Dear Friends.
I always appreciate hearing perspectives from
my Leadership Thought reading friends. Regardless of the position you take,
positive or critical, it is a compliment to me to know that you have taken the
time to engage and reflect on what I have written.
I have some friends I hear from almost daily,
and if I didn’t hear from them for a week, I would be concerned about their
well-being. Others respond occasionally ,and it is always good to hear from
them and learn their reactions and perspectives, and then there are those in
the majority who seldom, if ever, respond and who may well be the ones who
simply click “delete” when they see the words Leadership Thought pop up on
their screens.
In any event I am grateful for all of you and
whether you read or not, you will always remain my leadership friends.
I share this with you to let you know I
always welcome feedback, and that I occasionally share your responses in future
messages. This is the case today as I have chosen to share a response to
yesterday’s Leadership Thought on the value of being politically kind in this
crazy hate filled political world where everyone is looking to play “I gotcha.”
Yesterday’s Leadership Thought addressed the
importance of being kind to each other, something that is difficult to do in
this politically charged world. The author pointed out numerous studies that
have revealed the harm that anger can have on our physical and mental health.
I quote the response of one of my readers who
wrote:
“The greatest thing a man can do for his
Heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children. That is our job as
followers of Christ.”
“The vast majority of Christian Americans
seem to be completely favoring and supporting current American politics - but
such politics, behavior and underlying values are devoid of kindness (and a lot
of other godly behaviors). Indeed, I've heard that some pastors (not here at
our church) have recently gotten criticism for preaching Jesus' Sermon on the
Mount, claiming that it is part of some toxic, liberal agenda. So, I deeply and
sincerely appreciate your focus on those godly attributes, like kindness, which
seem to be quickly falling out of favor among many Christians. I also
enormously appreciate your attention to other "unpopular" godly
attributes such as compassion/mercy rather than bullying, love (including
loving our enemies) rather than hatred, unity rather than division, peace
rather than hostility/fighting, respect rather than disrespect, etc. etc.”
“I hope that Christians don't ever criticize
you for promoting the authentic ways of Jesus! I feel that many Christians have
been or are being deceived as they merge politics and their Christian values. I
firmly believe the following equation: Religion + Politics = Politics.”
“I believe that when Jesus is merged with
politics, He is diminished and eventually eliminated. I appreciate any effort
to maintain attention on Jesus and unveil this Christian deception.”
My friend then included a link that contained
an article on how some evangelicals were rejecting Jesus teachings on the
Sermon on the Mount as nothing more that liberal talking points.
I am an evangelical who possesses a strong
political bias, and while I strive to insure that the expressions of my
political feelings are consistent with the way Jesus would have me
respond, I regret that I sometimes get dragged into political discourse
that I know is unbecoming of one who is His follower.
The challenge we all confront as believers is
to always remind ourselves of how He lived and what He taught, and I’m
"just sayin" the Sermon on the Mount might just be the perfect place
to begin (Matthew 5:1-12).
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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