It's Past Time

I don’t know where I read this story, nor do I recall the story word for word. I do, however, believe it to be pertinent today even more so than thirty five years ago when it first appeared.
In mid 1974, a man was showing a friend around his home. They viewed several rooms together, then went to an area where there were several pictures hanging on the wall. The centerpiece of this area was a very large photo of Richard Nixon, the President of the United States. The time was shortly before Mr. Nixon would resign his office due to the Watergate scandal. The picture was framed in a very nice frame and lit with a light over the photo.
The friend asked the man how he could honor such a man as Richard Nixon like this, since Nixon had lied about his involvement in Watergate, then tried to cover it up. Impeachment was a distinct possibility.
The man replied that he wasn’t honoring Mr. Nixon; rather he was giving honor to the President of the United States. The man further explained that regardless of party affiliation, he had hung a photo of the current President in this spot for many years in a desire to honor the office and the one holding that office.
The man explained that as long as Mr. Nixon was the President, he deserved the honor of being placed in such a position in his home. When another President was selected, regardless of party affiliation, and whether by election or by succession, his (or her) photo would be hung in that place.
There’s a lesson here for all of us. Regardless of our party affiliation; regardless of our passion for certain issues; regardless of who occupies the office of President (or Vice President, or Senator, or Mayor, or Governor), they deserve the respect and deference of the office they hold. We may disagree, and do so vigorously, with their ideology. But we do so with respect for the office and for the rule of law that placed them there.
In recent years we have lost that sense of respect. We have lost the civility. We have lost the ability to disagree, yet remain on civil terms. I long for the days of Bob Dole and Everett Dirkson. I am saddened by the crudeness, the hostility, and the outright ill will that accompanies our disagreement with someone else.
Such behavior is juvenile, ignorant, and crude. And it certainly has no place in the life of a professing Christian. Peter says to “fear God and honor the King.” At that time, the “King” was the Caesar of Rome, from whence came all manner of persecution of Christians and from whence eventually came Peter’s own death. Can you imagine Peter (or Paul) telling crude jokes about the Caesar, or wishing his death or injury? Neither can I.
Paul says that we are to “imitate me (Paul) as I (Paul) imitate Christ” (I Cor. 11:1) How can we possibly say we’re even trying to do that when our minds are filled with vitriol and even hatred for those with which we disagree politically?
The Christian community has a lot of repenting to do and a lot of changing of attitude and action. It’s past time to get started with that.