WAYPOINTS: Choosing wisely

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.”  (Romans 13:1)

 Suppose you get it into your mind that you are going to treat yourself and your family to cruise the British Virgin Islands for 10 days.  So you take a large chunk out of your life savings to rent a 44-foot Lagoon (a French built catamaran) for the trip of a lifetime.  How, then, would you go about choosing a captain? With your family’s lives on the line, would you base your selection on how much someone just looks the part? Would you choose based on how cool his advertizing is? How important would the opinions of your non-sailing friends be? Would you make a selection based solely on who promised you the most? What are the chances you would just lucky-dip and choose the first one your finger fell on in the yellow pages? Of course, your answer is no to all of the above. Only a foolish man risks his future and the future of his family in such a cavalier way!

Instead, what you would do is personally interview a number of men for the job. It is critical that you know who you are getting for such a significant voyage. So you would make a list of questions.  How long has he been a captain? How many trips has he led? What size vessels has he captained? In what kind of water has he sailed?   What deepwater crises has he faced and how did he handle them? Twenty years sailing Lake Lanier is not exactly the same as sailing the Caribbean Sea. Considering you are going to crew for him, how clearly does he communicate without being domineering?

Your list would be as long and as detailed as you could make it.  As you ask the questions, you would be wise to listen carefully to his answers, watch his body language, press him until you understood his approaches, and then check and double-check his resume and references. Then, to the very best of your ability, you will choose the best man for the voyage, knowing that when he climbs aboard you will find yourself under his authority — and it’s an authority you will be expected to honor.

How much like choosing a captain is electing a political leader! We are blessed in the USA to have a great say in the selection of those who will have authority over us. From the local level all the way to the White House, and all the places in between, those whom we elect will affect our lives and the lives of the ones we love in any number of ways. How is it, then, that so many of us give so little thought to how we vote? Does it make sense to cast a ballot for someone because he looks the part? Or because a friend likes him?  How wise is it to vote for someone because he promises more? Is it prudent to just lucky-dip a name based on party alone? Let’s be honest. Only a foolish man risks his future and the future of his family in such a cavalier way.  And yet ... so many of us vote so casually. 

Perhaps we would do better to approach the ballot box rather like a man choosing a captain for his cruise — by making lists, asking questions, and not being satisfied with vague answers, by looking at the candidate’s experience and seeing if it fits the tasks at hand, by finding out what crises he has faced and learning how he handled them, and by checking and double checking his resume and references. We need to do everything we can to choose the best man for the voyage, knowing that when he climbs aboard, we will be under his authority. We need to choose wisely today — or God will give us the opportunity to repent at leisure tomorrow.

The Rev. Mike Hesse is senior pastor of Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin.