Good morning,

Whether we want to admit it or not, each of us is a leader. For better or worse, we influence people around us. I end the week reflecting on what the failed leadership of the Bible’s Gideon teaches us.

Here is the Texas Minute for Friday, May 20, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Nehls Demands Border Action

• As the humanitarian crisis along Texas’ southern border continues, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) – along with Arizona’s Andy Biggs and 32 other Republican lawmakers – issued a letter imploring President Biden to take action and help border states repel illegal border crossers. Katie Drollinger has the story.
       
• The congressmen called on Biden to uphold Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, which requires the federal government to protect the states from invasion or domestic attack.
      
• “This crisis is rupturing our communities and taking American lives,” the lawmakers explain in their letter.

Will Texas’ COVID Emergency Finally End?

• For the majority of Texans, the draconian measures from the height of the COVID scare have mostly disappeared. Mask mandates have been abandoned even in the state’s most liberal cities, while capacity restrictions and social distancing requirements are largely a thing of the past. 
      

• But despite all this, Texas has continued to operate under a “state of emergency” due to COVID for more than 26 months. Brandon Waltens explains that Gov. Greg Abbott has an opportunity to finally end it on Sunday – and what that means for Texans.
      

• On March 13, 2020, Abbott announced at a press conference in the Capitol that he would be declaring a state of emergency over the coronavirus after 39 cases were reported in the state of Texas. 
      
• While the original order was set to expire after 30 days, it has been renewed every month since. That emergency declaration has been the basis of every COVID-related executive order issued since – including lockdowns and mask mandates, all without input from the state Legislature.
     
• Gov. Abbott’s latest 30-day extension of the “emergency” is set to expire on Sunday, May 22. He has not yet indicated if he intends to extend the emergency another 30 days.
     
• Two weeks to “slow the spread” became 26 months of governing recklessness.
      
• The governor’s ongoing declarations of an emergency ignited conversations about the proper role of executive authority in emergencies – and when it goes too far. Despite the issue of reining in executive overreach being a stated priority of the Republican Party of Texas last year, the Texas lawmakers refused to pass any restrictions on the practice and even refused to vote to end the emergency orders themselves.
      
• Meanwhile, 29 other states have already ended their state emergency health orders.

Runoff Reviews: HD 122 and HD 133

• Sydnie Henry reviews the Republican runoffs for two legislative seats: one in Harris County and the other in Bexar.
   
• Elisa Chan and Mark Dorazio are in pitched competition for House District 122, a Bexar County seat currently held by liberal Republican State Rep. Lyle Larson. Chan is a former member of the San Antonio City Council who has run to the left of the party on many issues. Dorazio is a businessman and member of the State Republican Executive Committee who has been active in conservative politics for more than 30 years.
     
• In Harris County’s House District 133, Shelley Torian-Barineau and Mano DeAyala are seeking to replace outgoing Republican Jim Murphy. Barineau, a small-business owner and lawyer, has been active in the Republican Party as a precinct chair for 18 years. DeAyala, a lawyer and Abbott appointee to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, has been active in local politics through his engagement with the Hispanic Republicans of Texas.
      
• Check out the articles for details on the candidates views on issues, their endorsements, and financial backers.

The Headline Tonight

• Join Brandon Waltens on The Headline tonight at 5:30 p.m. for a review of the Republican primary runoff. He will be joined by Jeramy Kitchen of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility to talk about what voters should be looking for in a candidate.
      
• The video archive and podcast are posted as soon as the show finishes.

Making The Election Count

• Newly elected school board trustee Stephanie Elad is ready to get to work for Frisco families and shake up the status quo that she and others believe has led to declining standards within the district. Erin Anderson has the story.
       
• The Frisco mom and outspoken education advocate easily defeated two other candidates for an open seat, winning on a platform of respecting parents, advocating for teachers, focusing on academics over ideology, and putting students first.
      

• Marvin Lowe, who ran on a slate with Elad, is expected to be sworn in following a recount on Saturday requested by his opponent, incumbent trustee Natalie Hebert. Lowe finished 53 votes ahead of Hebert on Election Day, and the final canvassed results gave him a 52-vote lead.
     

• “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Elad told Texas Scorecard.

Friday Reflection: Rule Right

How do you rule the people around you? What kind of leader are you? Don’t think of yourself as a leader, as a ruler? Think again.

Whether we want to admit it or not, each of us are leaders. For better or worse, we influence people around us. 

I thought about the power of personal influence as I read again about the life of Gideon in the Bible’s Book of Judges. He’s always been one of my favorite men from that period of history, but he is complicated. 

Gideon is clearly a hero, but the legacy he left behind is mixed – a bit of a cautionary tale.

I’ve written previously about the unorthodox military leadership he provided under God’s direction. We all know the story of him gathering the 300 soldiers and defeating an army of thousands. The Sunday School lessons usually end somewhere between that victory over Midian and Gideon’s refusal to be named a king.

It appeals to our American heritage. I recall Gideon being described as a "George Washington" figure. After his military success, the people of Israel pointedly asked him to be a king. He replied, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you."

That, my friends, is the Sunday School answer if you are studying the biblical history of self-governance. The bell rings, and class is dismissed.

Except the story, inconveniently for those preferring neatly wrapped tales of virtue, didn’t end there. 

Gideon asked the men of Israel to share some of their plunder with him. This made him exceedingly rich. With the gold, he made a religious icon that we are told "Israel whored after" – that’s not a good thing, as one might imagine. When he died, the people "turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side."

Gideon was right to refuse a monarchy; God specifically wanted the people to be self-governing under His lordship. But even a self-governing people will look for opinion-shapers, for wise counsel, for smart leadership among themselves. They had seen all that in Gideon, and they respected him for it. 

As it turns out, Gideon handled war and adversity better than he handled peace and success.

He used the people’s respect to enrich himself, and then he abused it by giving his countrymen the opportunity to set a false god over themselves – rather than the God of Jacob.

When the fighting stopped, as Israel entered a 40-year period of peace purchased by Gideon’s early efforts, his poor leadership led a complacent people into a worse place than they had been before. Gideon said he and his son wouldn’t rule, but they did – they just did so very poorly by their example.

What about you and me? How are we ruling? How are we leading? In times of peace and plenty, do we lazily point people to the false gods of the day, or are we zealously encouraging them to pursue self-governance under God? 

Whether we want to admit it or not, each of us are leaders. For better or worse, we influence people around us. Let us resolve daily to make it for the better.