Yes, Virginia, There Is a Wicked Ruler

(Proverbs 28:15 KJV)  As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.

How can you read this verse and not think politics?  I know that many people don’t want to go there.  I know so many who don’t want to talk politics.  Fine.  But you must still think and act politics, even if you won’t talk about them.

Here Solomon talks about a “wicked” (7563) “ruler” (4910).  That assumes that there are unwicked rulers, righteous rulers.  For the moment try to get past your political posturing and look at the moral choices that a leader makes.  There are certain criteria that are so clear we have nothing to debate.  Is the leader faithful to the spouse?  Do they speak with genuine honesty?  For us believers we also need to ask if they genuinely believe in the God revealed in the Bible. 

Some will say we cannot make those judgements.  We are not consigning them to hell, we are trying to decide how to cast our votes.  Yes, we can make those judgments.  We must make those judgements.

So?  At one end you have the local school board.  At the other you have the president of the United States.  Consider carefully the kind of leader you want.  We live in a blessed time of freedom but with freedom comes responsibility.