JoCo civic and faith leaders, it’s time to speak out and say ‘enough’ | Opinion

The concept of “enough” is central to Christian faith, and also to humanity. “Enough” is, in fact, a foundational theme of Genesis 1, a sacred text of both the Jewish and Christian faiths. Bible scholars and leaders of our local faith communities might recognize the chiasmic structure of Genesis 1, a literary technique of repetition that points to the creation of humanity as stewards of the Earth and as being made in God’s image, and then the revolutionary decision made by God to rest on the seventh day of creation.

If we are to act in God’s image, we are to recognize when we have created enough and show restraint. In fact, the Bible goes on to make the distinction that animals live by instinct, but humans live by discernment — the ability to know when to stop. Even God, who is all-powerful and could have continued to add during the creation story, shows us to practice Shabbat — ”It is enough, now rest” — on the seventh day.

Why is this concept radical? The earliest audience for Genesis was the Israelites, newly freed from slavery in Egypt, wandering without a home. During their time in Egypt, there was no rest, no weekend. The concept of a Sabbath was new and powerful.

The idea that we have enough — that we are enough — became an act of political resistance against Pharaoh. Sabbath as civil disobedience, Sabbath as the first labor law.

As I sit here, on the precipice of welcoming our second child, I can’t shake the word “enough” out of my mind. Do we have enough diapers for when we come home? Do I have enough caffeine?

Spiritual, constitutional crisis

But “enough” isn’t just about subsistence and rest — it’s also about restraint. Do I need a third DQ Blizzard this week or was two enough? As a father, am I setting a good example for self-discipline?

As a leader elected to represent 35,000 residents of Ward 2 in Overland Park, am I practicing the concept of “enough” and respecting the dignity and humanity of all neighbors? At the local level, I think we do a good job of showing restraint. We are restrained by state and federal laws. We are living within our means with the lowest property tax in the state. When necessary, we take things to court and respect the judicial process. We have guardrails.

But those guardrails we honor at the local level in Johnson County — the rule of law, fiscal restraint, respect for process — work only if they are honored all the way to the top. What we’re seeing from the federal government is not restraint, but relentlessness: an unwillingness to say “enough.” When the executive branch bypasses Congress to claim the power of the purse, when it defies a ruling by the Supreme Court, and when it acts as if constitutional limits are optional, that is not strength — it is exactly the chaos that Genesis warns against.

This is not just a different interpretation of law. This is a spiritual and constitutional crisis.

If Pharaoh in Egypt was the embodiment of unchecked power, then any modern government that refuses to honor limits — even limits rooted in law — risks echoing that same imperial arrogance. The Sabbath was God’s way of teaching a formerly enslaved people to trust that they were not defined by endless production, or by a ruler’s whims. Sabbath taught them to say: “We have enough. We are enough. We will not be ruled by fear or greed or control.”

Advice for elected officials, religious community

So where are we now, as a people of faith?

We cannot demand moral discipline from our children, financial discipline from our cities and legal discipline from our neighbors, yet then excuse its absence from those in the highest offices of power. We cannot teach the story of Genesis, of Sabbath, of restraint, and then shrug when national leaders act as if limits are for others.

To my fellow elected officials: We know what it is to govern with boundaries. We deliberate; we compromise; we work within constraints. And we do so not because it is easy, but because it is right. If we expect our constituents to trust us, we must model what it means to respect the systems we were elected to serve. We must speak up when higher offices trample process, bypass legislatures or ignore the courts. Our silence will not protect us, and it will not protect democracy. Restraint is not partisan. It is constitutional. It is moral.

To our local faith leaders: This is the time to speak. The story of Genesis does not belong only in sermons — it belongs in public policy, in civic discourse and in our witness to power. We must raise our voices when any arm of government forgets what God showed us from the beginning: that there is a power in stopping. In saying, “It is enough.” In recognizing the dignity of all of our neighbors.

To members of the faith community: Let us not become numb. Let us not allow loyalty to party or policy to override our loyalty to the deeper truths of our tradition. If we believe in dignity, in boundaries, in justice rooted in divine image — then we must be willing to name when those values are violated. Especially when it costs us something.

Because silence in the face of overreach is not neutrality. It is complicity. And complicity is not what we were made for.

We were made in the image of a God who creates, blesses, and rests. May we have the faith to do the same. May we have the courage to call our leaders to it.

And may we remember that “enough” is not weakness. It is wisdom.