After speaking with two young girls this night about politics, the question that I have always had about how believers are meant to play (for lack of a better word) politics became more striking.
I told these girls how some relationships are not worth loosing because of power, and how I don't ever see myself betraying a good friend or family member for the sake of being in authority. They told me that I was only been emotional, they said, and I quote
“Politics is a dirty game, if you want to play it, think with your head not your heart. Even if you loose that person, you can always meet other people"
These two very close friends (I mean, it is safe to call them besties) agreed to the idea of even betraying each other for the same course. But is that really how it is supposed to be? Would God be okay with us disrupting our friendships or any other type of relationships for the gain of power?
Another thing that these girls said that really stood out for me was “Power is everything”. Meaning once you have power, you have it all. Even when I told them that power might be everything for them but it is not everything for me, they tried convincing me that it is and it is worth sacrificing anthing for. They asked me to define what power is and when I told them they said I was defining leadership not power. Which was to some extent, true.
The Internet have this to say about the differences between power and leadership "Power is a force that comes from on high, (from the hierarchy) and goes toward the bottom (top- down), from the strong to the weak. Leadership, on the other hand, comes from lower down (in the hierarchy) and goes towards the top: one is 'made' or recognized a leader by one's group". "Power is a person's ability to control activities of other individuals. Leadership is the ability to
inspire people to follow your instructions".
If having power comes with this strong level of privilege and opportunity, how can we as believers become benefactors without having to play it dirty?
Do we even have to be in positions of power to have real influence for God and in our society?
How much are we allowed to compromise? If you are passionate about politics, but are not strong in the faith, do you need to wait on God to groom your faith before indulging? I know we should move in faith and sometimes our passions or desires are planted in our hearts by God, but because of how dark it can get, should would move when God has not directly instructed us to do so? Especially when you are going for really mighty positions.
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