Thursday, October 20, 2016

You can't solve problems with the same people who created them

Many people today are calling for term limits for those in political office. Some running for office state they are in favor of term limits. Of course, the ones saying that are not currently in office. To think that a politician holding office is going to vote in favor of anything that will limit his or her term in office is naive at best.

However, what many people do not realize is that we already have term limits. They are called elections. Every two and four years we have the opportunity to vote out of office those who are not serving this nation well. The problem is that too many of us do not vote, and too many who do vote do not do so intelligently.

For years Jay Leno did a "man-on-the-street" interview with people he met and asked them various questions. These questions often focused on political issues facing the country. Sometimes the questions were on significant historical events. It was incredible to see the complete lack of knowledge displayed by most of those he interviewed. Today, Jesse Waters does something similar for Fox News, and the results are the same. We have a lot of uninformed voters who make decisions based on the spin and outright lies that come from both political parties. Tell enough lies often enough and the uninformed person will believe them and vote accordingly.

Tip O'Neil served many years as the Speaker of the House. One of his favorite quotes was that all politics is local. What he meant was that if you got the potholes fixed and helped someone's cousin back home find a job, you could do anything in Washington you wanted and still get re-elected. It was true then, and it's still true today.

This year we are faced with a crucial vote that will have a significant impact on our nation. I think both parties wish they had a different candidate representing them. I doubt that there have ever been two candidates for the presidency with trust and likability levels as low as these two, but these are the choices we have. Since I do not care for either candidate, I have to look at the platforms they are standing on and asking which one do I believe will be better for this country in the long run. I have to look at the types of persons each candidate would probably select for the Supreme Court (and the next President could possibly appoint 2-4 judges), and decide which one would more likely select a judge who will uphold the Constitution and not attempt to rewrite it. These are the factors that will determine which candidate I will vote for in a few weeks.

We also must not forget the congressional races either. I doubt that Congress has ever had a lower approval rate than our current Congress. Given that reality, and the fact that it has done nothing for the past several years, why would we re-elect any sitting Congress person? In my opinion, with very few exceptions, there are none who deserve to be returned to office. You cannot solve problems with the same people who created them. We the voters have the power of term limits in our hands if we vote and do so intelligently. If we do neither, then we have no right to complain about the representation we get.

By the way, this is true as well in the church. When a church is struggling it's important to look at the leadership to determine their role in the problems. If a church has an ineffective pastor, a church board that refuses to lead, controllers who hold the church hostage or a congregation that refuses to change, it's time to make leadership changes. No organization can rise any higher than its leadership, and if the leadership is the lid preventing the organization from rising higher it's time to change the leadership.

I've talked with many pastors who have said their boards refuse to do anything to help the church move forward in a positive direction. I've also met with church boards who have said the same about their pastors. You will not solve problems with the people who have created the problems. Something has to change, and until it does the church will remain stuck and ineffective.

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