Why Do We Elect Liars?

Every election cycle, across nations, cities, and generations, the same cry echoes through the streets:

“Why are our leaders so corrupt? Why do they promise the heavens and deliver ashes? Why can we never find an honest man to lead us?”

We shake our heads at the hypocrisy. We express outrage at the broken promises, the deceitful compromises, the backroom deals, and the polished falsehoods broadcast across the airwaves. We act astonished each time a leader is exposed as a charlatan, as though some foreign sickness has suddenly infiltrated our halls of power.

Hear the hard, unvarnished truth today:

The liar on the platform is not an accident. He is a mirror.

Rulers do not fall from the sky into a vacuum. They rise from the soil of the culture that produces them. A people who prize comfort over righteousness, flattery over truth, and immediate appetite over eternal duty will inevitably place liars upon their thrones.

We do not elect liars in spite of who we are; we elect liars because they tell us exactly what our fallen nature desires to hear.

## I. The Mirror of Jeremiah: 'My People Love to Have It So'

Twenty-six hundred years ago, the weeping prophet Jeremiah looked upon the dying nation of Judah and laid bare the spiritual sickness of the populace:

“An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love to have it so.”

Notice the terrifying diagnosis of the Almighty. God did not say the people were helpless victims of wicked kings and false prophets. God said: “My people love to have it so.”

Why do a people love false prophets and deceitful rulers?

Because the honest prophet calls men to repentance. The honest leader tells the people what their sins cost, demands sacrifice, calls for moral restraint, and reminds them of the holy judgment of Almighty God. The truth requires men to examine their hearts, put away their idols, pay their debts, and submit to the righteous law of God.

The liar makes no such demands.

The liar comes with smooth words. He flatters our vanity. He tells us that our problems are entirely someone else’s fault. He assures us that we can have prosperity without discipline, peace without righteousness, freedom without virtue, and blessings without repentance.

We elevate the liar because the truth would require us to change.

## II. The Trade: Flattery for Liberty

Throughout history, free people have systematically traded their birthright of liberty for the soothing promises of deceitful men.

When Samuel warned the elders of Israel what a centralized, worldly monarch would do to them—that he would take their sons for his wars, take their daughters for his courts, take their fields and vineyards, and make them his servants—the people refused to listen. They cried out: “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations.”

Consider the anatomy of why nations choose the deceiver:

What Truth Demands vs. What the Liar Promises

Repentance, humility, and moral accountability | Justification, pride, and external enemies to blame

Individual responsibility and sacrificial stewardship | Free bread, state protection, and unearned entitlements

Faithfulness under divine law | Permission to indulge the appetites of the flesh

Long-term eternal vision | Immediate temporary relief

The deceiver understands human cowardice. He knows that fallen men prefer a comforting lie to an inconvenient truth. He offers bread and circuses while the foundations crumble. And a decadent people, exhausted by the demands of personal responsibility, readily hand over their freedom to any man who promises to keep the circus running a little longer.

## III. The Judgment of God: Leaders as a Scourge

In Scripture, bad leadership is not merely a political catastrophe; it is often a divine judgment upon a rebellious culture.

When God judged Judah in Isaiah 3, He did not send an invading army first. He withdrew wise counsel, moral men, and righteous judges:

“For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store... the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder... I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.”

When a nation mocks God’s commandments, butchers the innocent, calls evil good and good evil, and banishes the name of Jesus Christ from the public square, God gives them over to the fruit of their own rebellion. He allows them to be ruled by the very deceivers they revere.

A foolish people gets foolish leaders. A wicked people gets wicked magistrates. A deceitful people gets masters who speak in lies.

## IV. The Call to the Remnant: Where Does Reformation Begin?

If you want honest men in the seat of power, the answer does not begin with political strategies, party loyalty, or backroom maneuvers.

The answer begins with the fear of the Lord in the hearts of the people.

Stop Loving the Flattery: Stop applauding the man who tells you what your flesh wants to hear. Demand men of character who fear God and hate dishonest gain (Exodus 18:21). If a candidate breaks his vows to his wife, cheats his neighbor, and blasphemes his Creator, do not fool yourself into believing he will keep his oath to you.

Repent of the National Idols: We cannot demand integrity from our leaders while living double lives in our homes. If we are dishonest in our business, unfaithful in our marriages, and corrupt in our daily walk, we are simply smaller versions of the politicians we condemn.

Anchor Your Hope in the True King: No president, prime minister, governor, or king can save a human soul. Earthly kingdoms rise, stagger in their own corruption, and fall into the dust of history.

There is only one King whose throne cannot be shaken. His scepter is a scepter of absolute righteousness. He cannot lie, He cannot be bought, and He does not govern by popular flattery.

His name is Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Until a people bows their knee before Him, they will continue to wander in the darkness of their own choosing, governed by the deceivers they deserve.

Let the Church awaken. Let the truth be spoken without fear. Let us repent, seek the Lord, and crown Him King of our hearts today.

Amen.