If I could preach a sermon on the Sunday before Election Day, this is what I would say.
Today’s teaching is entitled “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Godliness”. The subtitle is “The Theology of America.”
While I will touch on numerous contemporary political and social issues, a few things will be off limits. Specifically, I will not be mentioning any candidate, party or contemporary political figure. Indeed, I will not even mention my own party affiliation. And I will not talk about voting.
Christianity is an intellectual exercise. We are called to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:37) We come to church to glorify God. God gave us each an absolutely incredible brain that does 20 trillion calculations every second. We glorify God when we engage and stimulate our brains, not when we turn them into apple sauce talking about Tuesday’s election.
I am going to begin the way the senior pastor of my old church used to begin: with a Scripture reading, a prayer and a story from history.
Let’s go to work.
Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5:13-16.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father: Thank You for this day and for this fellowship. I pray today that people understand that this is not about politics, but about our call to be light in a world of darkness and salt in a world of decay. I pray that they understand that the example we set with our lives is far more powerful in influencing our society in a Christian direction than whatever they might do on Tuesday.
In the name of Your Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
On the night of July 4, 1776, in London, England, King George III made the following entry in his diary: “Nothing important happened today.” Telecommunications would not come into existence until 1836 and no trans-Atlantic cables would be laid until 1866. Hence, he had no way of knowing what had transpired that day in Philadelphia.
On that day 56 courageous men pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to support a declaration that read, in part, as follows:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The importance of this event was profound. Not only in a historical and political sense, but also in a biblical sense. Some of the signers of this document were Christians. Some were not. However, the ideas set forth in the Declaration of Independence, as well as our Constitution, represent the closest attempt in the modern world to institute a biblical form of government. These ideas have a profound biblical basis.
Our Founding Documents severely limit the size and scope of the federal government. Why should Christians care about this? Because hope in the state and hope in kings and princes and presidents are false hopes. In the words of Psalm 146:3-4:
“Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.”
Jesus had no political agenda. He wasn’t a left-winger or a right-winger. He wouldn’t join your party or my party. He wouldn’t vote for your candidate or my candidate. Any attempt to fit Jesus into your political box trivializes His Name.
As I look around right now I see so many Christians so enamored with political candidates and so obsessed with getting these candidates elected. Why? When does the Bible ever talk about winning elections? Where do we get this idea that if we elect the right people and if they pass the right laws we will eventually arrive at some optimal kind of Christian society? Where do we get this idea that Jesus would take sides politically?
Gregory Boyd, who pastors a large church in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, has said that the more we entangle ourselves with the kingdoms of the world, the more we become like the world in the very worst way. (1)
The kingdoms of the world operate through brute force and the threat of force. You either do as the state says or its agents will fine you, jail you or kill you. Mao Zedong, who was very proficient at killing people, put it this way: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
Jesus’ Kingdom, on the other hand, is not of this world. (John 18:36) Jesus did not operate by means of force. Instead, He taught with authority. (Mark 1:22)
The philosopher Hannah Arendt differentiated power and authority this way:
“Power is the ability to force compliance with one’s demands; authority is the ability to command voluntary obedience.”
Jesus only initiated force one time: when He kicked the moneychangers out of the Temple. There was no political or social aim here. He just wanted to rid the Temple of people who had used it for ungodly purposes. In recent years, I have seen numerous churches and ministries poisoned by political partisanship.
You have heard it said that “we should never discuss politics in church.” Hmm. Where do people get that idea?
About ten years ago, my pastor delivered a series of teachings entitled “The Theology of Everything.” He covered some apparently absurd topics. He talked about the theology of the music we listen to, the movies we watch, knowledge, science and the game of baseball. One sermon dealt in part with some lyrics from Alanis Morrisette.
I guess that would be the theology of attitudinal chick music.
The pastor’s point was this: God’s Fingerprint is on everything.
Everything!
No exceptions!
The Bible contains the word “king” as well as variations on it such as “kings” and “kingdom” almost 2000 times. From Genesis to Revelation its teachings apply to politics.
I can get with pastors who say they are uneasy talking about how Christians ought to view their government. There are lots of subjects I am uncomfortable discussing. This does not mean they are not important.
To say, however, that “we should never discuss politics in church” is at best a wimpy and pathetic copout and at worst a damnable heresy.
We can talk about Oprah and The DaVinci Code and whatever little Hollywood strumpet just went into rehab for the fourth time in as many months. But we are paralyzed when it comes to talking about our government. And we have paid a great price. As Hosea 4:6 says, we suffer for lack of knowledge.
Consider these two quotes from R.J. Rummel, professor emeritus of history at the University of Hawaii:
“Power kills. Absolute power kills absolutely.”
“During the 20th century…170 million men, women, and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed, or killed in any other of the myriad ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners.”
Hitler anyone? When you let people do whatever they want, you get Woodstock. But when you let governments do whatever they want, you get Auschwitz. Is there something Christian about eight-digit body counts? The most prolific mass murderers in history have been those who held political power.
That is exactly why Christians need to care about government in general and to keep a watchful eye on their own governments regardless of who is in power. Some of Hitler’s biggest support came from Christians who were seduced into relinquishing their liberty and giving him unlimited power. (2)
So what is the connection between the Scriptures and America’s Founding?
First of all, let me give you a grotesque oversimplification of the philosophy inherent in our Founding documents.
1.There is a God. And He is not the God of the Deists, who believe that God made the world and then just moseyed on His way. The Declaration of Independence speaks of a Creator. It speaks of “Nature’s God” who takes an active interest in human affairs. They appealed to the "Supreme Judge of the world.” The relied on the “protection of Divine Providence”.
2. This Creator endows us “with certain unalienable Rights”.
3. Government exists to protect these rights.
4. The powers delegated to the federal government ought to be, in Madison’s words, “few and defined.” When we let government overstep its bounds, we place ourselves in grave danger.
The biblical roots of the principles set forth in these documents are profound.
The concept that we are created equal is found in Acts 10:34. The Law of Nature is found in Romans 2:14-16. The right to life is found in Genesis 2:7. That liberty is a gift from God, and not a privilege from government is found in Galatians 5:1. The pursuit of happiness is found in Ecclesiastes 3:13. (3)
The separation of powers into three coequal government branches has its roots in Isaiah 33:22.
The First Amendment has its roots in Daniel 3, Daniel 6, and Acts 4:19 and 5:29.
The immunity of churches from taxation has its roots in Ezra 7:24.
The Second Amendment has its roots in I Samuel 13:19-21, Luke 11:22 and Luke 22:35, 36.
The Bill of Rights, which is actually a bill of prohibitions on Uncle Sam, is really the Golden Rule applied to politics.
Consider the Fourth Amendment and its requirement of search warrants. Do you like people reading over your shoulder or asking you too many personal questions? Then don’t give your government license to barge into other people’s lives without jumping through procedural hoops!
Consider the Fifth Amendment and self-incrimination. Would you like to be forced to testify against yourself? Then why would you give your government license to compel other people to testify against themselves?
Consider the Sixth Amendment, which deals with jury trials and the rights of the accused. Have you ever been falsely accused? Did you enjoy it? Look at the Ninth Commandment – Exodus 20:16 – as well as Proverbs 24:28 and 25:16 and Matthew 18:16.
Consider the Eighth Amendment. Is there anything at all Christian about cruel and unusual punishment?
Consider the Ninth Amendment, which protects your right to do all kinds of things as long as they do not harm another. Smoking marijuana – a plant that God gave us in Genesis 1:11 -- and home schooling your children come to mind. You don’t have to like what another person is doing. But Scripture says to leave them alone. This is based on Proverbs 3:30.
Christians are some of the biggest control freaks and busybodies in today’s world. This is just not biblical. I Thessalonians 4:11 instructs us to mind our own business!
Also, have a look at Colossians 2:20-23.
“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle", which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”
Morality cannot be imposed from the top down. Jesus will never force His way into a person’s life -- Revelation 3:20. A truly wholesome and godly life is the fruit of the Holy Spirit – Galatians 5:22, 23 – and nothing else.
Consider the Tenth Amendment, which forbids Uncle Sam from engaging in any activity not especially authorized elsewhere in the Constitution. This is another way of saying “give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." See Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17 and Luke 20:25.
Too often I talk to people who think this Scripture means that we should just give Caesar everything he demands and then sit down and shut up. This is a recipe for tyranny and godlessness if there ever was one. Remember all those Christians who gave up their liberty to that guy named Hitler?
I want to talk for a minute about something we have rendered unto Caesar that we never should have, i.e. the government schools. If you are a public school teacher or employed there in some other capacity, I thank God for you and I pray that you are being a godly witness there.
Some of you are not going to like this. The reason the government schools are so messed up is that they have no basis either biblically or in any of our Founding documents. The idea of state education goes back to Plato and it is a policy plank of the Communist Manifesto.
It cannot be made Christian. I don’t care how hard you try to reform it or how many Christians you elect to school boards. In just one or two election cycles the secularists will again get the upper hand and undo everything the Christians have done.
Proverbs 22:6 and Ephesians 6:4 direct parents to raise their kids and no one else.
Let’s look at just a few other aspects of the Constitution.
Consider the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Is there anything Christian about arbitrary arrest and indefinite imprisonment without any semblance of due process?
Consider the power of Congress “To coin Money, regulate the value thereof … and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.”
There are at least six Scriptures relating to the issue of weights and measures: Leviticus 19:35, 36; Deuteronomy 25:13-16; Proverbs 11:1, 20:10, 23; and Micah 6:11.
Money units are means of measurement, just like ounces, feet and gallons. Indeed, if you look at other currencies, such as the British Pound, the Mexican Peso and the former Italian Lira, their very names refer to weight. (4)
Our American dollar was originally defined so that twenty dollars would purchase one ounce of gold. We started moving away from this with the advent of fiat currency in 1913. Money could then be created at will out of thin air.
Do you know why we have the inflation we do and that so many other societies have so much more? Do you know why America has over $9 trillion in debt? The answer is simple: we have rejected biblical money. Since 1913, our dollar has lost 96 percent of its value.
I am not going to get into great detail about the Federal Reserve – which is not federal and has no reserve. However, it is by its very nature not godly and is corrupt to the core. I will give you a quotation from Henry Ford, and then move on:
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our Banking and Monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a Revolution before tomorrow morning.”
Let’s talk about another economic issue: a market economy versus a socialist economy. With the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, God ordains private property and a market economy. Theft and covetousness are the very basis of socialism.
America became the mightiest economic machine the world has ever seen because – more than any country – we heeded to the Eighth and Tenth Commandments. In fact, we did not have a personal income tax for the first 137 years of our history. An income tax gradually turns us into slaves – i.e. involuntarily laboring for someone else’s benefit. It violates I Corinthians 7:23.
We have had prosperity and abundance like no other nation in history. We are the only nation on earth where people can drive their car down to a rally, protest that they are not getting enough food stamps, drive home again and watch that rally on their color TV set that evening.
The first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 promise great material blessings to those who obey God’s laws. The last 54 verses of Deuteronomy 28 spell out great curses for those who ignore His laws.
Our current economic turmoil is a direct result of departing from biblical teaching on economics. We walked away from sound money backed by gold and silver and turned toward paper money. We allowed ourselves to be taxed as aggressively as people in Britain, Sweden, France and so many countries that we deride as being socialist.
And if you don’t believe we are socialist, ponder this: Social Security and Medicare have $53 trillion in unfunded liabilities. Those are monies promised to you and me that they do not have the resources to pay out. We are headed toward an economic wall for a lot of reasons. The main reason is that we have forsaken God’s teaching about economics.
But what about the poor? Shouldn’t we be helping the poor? Yes, WE should be helping the poor and doing it voluntarily. As II Corinthians 9:7 tells us:
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
I can impose a tax on you and put a gun at your head to pay it. But this is not charity. It is extortion. True charity is voluntary. Like any Christian virtue, it cannot be forced.
At the end of Acts 2 and Acts 4, we see communities of Christians who lived together in a very communal fashion. This was not the result of a progressive income tax, but of the Holy Spirit.
One other thing about economics and let’s move on.
People often say that a free market leads to huge economic disparities that are incompatible with Jefferson’s statement that “all men are created equal.” The best answer I have ever heard to this comes from Malcolm Muggeridge, a British author and journalist who was a very outspoken Christian.
“Only as children of God are we equal; all other claims to equality -- social, economic, racial, intellectual, sexual -- only serve in practice to intensify inequality.”
Let me illustrate. One percent of the people in the old Soviet Union were equalizers and the other 99 percent who were the equalizees, 80 million of whom were killed by the equalizers. If you don’t like inequality under a market economy, go try it under a Marxist economy.
There are many more subjects here that I haven’t covered. But time is short this morning, so I will now transition from Christian thinking into Christian living.
So what are we to do with what we now know? How shall we now live? How shall we influence our society for the better if not through politics?
We opened this morning with a passage from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus did not preach this to a group of politically and economically powerful people at some imperial prayer breakfast at some Taj Mahal of a megachurch in Rome. Rather, he preached it to common simple people in a forgotten backwater of the Roman Empire.
There was no doubt all kinds of sin and vice and debauchery in Jesus’ time. Moreover, Christianity was an outlaw religion for the first few centuries of its existence. Yet, we never hear Jesus or Paul or anyone else talking about “mobilizing” Christian voters to “take back Rome.”
Yes, I believe Christians should vote and that they should keep a careful and discerning eye on their worldly governments. However, all this talk about “mobilizing” Christian voters to “take back America” is worldly talk and not godly talk. That is not how you change society.
The first three words of the United States Constitution are “We the people.”
Just in case anyone is confused, that means US!
It also means everything that emanates from us.
Again, Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world – John 18:36. As Christians, our citizenship is in Heaven – Philippians 3:20.
The kingdoms of man operate from the top down and from the outside in. They compel behavior through brute force.
The Kingdom of God influences our lives through the Holy Spirit. It works through moral conviction. It changes our lives individually. While it lacks the glamour and allure of the kingdoms of the world it has a far more powerful influence on human behavior.
And it has had profound results in society.
A century ago, it was perfectly legal for a ten-year-old to walk into a corner drug store, plop down cash and buy heroin. And we didn’t have one percent of the drug problem we have now with a veritable police state! Why? Because parents had a far stronger presence in the lives of their children and preachers had no inhibitions about preaching about sin and Hell!
Slavery was well on its way to extinction in the late 1850s. It was only a matter of time before it went away. Maybe the biggest lie in American history is that we needed a war to end slavery. Yes, economics and technology played a part. But far more important was the conviction in the hearts and minds of Americans that slavery was just plain wrong.
I believe that the real victory in the civil rights revolution of the 1960s was, again, the growing conviction in the hearts and minds of Americans that segregation and discrimination and racism were just plain wrong.
The movement to end slavery as well as the civil rights movement had profound Christian roots. These things did not happen top down out of Washington, DC. Rather, they happened from the bottom up.
In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus tells us not to exercise self-righteous power over people, but to be their servants. In John 13, Jesus, i.e. the King of the Universe, washes the disciples feet!
The Christian life is not glamorous. The real dirty-fingernail work of Christianity is not going to make headlines. It is not about electing people to office and elevating them to totally undue levels of power and glory. In Hosea 8:4, God rebukes the nation of Israel saying:
“They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.”
In the First Century, a Roman official said this to the Emperor Hadrian about the Christians he had encountered.
“They love one another; they never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them; if they have something they give it freely to those who have nothing; if they see a stranger, they take him home and are happy as though he were a real brother.”
Even though Christianity was an outlaw religion, this did not stop Christians from setting a noble example with their lives. To paraphrase this Roman official: "These Christians sure are cool. They are different in a good and positive way. They live their lives in a way that we should aspire to."
What example are you setting with your life? Are you actively in the pursuit of godliness? Does your life radiate the fruits of the Spirit, i.e. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Do people see you as just a cut above others? Do people see you setting an example that they want to emulate? Do people even like you?
I am no better than anyone and I am not saying this to brag. I have set a pretty rotten Christian example many times in my life and I am really struggling with some spiritual issues as I speak. However, I can tell you that I have a lot of secular friends who like being around me because they know I am a Christian and they just see something different. I am very convinced that some day some of these people will become Christians.
This is how we influence our world. From the bottom up! From the grass roots! It is not glamorous, but this is how God tells us to work. And we will need to do more in the days and years ahead.
The prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 8:20) lamented over the following:
“The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!”
As we used to say in the Navy, prepare for some heavy rolls. The intensifying turmoil that we see around us is just part of the storm that I have seen gathering since the early 1990s. These events are part of what I call the Big Ramp-Up to the End Times prophesied many times throughout Scripture.
Several months ago, I received an e-mail from a friend counseling me and others to do the following:
“Shut off the TV and radio, turn off your computer (check e-mails only as absolutely necessary), throw away the worldly newspapers and mags, and sit down with the Holy Bible and read that for a while and let God speak to your heart. Do that for a month and see how much clearer your thinking will be.”
Get back into your Bible and get a grip on things. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7) Courage is not the absence of fear, but stepping forward and doing what you are called to do in spite of your fear. You were made for a time such as this. (Esther 4:14) God put you here at this place, at this point in history and in your current set of circumstances for a reason as part of His Divine Plan. Jesus promised that we will have tribulation, but to be of good cheer, as He has overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Revelation 13 prophesies a world economy, a world religion and a totalitarian world government. Do not be deceived. The Antichrist is going to look so good in the world’s eyes. And he will be a political figure. Do not fall for this. Do not take the chip or any other “mark”. Do not be conformed to the world. (Romans 12:2)
I know this might be scary. I know you want rest for your soul. But I am just trying to be a watchman on the wall. (Ezekiel 33:6)
I have been struggling with some issues lately and some friends have reminded me that our current circumstances might seem insurmountable, but they are microscopic against the backdrop of eternity. They are just a zit on a whale’s butt. How’s that for a profound theological thought?
Just remember that as a Christian, your King is radically different than any earthly king or prince or president or dictator. Jesus had no blueprint for society or plan for humanity. He had no Great Society, Great Leap Forward, Five-Year Plan or Thousand-Year Reich. (5)
However, He does offer us a New Deal. This New Deal has nothing to do with government programs or any of that jive turkey stuff. But rather, if you will just place your faith in Him, you will have everlasting life.
He sends us out like sheep among wolves and instructs us to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. And if we just stand firm in our faith until the end, we will be saved. (Matthew 10:16, 22)
So let us be torchbearers for Jesus. Let us carry His light into a world of darkness. When you turn on a light in a dark room, it instantly defeats the darkness. Let us have that effect upon the world. The ball is in our court. We have been tagged and we are it.
Our next president can tax us into the pavement, micromanage our lives with all manner of incomprehensible laws, imprison us for all manner of victimless offenses and bomb the crap out of countries around the world. But he cannot make you a better person and he cannot make me a better person. He cannot change our hearts. The only way for true change to occur is through an abiding, daily reliance upon the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ.
I have one other thought before we wrap this mess up.
I used to get e-mails from someone who would sign off with his name and with the following recommendation: “Save a kid. Shoot your TV set.”
This might sound somewhat raw and probably not very tactful. But it is exactly the kind of personal responsibility and rigid self-honesty we so desperately need if we seriously want the kind of society that so many of us say that we want.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father: Thank You again for this day and this fellowship. I pray that people heard this not as some anti-government rant or as a subliminal pitch for a particular candidate. Rather, my prayer is that people have been reminded about the importance of having a biblical worldview and of being light in a world of darkness and salt in a world of decay. And that no matter what happens on Tuesday, the real work of influencing our society consists of the examples we set in our daily lives. So let’s just leave it where we found it in Matthew 5:16. I pray fervently that, as we go forth from here today, we let our light so shine before men that they see our good works and that they thereby come to glorify our Father in Heaven.
In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, all God’s people said Amen.
If you would like to post this, please e-mail me and include this URL.
(1) This is from a phenomenal sermon series called "The Cross and the Sword." The opening sermon is at the bottom of the page.
(2) An incredible book is Hitler's Cross by Erwin Lutzer.
(3) For this, I am indebted to Pastor Chuck Baldwin.
(4) Fascinating article by Pastor Larry Beane.
(5) This last phrase was not mine originally. I wish I could remember where I read this so I could give proper credit.
Just after I had put this to bed, MB in Arkansas sent me A HANDBOOK OF BIBLE LAW.
Do not read unless you want your mind blown.