Winning Two Silver Medals, But No Gold

“When God calls you to something, He is not always calling you to succeed. He’s calling you to obey! The success of the calling is up to Him; the obedience is up to you.” – David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge

In 2007, I made a phone call to the chairman of the Camden County Republican Party in South Jersey and asked why there wasn’t a single Republican candidate on the ballot in my new hometown of Barrington. His answer was honest and direct: “Because no one has the guts to run in a solidly Democratic district.”

Hmmm…

After meeting with him in person, consulting my wife and kids, seeking counsel from some close friends, my spiritual mentors, and my ministry’s board of trustees, and praying harder about the decision than any previous decision in my life, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. Not for town council, or mayor, or freeholder (the equivalent of a county commissioner in Florida); but for the United States House of Representatives. And not in a solidly “red” district, but in one of the safest Democratic districts in the country. So safe, in fact, that a Republican candidate hasn’t won there since 1972.

So, I guess it should come as no surprise that – after winning the GOP primary with more than 80% of the vote – I went down in flames in the general election. Here are the vote totals in my race against a 9-term incumbent with a $2 million war chest (compared to the $30,000 I managed to raise)…

Rob Andrews (D) – 206,453 (72.4%)
Dale Glading (R) – 74,001 (25.95%)
Independents – 4,703 (1.65%)

And yet, my vote total and percentage were the most for a Republican candidate in my district in 35 years and I even received the endorsements of every major newspaper, including the extremely liberal Philadelphia Inquirer. Buoyed by my “success,” the party chairman begged me to run again in 2010… and I did. After winning a 4-way GOP primary by a 2-to-1 margin over my closest competitor, I increased my percentage in the general election by 9 points, but still came in a distant second.

Like David Wilkerson said in today’s quote, success for a Christian can be defined with one word: obedience. I felt that God wanted me to run… and so I did. I also shared my faith on TV, the radio, in the newspaper, at countless community events, and by knocking on 10,000 doors each election cycle.

I know of foreign missionaries who spent their entire adult lives sharing the gospel without a single convert. Does that make them a failure? NOT IN GOD’S EYES… and that’s all that matters.

“But Samuel declared: ‘Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.’” I Samuel 15:22 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President