By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
Politics. Should that be a four-letter word? We just finished voting on some people and issues and guess what? We’re just four months until we get to do it again.
The TV and media will be bombarded by ads against this, against that, for this, for that. And the closer to November we get, the more negative and nasty they will get.
Foreign governments will try to gain control over some. Remember, just recently the mayor of Arcadia, Calif., pleaded guilty to acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
Arcadia is a city just a little larger than the population of Williams County. That fact alone ought to shake us up.
We spend hundreds of millions of dollars to elect people who may only be marginally qualified to hold their position. When we look under the hood, we see PACs and lobby groups pulling the strings of the handsome puppet we see up front.
It seems a successful puppet, oops, I mean a politician, must be a person of flexible integrity who changes their message to their listener. I met a young politician a few years ago in a small gathering at an acquaintance’s home.
I took the time to read up on his positions before I went. I purposely asked him a question in such a way that he could easily see my prejudice, and it appeared to be completely opposite of his position. He told me that “off the record” he agreed with me completely. It was about abortion.
The funny part was that I totally agreed with his published position. I’d set him up, hoping that he would defend his published position…but he failed.
The sad thing is that this fall you will find his name on the ballot for a very important position in this state. A man lacking integrity hopes to be a great leader in Ohio and beyond.
“Flexible integrity.” That’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one. Wikipedia defines integrity as “the quality of being honest and consistent in moral and ethical principles and values.”
I fail to see flexibility. You either believe something or you don’t. You either stand firm on this or you don’t. I don’t mind a person who disagrees with me if that is their honest position. I co-lead a Bible study on Monday mornings with another pastor.
He and I don’t always agree on theological points. But we both know that we have researched our positions and come to our conclusions based on an honest interpretation of Scripture.
Don’t misunderstand me — it is OK to change positions if you realize that you had missed some important aspect of an issue, but not just because it is uncomfortable.
I met a U.S. senator and really appreciated him. I was honored to have dinner with him. He seemed a man of strong morals and integrity. But one day a couple of years later, something happened in his personal life that caused him to change his position on a moral dilemma this nation faces. I was greatly saddened to see that his integrity was compromised. I understood but was saddened nonetheless.
Scripture makes it very clear. Luke 16:10: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
We can’t help who the candidates are, but we can be consistent in our own moral and ethical decisions. Being a Believer demands moral and ethical living.
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.