery or unjust gain. Would it not be wonderful if we had such men governing nations today! Instead, in all too many cases our systems bring out the venal, narcissistic, proud, ambitious, dishonest, godless, bribe-giving and taking, arrogant and self-centered types. Character matters, always. God said so.

There are still many genuine servants of our nation and others in positions of governance, but they appear to be in the minority and becoming fewer all the time. Just as it was in Ancient Rome, so it is with us today. Rome lasted over 300 years after the moral decay had set in as reflected in its leaders. Due to modern communication our decline has accelerated much faster and our end result will be here before many people realize what is taking place.

For more on this subject about choosing leaders, and for some startling answers, watch our video program titled: "Could Jesus Be Elected President?"or read the Good News magazine article, "Could Jesus Christ Be Elected President?".

You might also be interested in...

Comments

  • nkduodu

    To: aaronbooth: Thanks for the explanation. If we had more people like you the world would a better place to live in.

  • Cynthia Stewart

    Stephen,

    I agree 100%

  • Steven Britt

    See what UCG was writing about the political process in 2003:

    http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/principle-or-politics-fundamental-choice-human-affairs/

    Or during the 2004 election:

    http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/treasure-digest-how-would-jesus-vote-president/

    It's better to be focused on the coming Kingdom of God rather than the popular political battle of the day, and this is our practice in UCG. Of course people in God's Church can't help having opinions, but we should all realize that our different political leanings are minuscule in comparison to the common ground that we share in looking forward to Christ's return and that there is not a single political ideology known by men that can fix the problems of this world.

  • dust_i_am

    Ohhhh - so God isn't concerned about what candidates think Paul Revere did in 1775?

  • Cynthia Stewart

    Mr. Sexton’s article hits the nail on the head. I wonder if some go into political office with pure motives, a desire to serve and then become infected with the heady wine of position and power after they get in office. Or were they already after power and position when they decided to run? It doesn’t really matter if the end result is corruption.
    I also appreciate Aaron Booth’s quick response on the hands, I know that there was absolutely no prejudice intended.
    Thank you,

  • Aaron Booth

    I was the one who posted the picture of the raised hands and it was not my intention to offend. We try as much as we can to have a variety of images on this website that represent all people. Again, my apologies. Take care!

  • nkduodu

    The Next U.S. Leader - Who Would God Choose? A commentary by Rex Sexton
    Posted June 8, 2011
    "What has caused the change? In part, it is money. President Obama has already stated that he needs to raise one billion dollars for a campaign. That's right, one billion dollars will be spent by one candidate to get elected to an office that pays .025 percent of that each year as a salary. It takes a lot of time to raise that kind of money and spend it on advertisements and events."
    Yes I agree with you that 1 billion dollars is a huge amount to spend on an election campaign. However looking at the picture accompanying your article [only white hands, no blacks or "colored" hands, in a multi racial country as such]I have a feeling that point on Obama's campaign budget is just a subtle way of saying let us vote this blackman out. I know you will not admit it but if that was honestly not your intentions, then next time please be very sensitive to these issues. God Bless.

  • marcryan71

    It's sad that the four qualifiers God said would help lead the people is absolutely ABSENT from our modern leaders. Men can go on national TV and lie lie lie...and still keep their positions with a straight face. Blatant sin and immorality is now the accepted norm. It is written: "the days are evil" and this is so true...

  • Join the conversation!

    Log in or register to post comments