A Dog Promise

There are no promises that a politician won¡¯t make when they want to see something accomplished. They toss out various issues one can easily answer with common sense in the sleek package of campaign promises. It seems almost cynical to see how easily politicians make pledges, and the reality is that the voters close their eyes knowing that it isn¡¯t going to be kept.

It would really be a sight if we collected all the promises that politicians have made, and then work out the statistics of how many of them were fulfilled. If we added in the names of every politician who had suggested plans that they themselves would¡¯ve thought to be impossible to carry out, a great amount of paper and ink would be spent.

Furthermore, another long list should be added to this. However, since this is not a great issue and its result has nothing to do with us, I¡¯ll just touch upon it lightly. The first black president ever in history made his first election promise which was revealed today. It was a pledge that he would let his two daughters raise a dog if he were to become president. He publicly promised to appeal to young and progressive sponsors during the campaign that the dog in the white house would be found among homeless dogs. Since lots of dogs in America, as well as in the world, are considered a luxury item and live not their own lives as a dog but as a toy and then receive a mercy killing; thus adoption of a homeless dog is encouraged.

But I read today from the morning paper that the dog ¡°Bo¡± in the white house was not a homeless dog, but a gift from Senator Kennedy, a wealthy family among the politicians. From the moment I had heard the initial pledge from President Obama, I knew this would happen. Since my thoughts are that a politician¡¯s promise is just lip service for the public turned out to be correct, I felt a little bit puffed up for guessing right but at the same time I felt bad that the promise had been broken. I didn¡¯t know what to do about my mixed feelings. Particularly from the perspective of a republican, I don¡¯t like all the decisions the democratic president makes. Nevertheless, since he is the president of the country I live in, I wish he would do well during these economically hard times.

Dog promise: promise about a dog, and the doggy promise—on both, President Obama made a dog promise and kept it just as it should be. Hearing the news, I tried to ignore it since it is not something new but then it reminded me of the promises or the ministry visions of new pastors that I am so familiar with. If we asked 4,000 Korean churches in America about the most serious or important ministry, their answer would be second generation ministry. To take it a step further, when a church invites a pastor, if he does not have any vision for the second generation ministry he is not even qualified for the position. However, there is no real difference between pastors who talk about their vision for the all important second generation ministry and the politicians who make promises so easily. How many Korean churches among them have actually started a successful second generation ministry?    

It is dangerous to easily make promises that are pleasing to the ears of the public or audience without a real solution, whether one is a politician or a pastor. Since politicians are branded as liars who habitually break their promises, people take it for granted that they do lie. However, the position of a pastor is an example of trust and one should be careful when he makes a promise. Unfortunately, no matter how good a plan a pastor has, when he does ministry with insufficient resources the result is obvious.

It traces back to 20 years ago when the need for a second generation ministry first came up in the churches in America. The churches and ministers who were ahead of others at the time did a lot of research in many ways and did not spare any investment for it. But the results were still the same. Fortunately, some Korean churches went beyond their racial comfort zone and settled down by metamorphing into Asian or multiethnic churches. Nevertheless, I don¡¯t know why it is so hard for the first generation to coexist with the second under the same roof. There should be some solutions, but it still seems a long way to go because both parties put their interests and positions first.

The pledge of bringing a homeless dog into the White House to appeal to people, and the unrealistic promise of doing their best for the second generation ministry are both something one can see through. If they had spoken honestly by saying that they had to have a particular kind of dog because of their daughter¡¯s allergy, or if they still do not have any plans for a second generation ministry yet, then we could understand and come up with some suggestions.