Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." This is my feeble attempt at examining my life.

Monday, March 11, 2013

How Should Christians Respond to the Demise of Public Officials

6:41 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments

Today in Detroit, former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, was found guilty and sent to prison. As a mayor he failed and did some horrific things. The evidence proved his guilt. Most of the response in my social network feeds is that of jubilation and mockery.

Mostly by Christians.

It seems that this kind of response is not the way that we ought to respond. As a people we are called by God to pray for those in authority. We are also supposed to pray for our enemies.

It's interesting, when I regularly pray for someone it makes it very difficult to hate them. I find myself seeing things from their perspective. I begin to experience empathy.

In the case of Kilpatrick I am thankful that the city of Detroit and our metro area will experience closure. But, I am saddened that a family has been destroyed. What is lost in all the mess is that Kilpatrick through his decisions destroyed a city and his family. His children won't have a dad around.

This is not a time for celebration. It's a time for somber reflection.

It's a time to ask hard questions of ourselves and those we have placed in public office.

There is joy when justice happens. There is also sadness when we see the effects of evil. I hope that we as Christians will bring both to the public forum.

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