I did not watch the State of the Union address this week. In fact, I stopped watching them several years ago. It has been reduced to political theater with both parties inviting spectators that might embarrass the other side, the president's party applauding every few moments while the other party sits on their hands, and a lot of words that seldom are translated into action. Personally, when the Speaker refused to allow the STOU to be delivered in the House chambers during the government shutdown, I was hoping the president would deliver it from the Oval Office. Then he would have been speaking to the people without the political spectacle. I would have watched it if that had occurred because it would have seemed to have more meaning.
During the SOTU, and most political speeches, many words are spoken. What one needs to check out is what happens when the cameras stop rolling. Is there actually any action taken on anything that was said? The president called for unity. Will that happen? Can that happen? I would say not as long as both parties refuse to yield on anything substantial, and it doesn't appear that is going to occur.
The president talked about the dignity of every person, including the unborn. He asked Congress to pass a bill that would ban late-term abortions. This excited his political base, but will this translate into any action? From past experience, and the response of the Democrats in the House, it's unlikely. More talk, no action, and this action on many of the issues facing the nation continues to bring harm.
Of course, this isn't much different that what occurs in many churches. Churches talk a lot about growing, but many of them will oppose anything that is new that might lead to growth. There is much talk about evangelism, and little evangelism actually taking place. There are many sermons on the importance of prayer, but few in the church pray with any consistency, and if the church even still has a prayer service during the week it will be the poorest attended service in the church. The church talks a lot about the importance of making disciples, but few have any idea of what a disciple might look like nor do they have plans for how to help people grow into discipleship.
Talk is cheap in the political and church arenas. It's easy to say the words that will fire up the base, but it's much more difficult to put those words into action. There are always those who prefer the status quo because that is where they are the most comfortable. If nothing is done, nothing changes. Everything continues as before, but in time everything becomes less effective, less relevant, and less likely to address the changes occurring in our world.
Anyone who attempts to actually do something will have their critics, but again, their words are cheap and meaningless. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem he had his vocal critics who tried to discourage the people and halt the work. He refused to listen to them, and he refused to allow them to stop the work.
Ann Coulter, once a strong supporter of President Trump, has become just as vocal in her current criticism. Some have suggested that if she feels she could do better she should run for the office. Recently, she told Bill Maher there's not a chance she would run. Of course not. If she was elected then she would have to do something besides offering her trade-mark flamethrower criticisms. She well knows that it's much easier to criticize, to offer up talk, than to actually accomplish something. Unfortunately, talk alone doesn't bring about the changes we need in our churches and our nation.
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