What Will It Take, America ?
"Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" -Psalm 94:16
The year is ad 150 and you live in Rome. Roman law permits the father, as supreme ruler in the family, to throw out an unwanted baby onto the street to die. Christians pick up these babies and care for them. The state forbids this practice. You walk past a house on your way home and find one of these babies and know Christians in your church who would willingly look after this child. What do you do? To even touch the abandoned baby would be to break the laws of an authority ordained by God.
The year is ad 298 and the Roman emperor, Diocletian, is in full force with his persecution of the Christian church. His soldiers come to your house and asks you if you have copies of parts of the Scriptures. You do have such copies. What do you answer?
The year is 1944. The Nazi’s are doing a door to door search looking for Jews. They ask you if you are hiding any Jews or are aware of anyone hiding Jews. You happen to know that someone in your street is hiding a Jewish family. What do you answer?
"At what point will you rise to defend what you believe? Is there anything worth putting your reputation or your life in jeopardy?
Will you object if your children are routinely indoctrinated in homosexual ideology in the government controlled schools? Will you object if imperfect babies are killed in our hospitals like the government under Hitler was doing? Will you object if involuntary euthanasia becomes widespread in nursing homes? Will you object if the government tells your pastor or priest what he can say from the pulpit? (In Sweden, an evangelical pastor who preached a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah was convicted of "verbal violence" against homosexuals and sentenced to a four-week prison term.) Will you object if the government assumes "ownership" of children and tells parents how they must raise them (like in Nazi Germany) - under penalty of losing custody? Will you object if every teenager in America is given immoral advice and a supply of condoms to implement it? Will you object if each family is permitted only one baby, as is the official policy today in China?
"Will you object if Christian business people are required to satisfy a quota of homosexual and lesbian employees? Will you object if churches are not exempt from that quota obligation? Will you object if universities refuse to grant degrees to outspoken Christian students? Will you object if obscenity laws are repealed and child pornography is ignored by the government? Will you object if the schools teach 'death education' to students beginning in elementary schools? Will you rise to speak if every tenet of your faith is legislated against in Congress and in your home state?...Is there any freedom or principle you would defend with your life?" (James Dobson's Focus on the Family Newsletter, March, 1993).
The teaching of Romans 13:2 is clear: "Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Christians are not to be a party to revolution. However, there have been instances in history where Christians have revolted against established government. Moses protested to Pharaoh about the continued enslavement of the Jewish people, brought on the plagues against their captors, and eventually gained their freedom. Oliver Cromwell, a deep Christian, overthrew the Royalists in England in 1647 with his parliamentary armies. George Washington led the Colonial armies against the British in the American revolution. Martin Luther King led protests in America in support of civil rights.
The principles of freedom, stewardship and personal responsibility are foundations of the Christian Kingdom that we are to bring to this earth. These allow people to reach their destiny and live that abundant life that Jesus promised. These principles were established through much struggle and bloodshed by our forefathers. They are under attack, and will be lost if we Christians don’t stand up and oppose what is going on.
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for conscience people to remain silent." -Thomas Jefferson
To quote another famous statesman, Edmund Burke – “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” When good men do nothing, they get nothing good done. To be good, one must do good. The Lord commands his people to do good (Luke 6:35; Eph. 2:10). Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).
In the parable of the talents, Jesus described a man who did nothing. When he received his Lord's money, he "went and dug in the earth, and hid his Lord's money" (Matt. 25:18). When his Lord returned, he returned to the Lord just what he had been given (Matt. 25:25). Notice, the servant did not do any outright evil, such as stealing the money, but then neither did he do anything good. He did nothing and he got nothing good accomplished. Jesus said he was a "wicked and slothful servant" (Matt. 25:26).
Jesus rebuked the church at Laodicea for doing nothing. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:15-17).
Too many Christians do nothing. They are standing idly by, they are mere spectators. They sit on the sidelines instead of actively participating and working for the good. If good wins, they join in the celebration though they did nothing to produce the victory. If evil wins, they will complain long and loud though their own apathy helped produce the undesirable result.
When Jesus found a fig tree with "nothing thereon, but leaves only" He cursed the tree and "presently the fig tree withered away" (Matt. 21:19). What will He do with those who claim to be good and yet who do nothing? John the baptist warned, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matt. 3:10; John 15:2).
We are truly living in critically strategic times. The ship has left the dock, and we are sailing into a storm, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. If enough peaceful protests take place, perhaps we can reverse course and the violence that will surely come can be averted.
Examples of Biblical protests
Exodus 1:15-17New International Version (NIV)
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
Acts 16:19-21, 40-42 New International Version (NIV)
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
40 They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
1Kings 12:19
Another example of Biblical resistance, is when a God-ordained lower official joins with other officials and revolts against unlawful central government after a series of official protests. This is what Jeroboam did when Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, imposed harsh new taxes which may have taken the form of forced labor. Jeroboam created a new nation by seceding from the unified kingdom.
Matthew 2:9-12
There are other examples where the protester refuses to comply with the law and adopts the strategy of deception. The best examples of this in the Bible are the wise men failing to obey Herod’s command to bring him information on the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, at the time of the nativity.
1 Samuel 14:43-46
Another possible response to a command which breaches God’s law would be for a group of people, as a corporate assembly, to intervene and tell the ruler that he will not be allowed to implement the judgement arising from a bad law. The Israelites did this when Saul wanted to execute his own son, Jonathan, for having eaten honey during a battle.
God is the God of all reality and records numerous examples in the pages of Scripture showing lawful, righteous protests against civil, as well as other, authority. However, we seldom recognize the very real issue of civil disobedience inherent in each account. But if we open our eyes there are actually many examples of progressive steps of Biblical resistance.
America has been a grand experiment based upon Biblical principles. But this is all changing very rapidly. We must learn the lessons of history. We can either preserve our freedom and prosperity, or we can do nothing and become enslaved by unrighteous men. The choice is up to us.
The Declaration of Independence says when speaking of the violation of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: "Any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute New Government." This means that if a government starts doing things that destroy people's rights, rather than protecting their rights, it is their right to change that form of government, and to institute a new one that will protect their rights if necessary.
Amendment 1 to the U.S. Constitution says that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
When told of these American rights many preachers will say that's fine and dandy but the Bible, especially in Romans 13:1-7, tells us that we are not to speak out against or protest what our government does. Well then, what about Psalm 82:3-4 where the Bible tells us, " Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." And in Proverbs 31:8-9 the Bible tells us, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
So, if our government has given us permission to speak out or even protest the actions they take, and the Bible says it is our duty to speak up for and defend those who cannot do it for themselves, how are Christians in rebellion against our government or God when we speak out against or protest the 'bad' actions of our government if we do so peaceably and in a legal manner?
We must pray, we must protest, and some of us will choose to fight. Do it for the children. A righteous man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren. This is becoming impossible when we allow our politicians to place TRILLIONS of dollars of debt on the backs of future generations. This is horribly wrong and should be stopped. Christians need to speak out.
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by
weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by
discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by
pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by
inciting class hatred and class envy.
You cannot build character and courage by
taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for
them, what they could and should do for themselves."
- Abraham Lincoln
Much of the government's skyrocketing spending is on programs resulting from the societal effects of immoral behavior, i.e., welfare support to teen mothers as well as illegal aliens, research and treatment of over two dozen different sexually transmitted diseases, repaying the public losses resulting from both violent and white-collar crime, creation of substance abuse and drug enforcement programs, etc. Many expensive federal programs result from moral-based problems.
In 2010 the U.S. government spent $52 billion on welfare to teen mothers—mothers still attending either junior-high or high-school. The illegal alien population in 2110 was estimated at 11,900,000 and the welfare costs for these illegals was approximately $83 billion. The government spent billions on AIDS (according to the Center for Disease Control, 87 percent of the 244,939 current AIDS cases were contracted either through sodomy or illegal drug use, both moral problems). Millions upon millions were spent on the treatment of two-dozen different STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), a moral problem; $200 billion was lost to white-collar crime and $310 billion on violent crime, both of which are moral problems.
In addition to the direct costs, add the secondary and tertiary costs of our moral malaise: include the costs of the additional courts and staff needed to prosecute immoral behavior; include the costs of the additional prisons and staff required to house those violators; include the operating and maintenance costs of additional prisons and the costs of the increased bureaucracy it produces; include the resulting increases in the budgets of the Justice Department, the Health and Human Services Department, the Center for Disease Control, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and numerous other departments and agencies, etc.
The list could continue, but the principle is established: if the moral issues remain unaddressed and ignored, the economic costs will remain unbridled.
John Adams concluded that to change a government without addressing moral issues is an exercise in futility: “It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand … if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty” (June 21, 1776).
The apostle Paul often used his rights as a Roman citizen to work for his own protection and to help further the gospel. See Acts 22:24-29; 23:12-33; 25:10-12; 16:35-40; Esth. 7:1-6. Our own government gives its citizens the right to voice their views in several different ways. If Paul used his rights to protect himself and to speak out, can we not thereby help maintain our freedom to preach and practice the truth by voicing our view?
This IS Kingdom business. This is where the rubber meets the road and our Christian responsibilities gets real. It’s not just about singing songs and praying. This all has real life implications, and it’s getting more real every day.
Whether or not to address our Christian responsibilities is a choice that must be made by each individual and cannot be mandated by government. Way too much unrighteousness is found in every dollar that is spent and every law that is passed. If we are to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, how can we sit silently by and allow unrighteousness to go unchallenged, especially in a nation where freedom and individual liberty is celebrated as no other on the face of the earth?
“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” - Noah Webster
What can we do? First, one should take this question to God. Some will be called to run to the front lines of the battle, some will become 'armchair supporters' and help get the word out via the internet and other social media, and still others will be called to sit idly by and do nothing . Making our voices known on Facebook, blogs, Twitter, in our churches, neighborhoods, etc. is important.
Start a local communications network among those who understand. As the prophet Daniel said, “Those who have understanding will give understanding to many”. Keep the love of Jesus in the forefront in the midst of the battle and never violate the law of love. Demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of all protest, even when things get heated. Tell others about the Kingdom. Even most Christians don’t understand that it is the rule and reign of a loving God who wants all to be free and live prosperous, joyful lives.
It will take a thundering cry from the masses to turn this crazy train around. Will it take muskets to get the point across? Let’s pray not. But if this doesn’t turn around, history shows that it’s only a matter of time before all our freedoms will be gone..
A Prayer for Our Nation
Almighty God, you are our Mighty Fortress, our refuge and the God in whom we place our trust. As our nation faces great distress and uncertainty, we ask your Holy Spirit to fall afresh upon your people - convict us of sin and inflame within us a passion to pray for our land and its people. Grant the leaders of this country an awareness of their desperate need of wisdom and salvation in You so that righteousness will exalt this nation.
Protect and defend us against our enemies and may the cause of Christ always prevail in our schools, courts, homes, businesses and churches. Lord God, send a spirit of of responsibility and may it begin in our own hearts.
Remember America as we pray and do not forget us in our time of need. Help us to be united in our responsibility to defend those who cannot help themselves, and help us to be peaceable and legal in our manner of doing this.
In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
"Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" -Psalm 94:16
The year is ad 150 and you live in Rome. Roman law permits the father, as supreme ruler in the family, to throw out an unwanted baby onto the street to die. Christians pick up these babies and care for them. The state forbids this practice. You walk past a house on your way home and find one of these babies and know Christians in your church who would willingly look after this child. What do you do? To even touch the abandoned baby would be to break the laws of an authority ordained by God.
The year is ad 298 and the Roman emperor, Diocletian, is in full force with his persecution of the Christian church. His soldiers come to your house and asks you if you have copies of parts of the Scriptures. You do have such copies. What do you answer?
The year is 1944. The Nazi’s are doing a door to door search looking for Jews. They ask you if you are hiding any Jews or are aware of anyone hiding Jews. You happen to know that someone in your street is hiding a Jewish family. What do you answer?
"At what point will you rise to defend what you believe? Is there anything worth putting your reputation or your life in jeopardy?
Will you object if your children are routinely indoctrinated in homosexual ideology in the government controlled schools? Will you object if imperfect babies are killed in our hospitals like the government under Hitler was doing? Will you object if involuntary euthanasia becomes widespread in nursing homes? Will you object if the government tells your pastor or priest what he can say from the pulpit? (In Sweden, an evangelical pastor who preached a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah was convicted of "verbal violence" against homosexuals and sentenced to a four-week prison term.) Will you object if the government assumes "ownership" of children and tells parents how they must raise them (like in Nazi Germany) - under penalty of losing custody? Will you object if every teenager in America is given immoral advice and a supply of condoms to implement it? Will you object if each family is permitted only one baby, as is the official policy today in China?
"Will you object if Christian business people are required to satisfy a quota of homosexual and lesbian employees? Will you object if churches are not exempt from that quota obligation? Will you object if universities refuse to grant degrees to outspoken Christian students? Will you object if obscenity laws are repealed and child pornography is ignored by the government? Will you object if the schools teach 'death education' to students beginning in elementary schools? Will you rise to speak if every tenet of your faith is legislated against in Congress and in your home state?...Is there any freedom or principle you would defend with your life?" (James Dobson's Focus on the Family Newsletter, March, 1993).
The teaching of Romans 13:2 is clear: "Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Christians are not to be a party to revolution. However, there have been instances in history where Christians have revolted against established government. Moses protested to Pharaoh about the continued enslavement of the Jewish people, brought on the plagues against their captors, and eventually gained their freedom. Oliver Cromwell, a deep Christian, overthrew the Royalists in England in 1647 with his parliamentary armies. George Washington led the Colonial armies against the British in the American revolution. Martin Luther King led protests in America in support of civil rights.
The principles of freedom, stewardship and personal responsibility are foundations of the Christian Kingdom that we are to bring to this earth. These allow people to reach their destiny and live that abundant life that Jesus promised. These principles were established through much struggle and bloodshed by our forefathers. They are under attack, and will be lost if we Christians don’t stand up and oppose what is going on.
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for conscience people to remain silent." -Thomas Jefferson
To quote another famous statesman, Edmund Burke – “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” When good men do nothing, they get nothing good done. To be good, one must do good. The Lord commands his people to do good (Luke 6:35; Eph. 2:10). Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14).
In the parable of the talents, Jesus described a man who did nothing. When he received his Lord's money, he "went and dug in the earth, and hid his Lord's money" (Matt. 25:18). When his Lord returned, he returned to the Lord just what he had been given (Matt. 25:25). Notice, the servant did not do any outright evil, such as stealing the money, but then neither did he do anything good. He did nothing and he got nothing good accomplished. Jesus said he was a "wicked and slothful servant" (Matt. 25:26).
Jesus rebuked the church at Laodicea for doing nothing. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:15-17).
Too many Christians do nothing. They are standing idly by, they are mere spectators. They sit on the sidelines instead of actively participating and working for the good. If good wins, they join in the celebration though they did nothing to produce the victory. If evil wins, they will complain long and loud though their own apathy helped produce the undesirable result.
When Jesus found a fig tree with "nothing thereon, but leaves only" He cursed the tree and "presently the fig tree withered away" (Matt. 21:19). What will He do with those who claim to be good and yet who do nothing? John the baptist warned, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matt. 3:10; John 15:2).
We are truly living in critically strategic times. The ship has left the dock, and we are sailing into a storm, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. If enough peaceful protests take place, perhaps we can reverse course and the violence that will surely come can be averted.
Examples of Biblical protests
Exodus 1:15-17New International Version (NIV)
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
Acts 16:19-21, 40-42 New International Version (NIV)
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
40 They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
1Kings 12:19
Another example of Biblical resistance, is when a God-ordained lower official joins with other officials and revolts against unlawful central government after a series of official protests. This is what Jeroboam did when Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, imposed harsh new taxes which may have taken the form of forced labor. Jeroboam created a new nation by seceding from the unified kingdom.
Matthew 2:9-12
There are other examples where the protester refuses to comply with the law and adopts the strategy of deception. The best examples of this in the Bible are the wise men failing to obey Herod’s command to bring him information on the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, at the time of the nativity.
1 Samuel 14:43-46
Another possible response to a command which breaches God’s law would be for a group of people, as a corporate assembly, to intervene and tell the ruler that he will not be allowed to implement the judgement arising from a bad law. The Israelites did this when Saul wanted to execute his own son, Jonathan, for having eaten honey during a battle.
God is the God of all reality and records numerous examples in the pages of Scripture showing lawful, righteous protests against civil, as well as other, authority. However, we seldom recognize the very real issue of civil disobedience inherent in each account. But if we open our eyes there are actually many examples of progressive steps of Biblical resistance.
America has been a grand experiment based upon Biblical principles. But this is all changing very rapidly. We must learn the lessons of history. We can either preserve our freedom and prosperity, or we can do nothing and become enslaved by unrighteous men. The choice is up to us.
The Declaration of Independence says when speaking of the violation of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: "Any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute New Government." This means that if a government starts doing things that destroy people's rights, rather than protecting their rights, it is their right to change that form of government, and to institute a new one that will protect their rights if necessary.
Amendment 1 to the U.S. Constitution says that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
When told of these American rights many preachers will say that's fine and dandy but the Bible, especially in Romans 13:1-7, tells us that we are not to speak out against or protest what our government does. Well then, what about Psalm 82:3-4 where the Bible tells us, " Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." And in Proverbs 31:8-9 the Bible tells us, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
So, if our government has given us permission to speak out or even protest the actions they take, and the Bible says it is our duty to speak up for and defend those who cannot do it for themselves, how are Christians in rebellion against our government or God when we speak out against or protest the 'bad' actions of our government if we do so peaceably and in a legal manner?
We must pray, we must protest, and some of us will choose to fight. Do it for the children. A righteous man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren. This is becoming impossible when we allow our politicians to place TRILLIONS of dollars of debt on the backs of future generations. This is horribly wrong and should be stopped. Christians need to speak out.
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by
weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by
discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by
pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by
inciting class hatred and class envy.
You cannot build character and courage by
taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for
them, what they could and should do for themselves."
- Abraham Lincoln
Much of the government's skyrocketing spending is on programs resulting from the societal effects of immoral behavior, i.e., welfare support to teen mothers as well as illegal aliens, research and treatment of over two dozen different sexually transmitted diseases, repaying the public losses resulting from both violent and white-collar crime, creation of substance abuse and drug enforcement programs, etc. Many expensive federal programs result from moral-based problems.
In 2010 the U.S. government spent $52 billion on welfare to teen mothers—mothers still attending either junior-high or high-school. The illegal alien population in 2110 was estimated at 11,900,000 and the welfare costs for these illegals was approximately $83 billion. The government spent billions on AIDS (according to the Center for Disease Control, 87 percent of the 244,939 current AIDS cases were contracted either through sodomy or illegal drug use, both moral problems). Millions upon millions were spent on the treatment of two-dozen different STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), a moral problem; $200 billion was lost to white-collar crime and $310 billion on violent crime, both of which are moral problems.
In addition to the direct costs, add the secondary and tertiary costs of our moral malaise: include the costs of the additional courts and staff needed to prosecute immoral behavior; include the costs of the additional prisons and staff required to house those violators; include the operating and maintenance costs of additional prisons and the costs of the increased bureaucracy it produces; include the resulting increases in the budgets of the Justice Department, the Health and Human Services Department, the Center for Disease Control, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and numerous other departments and agencies, etc.
The list could continue, but the principle is established: if the moral issues remain unaddressed and ignored, the economic costs will remain unbridled.
John Adams concluded that to change a government without addressing moral issues is an exercise in futility: “It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand … if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty” (June 21, 1776).
The apostle Paul often used his rights as a Roman citizen to work for his own protection and to help further the gospel. See Acts 22:24-29; 23:12-33; 25:10-12; 16:35-40; Esth. 7:1-6. Our own government gives its citizens the right to voice their views in several different ways. If Paul used his rights to protect himself and to speak out, can we not thereby help maintain our freedom to preach and practice the truth by voicing our view?
This IS Kingdom business. This is where the rubber meets the road and our Christian responsibilities gets real. It’s not just about singing songs and praying. This all has real life implications, and it’s getting more real every day.
Whether or not to address our Christian responsibilities is a choice that must be made by each individual and cannot be mandated by government. Way too much unrighteousness is found in every dollar that is spent and every law that is passed. If we are to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, how can we sit silently by and allow unrighteousness to go unchallenged, especially in a nation where freedom and individual liberty is celebrated as no other on the face of the earth?
“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” - Noah Webster
What can we do? First, one should take this question to God. Some will be called to run to the front lines of the battle, some will become 'armchair supporters' and help get the word out via the internet and other social media, and still others will be called to sit idly by and do nothing . Making our voices known on Facebook, blogs, Twitter, in our churches, neighborhoods, etc. is important.
Start a local communications network among those who understand. As the prophet Daniel said, “Those who have understanding will give understanding to many”. Keep the love of Jesus in the forefront in the midst of the battle and never violate the law of love. Demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in the midst of all protest, even when things get heated. Tell others about the Kingdom. Even most Christians don’t understand that it is the rule and reign of a loving God who wants all to be free and live prosperous, joyful lives.
It will take a thundering cry from the masses to turn this crazy train around. Will it take muskets to get the point across? Let’s pray not. But if this doesn’t turn around, history shows that it’s only a matter of time before all our freedoms will be gone..
A Prayer for Our Nation
Almighty God, you are our Mighty Fortress, our refuge and the God in whom we place our trust. As our nation faces great distress and uncertainty, we ask your Holy Spirit to fall afresh upon your people - convict us of sin and inflame within us a passion to pray for our land and its people. Grant the leaders of this country an awareness of their desperate need of wisdom and salvation in You so that righteousness will exalt this nation.
Protect and defend us against our enemies and may the cause of Christ always prevail in our schools, courts, homes, businesses and churches. Lord God, send a spirit of of responsibility and may it begin in our own hearts.
Remember America as we pray and do not forget us in our time of need. Help us to be united in our responsibility to defend those who cannot help themselves, and help us to be peaceable and legal in our manner of doing this.
In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.