Vince Deagler

unless you have spent the last year on another planet you are well aware of the ongoing controversy in washington over health care.  now, i do not want this to be a political blog.  there are plenty of those with much more information than i would ever be able to deliver.  and in general, i am very ambivalent to politics these days.  not so much because i don’t care about the policies, but because there is very little i can do about those policies.  i can’t vote for a president till 2012.  both of my senators are in favor…after all i live in ca where barbra boxer and diane feinstein are considered mainstream.  my congressman is opposed…big deal.  with that and 2 bucks i can get a grande coffee at starbucks.  in general as i see it through the lens of scripture things are gonna get worse and worse.  to me this is just part of that general decline.  now before you react, i have shared this sentiment before.  i just don’t think there are enough good candidates to offset what has happened in our country.  i will still vote, communicate with my representatives, encourage them to do the right thing, and pray.  i’m just not optimistic things are gonna get better.  hopefully i will be surprised.

now, having said all that, let me get to my point.  do you remember when character was an important qualification for leadership.  sadly, this thinking has gone the way of the dinosaur.  i think president clinton finally did it in.  but from my perspective, character or more accurately a lack of character explains why we are in the mess we are in.  let me give an example.

today i was listening to president obama selling his health-care reform to some people in ohio.  i won’t be able to quote him exactly, but i can be accurate.  he said if his reform is passed, employers health-care costs will go down 3000 percent so that those employers could give their people a raise.  WHAT???

now stay with me, how is that possible?  i know enough about math to know things can go up 3000 percent.  but i’m pretty sure things can’t go down any more than 100 percent.  if this is incorrect, please explain it to me, cause i am really curious to how that is possible.

so here is the dilemma, either president obama mis-spoke…in which case i am sure he will correct himself shortly.  or he has a truth problem…no i will not go into all the examples that come to mind.  truth is a character trait, i think a very important character trait.  if every politician said what they meant and meant what they said i do not think we would have the problems we now have.  but alas, as i said above, the idea that character is important is old fashioned.

so why am i writing.  because i am a leader…so are you…even if you don’t recognize it.  leadership at its most basic level is about influence.  am i in a league with the political class?  mega church pastors?  academics at our finest educational institutions?  heads of fortune 500 companies?  etc?  nope.  but i am a pastor at prescott evangelical free church, i am on the board of t-net international, i have a family and friends, i am even the commissioner of the prescott march madness pick em tournament (that’s a joke in case you missed it).  i have seen what a lack of character has done to me when it comes to politics.  i try to be respectful, but i am quite fond of the joke…how do you know when a politician is lying?  his/her lips are moving.  i will spare you the rest of my favs.  now here is my point.

have you ever heard the church is filled with hypocrites.  has a spiritual leader ever disappointed you by being untruthful.  have you ever seen a child crushed by broken promises from mom and dad.  i do not want to be that pastor, board member, father, husband, grandfather, friend.  i want to be an example of good character.  i want that for you.  i can’t do a thing about what is going on in washington, sacramento, or somewhere else.  i can do a lot about me and my character.  you can too.  let’s do better than our modern leaders…who knows, it may be contagious.  blessings.  vince