Nathan, on the right, with King David, by Matthias Scheits
Nathan was a prophet, charged with speaking truth to power.
David was a shepherd, a pastor, charged with protecting and leading people.
Nathan was rather pro-David. However, he knew when he needed to lay aside his affection and admiration for the king and speak truth to power. It was a risky thing to do, but he did it and it saved both David and the nation.
We have had some great moments as a nation & some very dark moments. Many have suffered because of the greed and ruthlessness of a few. At times, people have felt the touch of generous compassion from Americans. We owe our best and most compassionate self to God and to the world.
We have received much. We owe much.
There is only one world and we have been disproportionately blessed with the share of it we possess.
It is not ours to hold; it is our stewardship to share and our trust to manage with care.
I am an optimist. I am a lover of people. I have met very few people I dislike and none that I cannot work at liking. I hold out hope for people though I do not trust all of them all the time. It keeps me going to believe that people can change. So, I don't give up - I can't.
I am not prophetic. I do not aspire to be prophetic. My calling is pastoral. My inclination is toward embrace and not confrontation. Condemnation is not my tool of choice for change, but I am part of a prophetic community whose voice must sometimes break the silence and speak unpopular truth to one's own people - the people we love.
That being said ...
We cannot abdicate responsibilities as citizens of a nation or of the world. Having been placed in a position of great influence, we are responsible to exercise our rights and responsibilities with vigilance and integrity. Citizenship is a big deal in a representative democracy.
We cannot abdicate our prophetic responsibilities either, even if they are not our strongest gifts and calling.
Every nation, office, and people group, is accountable to the same God, valued equally, and responsible for doing the right thing on a case by case basis. No entity, country, or person gets a free pass because of divine appointment or favor. Every deed is evaluated on the face of it.
Who is the king of the United States?
Who has authority? By our system -the electorate.
Our leaders in the three branches, hold no authority beyond what they are given and are accountable to the people who rule. They are employees, whose roles are respected, appreciated, and supervised.
We the people - we are collectively the King and we hire shepherd kings to protect and lead us.
Through it all, we must continue to speak truth to temporal power.
