Yellow or Brown?

A number of years ago I read about a parenting technique on how to get kids to do something. The example went like this: If you have a kid who doesn’t like wearing shirts, ask them, “Do you want to wear your yellow shirt or your brown one?” So in a way it’s a false choice, but it gives the illusion of the child making a decision.

A history prof I had in college used a similar example about freedom. “If you think freedom is about choosing between a Big Mac and a Whopper, you don’t know freedom.”

To bring this into current times, our voting system is that same way. “Republican fascist or Democratic communist?” When the two given options are both repugnant, it’s no wonder people don’t vote.

SIDEBAR: My grandpa used to say, “Why vote? It just encourages the . . . . [unsavory politicians].”

That’s why the political system works so hard to polarize the electorate. The people in the middle think their vote doesn’t count because they dislike both sides. Then the really devoted followers on each end of the political spectrum decide the election, and they’re easier to lead by the nose.

The choice isn’t binary - Red vs. Blue - in case you’re wondering. And further, neither side can save you, nor are they really interested in doing that. They want your vote. After that you’re a nuisance.

Politicians make grandiose claims about the only way to make America great again, the only way to help the people, and they’re all wrong. The only way to bring back a golden age in America is to pray.

There’s a passage in 2 Chronicles that tells God’s people how to heal their nation. But notice this is written to have GOD’S PEOPLE pray. That means even if the Blue party and the Red party are both filled with unGodly reprobates, when His people pray things get better.

It’s not about Whoppers and Big Macs, Republicans and Democrats, or even which shirt to wear. It’s for God’s people to pray - for leaders to make wise decisions, to not legislate because of selfish goals, that kind of thing. When God’s people pray, things change.

The point of all this is that no politician can save you, me, or the nation as a whole. The only way to be saved is by one man, the Mediator between God and mankind.

If you’re a Christian, pray for our country. Pray that the electorate votes for the one God wants, who will give us hope and a future.

But don’t be dismayed if the person elected turns out to be an unGodly reprobate. God can use that, too. After all, He took one man, subjected his descendants to slavery in Egypt in order to build a great nation just as He’d promised.

God made that promise about His people praying, too. Imagine what He can do with the entire U.S.A.