“This is fascinating!”  That’s what I told my wife when she came downstairs at 10:00 last night and saw me sitting in front of the television watching the Presidential debate between President Obama and Governor Romney.  It must have been captivating to keep me awake that late; but I couldn’t resist.  It was “must-see” TV.

I wasn’t coming downstairs to watch the debate – to be honest, I didn’t even know there was a debate.  I don’t really follow the news and I especially don’t follow politics.  To me, “watching the news” means the latest edition of SportsCenter and “the debate” means watching Kornheiser and Wilbon face off on PTI.  That’s the extent of my knowledge of current events.

But I couldn’t resist last night.  It was scintillating stuff.  The way these guys were able to address one another face to face was great.  You really got to see not just what each candidate is proposing on paper (which I wouldn’t understand anyway), but rather how each candidate thinks.  To me, that is infinitely more important.  Why?  Because "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).

I don’t want to know exactly how much you plan to invest in the military or in Medicare or in Big Bird, I want to know how you think about money and debt.  I want to know how you think through the process of solving the spending problem that we have and how you intend to approach it.  I don’t want a leader who just has a good plan for right now; I want a leader who thinks according to sound Biblical principles and will make decisions accordingly for however long he’s in office.

That’s why to me, the most important question last night was “WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT?” 

Great question.  That is the most important one to me.  That really shows how each candidate thinks.

I want a President who understands his role and the role of government in our lives.  Again, I don’t know much about politics, but I know the Bible.  The Bible speaks about the role of government on several occasions, and every time it is clear that the government is to a nation as a father is to a household. 

• As a father PROTECTS his children from evil, so too should the President protect his country from those who seek to harm us.

• As a father REWARDS his children who work hard and abide by the rules of the house, so too should the President set up a system that rewards hard-working and law-abiding citizens while deterring those who seek to get around the system in one way or another.

• As a father CARES for each of his children – especially the weak and needy child – so too should the President care for those who can’t care for themselves.

• As a father SEEKS TO BRING OUT THE BEST in his children, so too should the President seek to equip and enable us to be successful (don’t give us fish, teach us how to fish).

• As a father seeks to MAKE PEACE AND FOSTER LOVE between all the members of his household, so too should the President seek to unite this country and bring us all together around our common goals and interests.

Who am I going to vote for?  Nice try.  I’ve lived in Washington DC my whole life – so I’m not dumb enough to fall for that.  This isn’t about that.

This is about explaining to you how I see things and how I plan to make my decision.  Don’t just look at issues in the short term; it’s short term thinking that gets us into more trouble (ie, we want a quick fix right now).  Don’t be fooled into that kind of thinking.  Neither candidate has a magic button that can solve all of today’s problems instantly.

Instead think in terms of each candidate’s way of thinking – their view on their role and the role of government for our country.

I’ll repeat what I said earlier: “I don’t want a leader who just has a good plan for right now; I want a leader who thinks according to sound Biblical principles and will make decisions accordingly for however long he’s in office.”

May God bless our country and guide us to choose the right candidate who will serve this country as a father more than anything else.

For discussion: what do you think is the most important thing we should look at when making a decision on who to vote for?

(NOTE: any comments containing slander or name calling or anything I determine is inappropriate will be removed immediately…so keep it clean!)