President vs. Emperor

If you ask the average person if they would rather be the president of a democracy or the emperor of an empire, many people would say they would like total power for themselves and so would choose to be emperor.

If you pressed them for reasons, they would say that they would like to make the world a better place. Sadly, they think that they have the ability to make the world perfect. Yet, as you contemplate human nature, you would realize that nobody is perfect nor has the ability to make the world perfect. Without a doubt, they would begin their jobs with good intentions, but most of the times power will corrupt them and their own ego blind them to the sinfulness of their actions. Paul says in Romans that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Jesus constantly points out that no one is perfect and will not do anything good without God’s help. An example of the sinfulness of man is the invention of the plane. In their minds, the Wright brothers both thought that their invention would put an end to war. Looking back to other wars, we can see that the plane only broadened the destructive scale of them. The atomic bomb was only made possible with the use of the plane. As you can see, human motives and power are corrupted by sin.

A good thing about a democracy and a republic is that power is not placed in the hands of a single human being. This balance of power prevents anybody from having his own way. Without a doubt, his intentions might be good, but the foolishness of the idea might be clouded by his own views of his own self-worth.

So if you are asked the question if you were to be an emperor or a president, and which would you choose, think of the sinfulness of man and choose to be a president.