It is an Election Year and I do not Like any Candidate

It is an election year and like many like many older Americans I do not feel real comfortable with any of the leading candidates.  From a faith perspective, I am frustrated with the direction our country is headed. I wonder what happened to traditional Christian values.   I also hear a lot of negative and even offensive words.  The candidates are making hateful statements that in my mind are based on fear. 

In spite of that there are two things I do know: I need to respect whoever our elected leaders are (Titus 3:1) and God is still the Supreme Ruler. 

I am also still of the opinion that the Millennials generation will have a major voice in whoever our next president is.  By the way, they were a major factor in electing President Obama.  They, more than any other generational group continue to give the president high approval ratings.  That leads me to expect the next president to continue to lead down the same path. That probably means a further movement away from the Christian values that I cherish.

The recently released report from the American Bible Society's “State of the Bible" seems to indicate Americans still see the Bible as the answer to our nation’s problems. But as we look to the future things do not look as positive.  The research for the study was done by The Barna Group.  It seems to indicate that the impact of the Bible decreases from older generations to younger ones. 

In response to the statement “Politicians would be more effective if they read the Bible regularly,” 76% of Elders but only 34% of Millennials agreed.  Among other generations, 66% of Baby Boomers and 49% of members of Generation X concurred.  In response to the statement, “The Bible is sufficient for meaningful life,” only 27% of Millennials agreed as opposed to 65% of Elders.

 

Still, as Christians we cannot allow the culture, or the political climate, to change who we are.  More than ever, the world needs to see the Bible lived through us.  The elections are coming and we need to vote, but no matter the outcome, God is still in charge.