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ROVERBS ON POLITICS (1)A Meditation on Proverbs 8:12-16, 28:2
In January 23, 1996, Pastor Joe Wright opened a session of the Kansas House with this prayer: “Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment… cleanse us from every sin and set us free… in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen!”
In response to his prayer, one member of the legislative body walked out in protest, and many others criticized the prayer. The press—surprise—called it a politically incorrect prayer. Apparently, many politicians can’t handle the truth, and frankly many are boldly legislating against the truth.
Two books in my library represent the downward spiral of American culture. The first is Bill Bennett’s book The Devaluing of America (copyright 1992, 1994) and the second is Janet Folger’sThe Criminalization of Christianity (copyright 2005). If you think the title of her book is an overstatement, you haven’t been paying attention. Consider five examples of how Christianity is a crime in this country. First, prayer is being outlawed. Verbal prayer offered in a school is unconstitutional, even if that prayer is both voluntary and denominationally neutral (Engel v. Vitale, 1962; Abington v. Schempp, 1963; Commissioner of Education v. School Committee of Leyden, 1971). If a student prays over his lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray out loud (Reed v. Van Hoven, 1965).
Second, Jesus is outlawed. A city council meeting can pray, as long as they don’t say the name of Jesus (Rubin v. City of Burbank, 1999). The decision said nothing about swearing with Jesus’ name.
Third, the Bible is outlawed. In Omaha, Nebraska, a student was prohibited from reading his Bible silently during his free time, or even to open his Bible at school (Gierke v. Blotzer, 1989). It is unconstitutional for a classroom library to contain books that deal with Christianity, or for a teacher to be seen with a personal copy of the Bible at school (Roberts v. Madigan, 1990).
Fourth, Christmas is outlawed. A Frederick County, Maryland, school employee was prohibited from handing out Christmas cards on a public-school campus. Red poinsettias were banned from the Ramsey Court house in St. Paul, Minnesota, because they offended one person who believes the flowers to be a symbol of Christianity. In Worthington, Ohio, students were prohibited from bringing in Christmas cookies with the colors red and green or in the shapes of stars or bells.
Fifth, crosses are outlawed. It is unconstitutional for a war memorial to be erected in the shape of a cross (Lowe v. City of Eugene, 1969). In June 2004, the Los Angeles County Supervisors voted three to two to remove a tiny cross from the official county seal rather than face a potential lawsuit from the ACLU. The cross had been there for forty-seven years (All the above examples are taken from The Criminalization of Christianity, pp. 101-103). Yes, some of these cases are in isolated places, but they are nevertheless establishing precedence.
How can we reverse this trend? If God is going to bless America, then we, the people, need to repent. Before we come down on our rulers, we must be clear about why God has given us such corrupt rulers in the first place. Proverbs 28:2 tells us: “When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.” “Many rulers” could refer to a government that places more and more bureaucrats over the people to harass them—take their money…land…children…freedom. Or “many rulers” could indicate a government in constant turmoil, so that every few months another coup takes place, leaving the land with no peace and stability. Either way, notice that the reason for “many rulers” is the transgression of the land (i.e. the people). These harsh rulers are a sign of God’s judgment for the sin of the people. If the people want better leaders they must repent before they vote.
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ROVERBS ON POLITICS (2)A Meditation on Proverbs 8:12-16, 28:2
What kind of leaders should we vote for? Democrats, Republicans or Independents? Conservatives, liberals or moderates? The Bible causes us to think in different categories altogether.
Above all, we want wise politicians in office. In Proverbs eight we have the personification of wisdom, which is a picture of Jesus Christ. Wisdom says, “When he established the heavens, I was there…when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man” (vv. 27, 29b-31). Now if we back up a few verses we read, “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion….By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly” (vv. 12, 14-16). Kings, rulers, princes nobles, presidents, senators, governors and mayors are to rule by wisdom. We want wise rulers and not stupid rulers. Initially everybody agrees with this, until we press a little further and ask, “What wisdom are we talking about?” “Where does this wisdom originate?” If a Christian were to answer honestly these days it would almost certainly be political suicide. Imagine a Supreme Court nominee being asked, “Will you uphold the Constitution of the U. S.?” And he responds, “Absolutely…insofar as it doesn’t deviate to the right or to the left of the Word of God and the wisdom incarnate in Jesus Christ.” His political career would suddenly come to a screeching halt.
Our first President George Washington stated, “It is impossible to govern without God and the Bible.”
In his diary dated February 22, 1756, John Adams wrote, “Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the pre-cepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality and industry; to justice and kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety love, and reverence toward Almighty God. What a [Utopia], what a Paradise would this region be.” Our second president didn’t entertain the idea of a government detached from God’s Word, but dreamed of the possibilities of a nation living in accordance with the Scriptures.
On July 4, 1821, John Quincy Adams declared, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indis-soluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. From the day of the Declaration…[Americans] were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the Gos-pel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct.”
The only reason why we’re debating whether of not America was founded upon the principles of Christianity and the wisdom of the Bible is because we’re ignorant of history. Also, the secular historians have worked hard to censor the offensive, politically incorrect Christian references. For example, “The Mayflower Compact is depicted solely as a political document with its more striking religious elements deleted. Here is the document as presented by the textbook company. The bold face portions are missing from the textbook version: ‘In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body of politic…’” (Gary DeMar, America’s Christian History, p. 27). After being taught the edited version of the Mayflower Compact, the students are tested, “Why did the pilgrims risk their lives to come to America?” They answer confidently, “For political freedom” and get an A. Now any Christian who says, “No, it was primarily for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith” is seen as reading his Christian bias and agenda into history and he fails.
It’s time to get back to basics: “Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (Jn. 17:3) and therefore lay Christ at the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him, Prov. 2:3” (Harvard’s “Rules and Precepts” adopted 1646).
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ROVERBS ON POLITICS (3)A Meditation on Proverbs 8:12-16, 28:2
If we’re going to talk about politics we need to talk about morality. Perhaps you’re heard it said that you can’t legislate morality. If you couldn’t legislate morality, you couldn’t legislate—period. Every piece of legislation is a reflection of somebody’s morality. Laws are not morally neutral. The question is not whether politicians will legislate morality, but what (or whose) morality they will legislate.
R. C. Sproul Jr. made the astute observation that “in the Old Testament you find an example of the executive branch, as well as the judicial branch, but you don’t find the legislative branch. Why? Because God himself gave the people the laws which were to govern them.”
Let me ask you, “Is homosexuality wrong?” And here’s the follow-up question, “Why is it wrong?” Yes it is wrong, and it is wrong for only one reason, God has told us in his Word that it is wrong. Actually he states it stronger than that but I think you get the point. It’s time for Christians to stop being ambiguous as to why certain practices or life styles are right or wrong. For example we need to stop talking about “family values.” With the current redefinition of marriage and family, couldn’t somebody be in favor of Bill and Bob’s loving, homosexual family values? “Family values” is quickly becoming a meaningless reference for Christians to use. Nor do we want to talk about “traditional values.” Many progressives and evolutionists despise tradition. Not that we care, but is something right just because it’s been around for a long time? In some cultures polygamy is a tradition. In others cannibalism is. In our own culture abortion is now a tradition, and many argue in favor of upholding Roe v. Wade, because it’s part of our legal tradition. Lawyers call this precedence.
Why has pornography been legalized? Why has school prayer been outlawed? Why has abortion been legalized? Why do homosexuals have special rights? Because we have rulers who have been legislating morality without the wisdom of God’s Word. Thus, without biblical absolutes and principles to guide and govern us we are left to the mercy of the prosperous, the powerful and the perverse.
If God is going to bless America we need righteous rulers. “It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness” (Pro. 16:12). Simply put, character counts. King Lemuel was counseled by his mother: “Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of the afflicted” (31:3-5). Rulers are not to be womanizers or drunkards. Are any mental images coming to mind? It’s interesting that voting guides for churches tell you about the positions of each candidate on certain issues, but nothing about their character. Doesn’t character matter? Leaders lacking in character should be rejected, or voted out of office—even if they represent your policies.
I’m sure many of you are wrestling with my last statement, but remember Solomon? He was the wisest ruler ever, yet his character eroded over time. Kings were forbidden to acquire many horses and chariots, many wives and excessive silver and gold (Deut. 17:14-17). Yet Solomon was unrestrained and had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots (1 Kgs. 4:26). “He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concu-bines. And his wives turned away his heart” (1 Kgs. 11:3). Also, “the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold” (2 Chr. 9:13). As a result of Solomon’s self indulgence, the Lord became angry with Solomon and tore away most of the kingdom from him. Furthermore, the Lord raised up enemies who fought against Israel (1 Kgs. 11:9-14). The end result was that the whole nation suffered due to the king’s unrighteous life.
One final word, if God is going to bless America we need faithful judges. In a word, we need justice. “By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down” (Pro. 29:4). Bribes of course pervert justice. “The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice” (17:23).
Proverbs 17:15 warns: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.” Lady Justice is supposed to be blind-folded so she can’t see one’s economic state or race or creed. Unfortunately, the poor often have trouble getting a fair trial, while the wealthy get away with murder. The poor especially, who can’t afford high-priced attorneys need to receive justice. This establishes the king’s throne forever (29:14).
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