My Thoughts - and Lots of Them!

All the buzz about Sarah Palin is everywhere... with lots of varying opinions. After much thought, I thought I'd share mine. Anyone who knows me knows that I can be a bit opinionated ;-). I don't lean toward relativism on much of anything, I've always been an "extremes" girl, even before I was Christian. So hang in with me as I work this out.

The biggest thing about the Palin issue that is so hot-button among the conservative community has its roots in the "Mommy Wars". Should women who have young families work outside the home? Obviously, Christian women all over the place do... some by necessity, some by choice. When I look at God's Word in regards to the calling of women, I see that home and family are to be priorities, main focuses. I would think it difficult to say "Well, I work, but my home and family are still my priority" because if you're having to devote a portion of your time and attention to work, then priorities are split - especially since income is based on work performance, while home and family life has no such merit system. So you have to give less than 100% to your home and family if you are a working women, plain and simple.

However - (and here's where I break the mold of my extremism!) working women with young children are not accountable to ME, nor any other person who would encourage them to sacrifice themselves fully for their families. They are accountable to God, and God only. So while I can speak what I perceive to be the truth presented in God's Word, and what God has put on my heart as responsibilities in raising a family for Him - there's no point in "beating a dead horse" so to speak. Palin has made the choice to be in government, a good few years ago. What is being argued now she has probably heard numerous times. At this point, rallying over whether or not it is "right" that she is running for VP doesn't matter... she is, and that's that. And on judgment day it will be between her and the Lord whether or not it was the way He desired her glorify Him and serve her family. And you know what? The Lord is one of Grace and Mercy. I have been forgiven SO much, even my short life is a testimony to that. I cannot make the call of what He will say to her on that day, and I wouldn't even BEGIN to presume I could! Heaven forbid that sort of self-righteousness!

One can hope, that if she is making the "wrong" decision - that she will be in tune to the nudging of the Holy Spirit to be able to hear and correct what needs correcting. And nudges from the Holy Spirit most definitely can come from people unafraid to speak God's Word as truth. But ultimately, again - it is between her and the Lord. We have to make sure that we are keeping ourselves accountable to God, not just others, when we share our convictions and live our lives, and not always have our focus so "outward". The Lord has lots to do with all of us as He molds us into His image!

Anyway, where our personal responsibility lies in the case with Sarah Palin is only with our ballots. And again, each individual is responsible to the Lord for the vote they cast, no matter what reason they be for or against her (and McCain, obviously). Our responsibility is to vote the most important of convictions that He has laid on our hearts.

I would also like to say that I think there are two different types of "judgment" - a word that gets thrown at people who tend to have the most deep and strong convictions, in the form of an insult. One type of judgment is absolutely necessary for Christians to have (and really, anyone who wants to just survive on this planet) - and that is the basic judgment of "is this right, or wrong?" Christians have their "guidebook" for making the call on whether something is right or wrong - the Bible. If it goes against God's Word... its wrong! Pretty simple.

Now, the bad kind of judgment is the kind where someone judges someone else's character personally - saying "they're stupid because they're making the wrong choice" or "they're a terrible parent because of their choices". However to say, for example, "Stealing is wrong" is NOT a mean and heartless judgment - its a simple statement that the action of stealing is wrong. It could even be stretched into "those who do steal are wrong"... but it gets a bit sticky when you say "I think people who steal are useless and a drain on society" - that's an opinion - based on the true judgment that stealing is wrong (because God says so!) - but still the wrong kind of attitude to have, nonetheless. Does that even make sense?

The problem is, in today's society, people take even the word "wrong" as an insult. Everyone wants to be "right" and justified and feel good and happy about their decisions. So if I said to someone I saw stealing "Hey, stealing isn't the right thing to do!" - it might get met with defensiveness, or the claim that I am being judgmental, or even a justification of stealing! There seems to be such a high level of pride and lack of accountability in the world, even among Christians, that anyone who points out a basic tenant of the Word gets immediately attacked as judgmental, legalistic, and so on. We are called to exhort eachother to good works and obedience! However, tempered in love (which doesn't always mean mushy tact, lol!), and keeping in mind, as I've said this whole time, that everyone is held individually accountable to the Lord, and the Lord Himself.

Romans 14:4 "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls..."