impeachment | The Recovering Legalist

Politics

You know what they say, don’t you? “A pastor should avoid politics at all costs.” Or, maybe it’s, “Never talk about politics from the pulpit…or online…or at the dinner table…or with a friend…”

The reason is because I am called to minister to people of all political persuasions. It’s foolish to alienate potentially half the people I address by offending them with an opposing political view, ESPECIALLY if that political opinion has nothing to do with the Bible, particularly the Gospel.

But what am I to do when something happens in the political realm and Scripture has something to say? Do I remain silent? Do I avoid even the least offense? Do I say, “That’s only for you people to discuss on your own, not in church, and not with me”?

What if the Bible offers advice that could radically change the negative atmosphere of politics and actually bring our nation’s leaders closer together for the sake of our nation?

Well, it does!

Broken Legs

If you had the opportunity to watch President Trump’s third State of the Union Address (the one where Nancy Pelosi ripped up the paper she fumbled with for an hour), what you saw was a sad, sad sight: nearly all the Democrats had broken legs. It’s true! Hardly any of them could stand up for anything, even news that the state of the Union was great!

Oh, the Republicans in the room were quick to leap to their feet when they heard African-American unemployment was at an all-time low, but the party of 90% of blacks remained in their seats! You KNOW that had to be painful! Broken legs, I tell you.

And what about that time it was announced that we are no longer dependent on foreign oil (the thing that nearly crippled us back in the 1970’s)? What about the news that manufacturing jobs had increased (along with factories coming back to America)? What about the news of lowered prescription drug prices and fairer trade deals with China? For each one of these bits of great news, the Democrats remained in their seats, groaning from the pain in their broken legs, unable to stand and celebrate the common good of our country.

But was it broken legs? Or, was it nothing more than hurt feelings, bitterness, anger, hatred, and spite? What if they were thinking that any good news is bad news as long as Trump is still the President? What if they were unwilling to celebrate anything, or anybody (even a 100-year-old Tuskegee airman that got promoted to General), if it meant admitting Trump was responsible? Their broken legs (or angry feelings) were more important than the people who sent them to Washington.

Jesus and Paul

But I would like to direct your attention to a couple of different instances where both the followers of Jesus and the friends of the Apostle Paul found themselves in a similar situation as the poor, crippled Democrats.

In one case, John came to Jesus upset that there was “one casting out devils” in His name (Mark 9:38-40; Luke 9:49-50). He told Jesus [paraphrased], “We told him to ‘Stop it!” because he wasn’t part of our group.” How did Jesus reply?

Forbid [him] not: for he that is not against us is for us. – Luke 9:50

Then later, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul confirmed that there were some people preaching Jesus, but with selfish motives. Did he protest? Did he let his broken legs keep him in his seat? Not hardly!

It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. – Philippians 1:15-18 NLT

Do the Democrats think they are better than Jesus and Paul?

The Common Good

Who are these people that go to Washington, D.C.? Are they not servants of the people who sent them there? Do they represent political parties alone, or do they each take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America, the place where ALL Americans live, regardless their party affiliation?

Jesus and Paul understood that there were people out there who didn’t belong to their inner circles, some of which even had impure motives for what they were doing. Yet, both Jesus and Paul rejoiced that good was being done, nevertheless. People were being freed from demons in the name of Jesus, and people were getting saved after hearing the gospel preached by jealous, self-serving preachers.

Why is it, then, that the Democrats sat like they had broken legs when news of the common good was rampant? Why is it that they could not rejoice at an improved economy, decreased poverty, or lower drug prices that ease the burden of sick people in every political party?

The Answer?

I really don’t have an official answer; I can’t see inside their hearts. However, we could rephrase the question and ask John and the concerned Christians in Philippi why they had problems with people doing the right thing?

Maybe John thought: “Hey! That guy with the orange hair is casting out demons in Jesus’ name!“

Maybe the Philippians said: “Dear Paul, there’s a guy over there who said bad things about you, even called you names, and he’s telling people about Christ!“

All we know for sure is that both John and the Philippians were wrong for not clapping their hands, as both Jesus and Paul made clear.

Therefore, if the nation as a whole, both the just and the unjust, felt the rain of prosperity as the result of an orange-headed, egotistic outsider, not celebrating the common good makes the Democrats who refused to stand appear petty, childish, and motivated by something other than the people’s best interests.

Maybe they need to hate President Trump less and love our country more.

NOTE: If you don’t like what I just wrote, simply print it off and rip it in two.

Image result for pelosi rips

I am not a politician, nor do I play one on TV. Once I daydreamed about running for Congress, but then I returned to reality and drank a strong cup of coffee – no more of that nonsense.

However, I am a voter who has been watching politicians for many years, especially the last three, and I’ve been pretty disgusted by the whole lot.

Granted, not all politicians are sleazy scumbags. I get it. As a matter of fact, over the years I have had the privilege to know a couple of government officials, servants, who love our country, had high moral and ethical standards, and were not afraid to put their careers on the line while doing the right thing. But those are truly, truly rare these days.

Now, today, I get to see the culmination of three years of attacks on the President of the United States of America: impeachment.

Frankly, I find it funny that we went through two years or more of people absolutely sure Donald Trump colluded with the Russians and played patty cake in a hot tub with Vladimir Putin. They had “evidence” to “prove” it. Yet, none of that is part of the impeachment being voted on today.

As a matter of fact, the Democrat Party in America, aided by the mainstream press (a willing extension of the Party), has done nothing but look for any reason whatsoever to destroy President Trump and remove him from office, even before his inauguration! Even before he took the oath of office, there were protests, calls for violence, fires in the streets, intimidation of voters, and yes, calls for impeachment.

Simply put, the Left has hated Donald Trump since he shattered their dreams and defeated the Ice Queen, Hillary Clinton. There was nothing he could every do to win them over. There would be nothing he could ever do to gain their approval. Simply because he won the election, he, along with half the country (the “deplorables”), would be the recipients of attack after attack after attack. The Left’s pathological hatred would drive their whole agenda.

So, on this historic day, President Donald Trump is being impeached in the House for the most pitiful of excuses for “crimes and misdemeanors” anyone has ever seen. He’s not being impeached for colluding, lying under oath, bribery, tweeting too much, bad hair, getting jiggy with an intern behind the “resolute desk” in the Oval Office, or breaking into the Democrat headquarters. No, he’s being impeached because of misrepresented conversations and disrespecting those who’ve done nothing less than try to carry out a coup.

And the American people are wising up.

Blind hatred can lead one to do stupid things, including self-destructive behavior. When your sole mission in life is to destroy another person, you become bitter, narrow-minded, angry, mean, and eventually delusional. What’s even worse, hatred and a desire for vengeance can wind up hurting the very ones you love – including your country.

When nothing else is as important than vindication, retribution, and the orgasmic desire for the destruction of your enemy, you become the servant of Evil and the hand tool of the Destroyer.

America is worse off now than if it had let the man elected President do his job, good or bad. Seething, delusional, maniacal, and pathological hate has divided and wounded this nation, all because a single man won an election, thereby stalling the radical agenda of those hell-bent on cultural transformation.

It’s an historic day, for sure.