In America the 2024 presidential election cycle has just wrapped up and we don’t get much time for a break. Mid-term elections are already in view, and our next presidential election is just a bit more than two Super Bowls afterward. Come 2026 those of us in the State of Georgia, like a majority of states, will be electing our next Governor. But we don’t have to suffer the usual circus again, if we don’t want to. Even with this dizzying pace, we have time to be clear-headed enough to reflect on the type of candidates we want to find, support, and elect to public offices going forward.
About a year ahead of our 2024 election, I began deeply reflecting about the quality of candidates I want to see us elect to public office, no matter the office. From this reflection I’ve developed an avatar of the candidate that we all deserve and need to have on our every ballot and to hold our every public office. In a phrase, this avatar is Priest-Prophet-Politician. (For those concerned or put off by the word "priest" you can substitute "caretaker" or whatever word best embodies the combination of empathy + action to you.) My goal for this post is that even before you finish reading it you’ll agree with me that we all deserve and need Priest-Prophet-Politician candidates on every ballot and holding every elected office, and nothing less will be acceptable for American voters and democracy.
Old Thinking Steps Aside for Better Thinking
In our industrial-modern age way of understanding people as one dimensional, I wouldn’t blame you for immediately pushing back and objecting that a priest, a prophet, and a politician are three separate people and three separate people can’t hold a single public office. But America is no longer in an industrial-modern age with its limited perspectives. Rather, we’re well into an evolving post-modern age where we understand people are multi-faceted and can be multi-talented. So, why can’t the Priest-Prophet-Politician be one in the same and be elected to hold public office?
My next-door neighbor wears three hats as a lawyer, music teacher and professional musician. That’s just who he is. I’m an interdisciplinary engineer, lawyer, and minister. That’s just who I am. You have a mixture of talents and skills that enable you to show up as the person you currently are. An ability to be interdisciplinary simply reflects each of our nature and potential as a human being. If someone wants the responsibility of public office, then the first quality they need to clearly demonstrate is that they are a Priest-Prophet-Politician. Going forward, this is now the threshold quality for our candidates and office holders. This is the standard by which we shall now judge and hold them.
Why the Priest-Prophet-Politician?
A priest, prophet and politician should each share the same goal of serving the common good. Even if each truly shares that goal, together the team could easily turn dysfunctional because of internal conflicts and egos. Those obstacles are largely eliminated when a single person fills all three roles. For example, serving the common good begins with actively listening to the people. Active listening isn’t a quality we usually find in our politicians, but it’s in the DNA of our priests and prophets. When the three are one the politician can’t escape the ears of the priest or prophet, so the politician has no choice but to hear the people! Here's what each of these roles look like, together with their respective contributions:
1. The Priest: Spiritual and Moral Guidance. The role of the priest focuses on spiritual wellbeing, fostering community, and offering moral guidance based on tested principles. The priest contributes by providing comfort, hope, and ethical frameworks for individuals and communities, often by mobilizing community resources like charity, counseling, and communal support. The priest perspective helps ground thinking and action in compassion, humility, and the shared value of human dignity. Here, by way of one example, we think of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
2. The Prophet: Vision and Advocacy. The role of the prophet is to be the visionary who challenges the status quo, calling attention to injustices and urging society to higher ethical and moral standards. The prophet contributes by highlighting systemic issues such as inequality, corruption, and oppression, often inspiring transformative action and keeps moral accountability at the forefront. The prophet perspective helps ensure a focus on justice and the long-term welfare of the marginalized, preventing complacency. Here, by way of one example, we think of Martin Luther King, Jr.
© UNCSA
3. The Politician: Practical Leadership and Policy Implementation. The role of the politician is to operate within governmental structures to create and enforce policies that affect public life. The politician contributes by crafting laws, allocating resources, and ensuring the practical implementation of programs to address societal needs while balancing competing interests to achieve collective progress. The politician brings pragmatic solutions and resources to ideas that the priest and prophet advocate. Here, by way of one example, we think of President Abraham Lincoln.
© The Everett Collection via Canva.com
Now, does this mean every candidate for public office and every officer holder will be expected to perform as a fully developed Mother Teresa, MLK Jr, and Lincoln all rolled into one? Not necessarily, although that would be nice. But it does mean there’s no reason our candidates and office holders can’t believe, think and act sufficiently like Mother Teresa, MLK Jr, and Lincoln that we associate them with these luminaries.
How The Priest-Prophet-Politician Works. Each aspect of the Priest-Prophet-Politician candidate works to serve the common good in the unique way each identifies needs, develops solutions, builds consensus and mobilizes resources, and ensures accountability. Here’s a framework that illustrates what that looks like for our candidates and office holders, who are charged with providing care, advocacy and governance for the common good:
1. Identifies Needs.
The priest identifies spiritual and emotional needs.
The prophet highlights systemic injustices requiring urgent attention.
The politician assesses the feasibility of addressing these needs and injustices through policy and governance.
2. Develops Solutions.
The priest offers moral principles as a foundation for solutions.
The prophet advocates for bold, ethical, and inclusive approaches.
The politician translates these principles and approaches into actionable policies and programs.
3. Builds Consensus and Mobilizes Resources.
The priest unites communities around shared values and morals-driven action.
The prophet motivates collective action and public advocacy.
The politician secures funding, enacts laws, and engages governmental mechanisms.
4. Ensures Accountability.
The priest and prophet develop moral and ethical solutions that benefit the common good.
The politician ensures those solutions are effectively implemented and sustainable.
The priest and prophet and politician together protect those solutions until better ones are developed in response to changed needs.
How Can We Trust the Priest-Prophet-Politician?
All fine and good, you might agree, if such Priest-Prophet-Politician people exist and we can convince them to serve in public office. But how do we know we can trust such a person? Fair question. At a minimum, to earn and sustain the trust of the eventual voter and constituent requires the Priest-Prophet-Politician to demonstrate authenticity, transparency, integrity, and commitment to empowering those they serve. Here’s a framework that illustrates what building trust looks like for our candidates and office holders, who accept their charge to serve the common good:
1. Demonstrating Authenticity. Our candidate and office holder, as priest serving with empathy and compassion, builds trust in at least three ways. He or she, a) consistently shows care for the spiritual, emotional, and physical wellbeing of their constituents; b) ensures moral-based actions align with teachings of love, justice, and humility, avoiding partisanship or bias; and c) creates spaces for healing and reconciliation, fostering a sense of community. In South Africa, for example, Archbishop Desmond Tutu played a pivotal role in the fight against apartheid. He combined pastoral care with advocacy for justice, and from this posture earned the trust of both local communities and international allies.
A prophet builds trust by speaking truth to power in at least three complementary ways. He or she, a) remains a consistent advocate for justice, even when it is unpopular or costly; b) challenges corruption and hypocrisy, holding other leaders accountable to moral and ethical standards; and c) models integrity by aligning personal actions with their prophetic calls for systemic change. José Mujica, as a modern prophetic figure, earned global attention as a former revolutionary and prisoner who later served as transformative President of Uruguay, continues to inspire millions of Latin Americans to better lives.
A politician, leading with transparency and fairness, builds trust in at least three additionally complementary ways. He or she, a) communicates honestly, showing that decisions are made in the best interests of the people; b) implements policies that are inclusive, equitable, and beneficial to as many as possible; and c) remains open to feedback and willingly holds themselves accountable to their constituents. In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gained widespread trust through her compassionate yet decisive leadership, especially during crises like the Christchurch mosque shootings and the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Being Transparent. As Priest-Prophet-Politician, our candidate and office holder shows transparency in the way he or she communicates with the public, and as the public is able to witness the impact of their efforts. In his or her communication they are clear and open about their mission, showing how it addresses societal needs. They also communicate with constituents directly, often hosting public forums and listening to concerns.
Regarding being able to witness their impact, the priest’s impact is seen in the form of immediate aid, such as food banks or counseling services, visibly addressing needs and alleviating suffering. The prophet’s impact is seen in the active advocacy for systemic changes that address root causes of suffering, while explaining the moral imperative for change. The politician’s impact is seen in the mobilization of resources and implementation of policies that, in support of the priest and prophet, bring long-term benefits to the common good.
3. Exemplifying Integrity. The Priest-Prophet-Politician candidate and office holder is uniquely suited to exemplify integrity because it will be easy for him or her to be consistent. Rather than three people potentially at conflict about what they think, say and do, and risking those conflicts being on public display, our candidate is not hindered from acting in alignment with their stated principles, and in having their words match their actions. Similarly, rather than three people potentially at conflict over accountability, even finger-pointing to avoid accountability, the Priest-Prophet-Politician candidate and office holder is the single person accountable for their commitment to public service for the common good.
4. Empowering the People. It would seem self-evident in our democracy (or for argument's sake, our republic clothed in democratic ideals), that “empowering the people” should be a primary goal of our elected office holders. For this reason alone, the preamble of our U.S. Constitution speaks to “We the People” uniting together to, among other ideals, “promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity ….”
Our candidate and office holder is uniquely equipped for the responsibility of empowering the people. As Priest he or she empowers individuals spiritually and morally to find hope and purpose. As Prophet he or she encourages grassroots movements, giving voice to marginalized communities. As Politician he or she ensures that policies empower communities through access to education, resources, and opportunities.
Why Would We Reject the Priest-Prophet-Politician?
Ultimately, our candidate and office holder – the integrated Priest-Prophet-Politician as demonstrated by the framework, is uniquely freed to seek public office in victorious service to the common good, rather than service to special interests or the hollow pursuit of personal gain. When the priest, prophet, and politician merge as one our political paradigm is changed, and positive transformation is not only possible but inevitable. Especially with a critical mass of this kind of candidate and office holder. And therein lay the threat of the Priest-Prophet-Politician.
We must be forthright and transparent with each other, speaking truthfully about what we see with our own eyes. What most if not all of us see, is that we’ve allowed America’s political landscape to be shot through with deceit and corruption. And this landscape is just fine for a small group of increasingly wealthy people who benefit nicely from deceit and corruption. They have no desire, much less a need, for Priest-Prophet-Politicians committed to care for the broader constituents and common good. This is obviously, because it puts their systemic advantage at risk.
But why should a corrupt minority, however powerful, decide the fate of the rest of us any longer? Maybe it’s always been this way, behind closed doors in smoky rooms, but now that the last several election cycles have brought our political failures into full public view, we have no choice but to patriotically correct them without physical violence. And, as history has shown, corruption is not corrected with laws that are later amended and vetoed by the very people whose behavior the laws are intended to correct. Rather, corruption is corrected through changed hearts and minds, as demonstrated by leaders with changed hearts and minds.
As you think about your upcoming local and state elections, the 2026 gubernatorial and midterm congressional elections, and the 2028 presidential elections, you need to be looking for the Priest-Prophet-Politician asking to be put on the ballot and asking for your vote. Do you see him? Do you see her? Yes?! Wonderful, offer him or her all your support. We need them to be elected to public office!
"What if you don't see him or her," you ask? Then consider that it may be your time to step up and show your corner of the world whether you’re equipped to be the Priest-Prophet-Politician that it needs and deserves as a candidate and office holder. If so, we need you to be elected to public office!
Tired of "profit is evil" vs "maximize my profit by exploiting others," as if those are the only two options?
Not sure? Schedule a nothing-to-lose, free call.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Our Amazon number 1 new release: Unleash more with Better Capitalism: Jesus, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, & MLK Jr. on Moving from Plantation to Partnership Economics.
"This book merits close, sustained attention as a compelling move beyond both careless thinking and easy ideology."—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
"Better Capitalism is a sincere search for a better world."—Cato Institute
留言