Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch. In today's episode, we're talking about a third term, and we're asking the question, is Trump bigger than America? This is in response to an editorial piece in the New York Times that was called Trump's third term jokes deserve a serious response.

This is written in response to president Trump repeatedly floating the idea of running for a third term. Now those around him will say that he's joking, but he has even on occasion said, I'm not joking. And in fact, he is often selling Trump two thousand twenty eight merchandise. So you can read that how you want. Of course, the twenty second amendment of the United States constitution outlaws a third term for any president.

The founding fathers and later leaders believed that what was best for America was a rotating pattern of leadership. The no king, no fiefdom, no Vladimir Putin who sits on the throne so called of Russia decade after decade. And while some people around Trump are downplaying those comments, arguing instead that he's just wanting to avoid the appearance of being a lame duck, We all know president Trump, and I hope you can agree with this whether you like him or not, is a little bit of a wild card, little bit of a loose cannon. Can be tough to know when he says things, what he means, and what he doesn't. But here's what legal scholars are universally in agreement on.

The twenty second amendment and the twelfth amendment of the constitution make it clear no third term is possible. Well, president Trump's conversation about a third term yet again points to what I believe is a leadership vacuum in our country. By the way, we've done an episode very similar to this about former president Biden because this problem is not a Republican or Democrat problem. It's an American spiritual problem, and that is that our leaders consistently look to glorify themselves. But that is not leadership.

Jesus Christ, the greatest leader there has ever been or ever will be, said this of himself in Matthew twenty twenty eight. The son of man came not to be served, but to serve. This is the point Paul makes in Philippians two. That when you understand this, the immediate and necessary response is a kind of other centered humility. If and when God entrust any one of us with leadership, it is for the good of the people we are leading, and in it is not for ourselves.

Power is meant to be stewarded, not owned. Paul makes this point in first Corinthians four when it's when he says, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. Everything we have is from God, which should mean, a, that we are very humble about possessing it, and b, that we're asking God, how do you want it to be used? And, of course, we know the answer to that because Jesus said the entire law boiled down to this. Love god with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself.

Factoring in your own self aggrandizing ways is not one of those things. Ambition can be good. First Timothy three, Paul says if any man desires to be an elder, he desires good a good thing. Ambition can be good. It can also be idolatry.

And don't forget, God says as one of the 10 commandments, you shall have no other gods before me. And he means, especially in that verse, including ourselves. Don't put yourself above the glory of God or the good of the people you are serving. When president Trump talks about a third term, it is him he has in mind. And then finally, listen.

People are the point. That's the that's the argument that I'm really making. Leaders exist for the good of other people, which sometimes means stepping up, sometimes means stepping back. Don't forget that John the Baptist, who had built an incredible public ministry, a man Jesus said was greater than any of the old testament prophets. When Jesus showed up, John the Baptist said, I must decrease.

He must increase. Why? Not because it was best for John the Baptist public ministry, but because it was best for the world that their attention shifted to Jesus. Can we become people that are more concerned about others than ourselves? Can we have leaders who actually serve rather than are looking to be served?

Finally, can we have someone who actually sees leadership as about service and not about self. Well, I don't know where that button is, but what I'm gonna get serious about in my own life is holding myself to that standard. Maybe if I do that and you do that, our leaders will follow soon. Hey. Thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up.

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Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!