Support Your Mayor

(2Kings 10:5 KJV) And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us;

It has always been the will of God that we honor those who have authority over us. His will not only speaks of those who have spiritual authority over us, but also those who have civil authority over us. Civil authority means those who hold political positions as a result of a free election where the majority wins.

I do not believe the Lord is suggesting that one has to agree with every detail of every point of every decision that is made by those who have authority over us. I do believe that we are to honor and respect their position as unto the Lord regardless of our disagreement.

For example, supporting one’s city mayor is an honorable thing to do, regardless if you agree with all of their decisions or not. The fact is the responsibility of the mayor of the city can be a weighty job because it entails looking out for the best interest of its citizens. This of course would include the responsibility of seeing that the city has a good fire department and a good police department. The mayor must also see that there is enough money coming in to maintain good streets, and hopefully be able to even attract the arts and other types of entertainment for the benefit of the city.

Attracting new businesses is a must for a mayor if the city is going to provide new jobs for its people and for generating more revenue for running the needs of the city. This means that being a mayor is not for the faint of heart, but for one who is a visionary with a great imagination—as well as having the ability to run big business.

All of the above sounds great, but then I suppose there might be an exception to the rule of honoring those who have authority over you…you decide after reading the following story.

I was just in a little town in Colorado called Guffey. Guffey has a population of less than 100 and like most towns has its own elected official…a mayor. The difference is that Guffey’s mayoral term is only a one year term. The citizens of Guffey believe they should share the responsibility as well as the honor of this high ranking possession with all of its population.

The difference between Guffey’s elected official and most other city’s elected officials is that Guffey does not elect a human being as mayor, but instead elects a cat or a dog. I was told that this has been going on for the past twenty years.

In other words, depending on the outcome of each year’s elections it would not be unusual to see Guffey’s mayor with a rat in its mouth, or chasing and barking at a passing car. As a matter of fact if one looks at Guffey one could quickly see the result of electing such an official.

I realize what was intended to be a joke in the small town of Guffey, Colorado was in no way meant to lessen the truth and the responsibility of honoring those who have authority over us. As a matter of fact my short time in Guffey was a delight, and my experience there will not be soon forgotten.

Father,
Help us to not confuse the fun intended in Guffey with the truth of Your word for our ultimate benefit. Help us to live a lifestyle of honoring Your word so we will honor those in authority over us as well as our fellowman.
Amen