Dale Glading for Congress

“We are content to be unknown with Him in His humiliation, for we are to be exalted with Him.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Having twice run for the U.S. House of Representatives, I can tell you from personal experience that there are a lot of people who enter politics for the right reasons… and then there are those whose motivations are anything but pure.

I would include Jon Runyan, a former All-Pro offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, in the first group. Jon was recruited by the local Republican Party in South Jersey to run for Congress after he retired from football and – thanks to his high name recognition – he was able to unseat the Democratic incumbent while riding the Tea Party wave in 2010. I got to know Jon casually since I was running as a Republican in an adjacent (and very heavily Democratic) district and he was a genuinely likable guy. Jon pledged not to serve more than six two-year terms but wound up only serving for four years total because he found the gridlock in Washington to be too frustrating.

Our own congressman, the recently retired Bill Posey, also fits that same public servant mold. Bill went to Washington demanding that the federal government be more fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money and he did his best to hold his fellow congressmen accountable throughout his tenure there. The House of Representatives will miss his commonsense approach to governance.

Then there are those whose sole ambition is to scale the political ladder as quickly as possible, no matter how many people they have to climb over to do so. I remember all too well attending a campaign function as a candidate and being surrounded by a small crowd of people who were hanging on my every word… until, that is, someone higher on the political food chain entered the room. That quickly, I became a persona non grata as they raced across the room to curry favor with a gentleman running for an even higher office than me.

These days, I much prefer the down-to-earth lifestyle of a minister. On Sunday mornings, I preach to a small congregation of 25-35 people who are hungry to hear and apply God’s Word. Then, on Monday evenings, I try my best to model Christ to a gym full of young men in their teens and twenties who lack a positive male influence in their lives. As needed, I even run up and down the floor with them and shoot a few 3-pointers from behind the arc. The rest of my week is spent writing devotional messages like this one, preparing my Sunday sermon, and publishing my faith-based political blog amongst other ministry-related activities.

At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter that I am a relative unknown beyond my local community. Someday, I will reign and rule with Christ… and I will take that over a seat in Congress anytime.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President