Jesus Asked, ‘Where Is Your Faith?’
Did you know God gave the nation of Israel instruction for how they were to select their leaders? In Exodus 18:21, we read, “Moreover, you shall choose out of all the people capable men who fear God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and place these men over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
In like manner, Noah Webster, a leading Founder of the United States and a shaper of American culture, wrote: “In selecting men of office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect [party] of the candidate—look to his character. … It is alleged by men of loose principles or defective views of the subject that religion and morality are not necessary or important qualifications for stations. But the Scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should be men ‘who rule in the fear of God, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness.”
In January, I wrote the following: “Can we talk politics? There’s nothing good or bad about the Democrat Party or the Republican Party. They are empty, holding vessels; like-minded constituents are housed there. And yet I can say without hesitation that evangelicals and Pro-Life Catholic Christians are not housed in the Democrat Party. Democrats believe in abortion and same-sex marriage, and both are incompatible with biblical Christian behavior.”
If we are to resurrect a biblically based culture, our citizens must recognize that American Exceptionalism lies not in her military might or Gross Domestic Product, but only in the power of God. The fear of political correctness, and its seemingly insurmountable power, must be confronted so that Christians can regain the vision for an exceptional America and the promises of God.
How do we do this?
We do it with men and women who evidence a close relationship with God, who saturated their minds in His Word, and who understand the full nature of God must be brought to the public square.
In the past, believers steeped in Christian thought and biblical wisdom produced a virtuous and exceptional America by reproducing His character in her citizens.
The Bible was the most sacred treasure of America’s Founders. Fear of Jehovah was the starting point, the principal thing in gaining knowledge in Colonial America In his commentary on Proverbs 1:7, Bruce Waltke writes, “What the alphabet is to reading, notes to music and numerals to mathematics, the fear of the Lord is to attaining the revealed knowledge of this book.”*
Early American education centered on America’s youth, incorporating the character of God into their lives. Since virtue was an essential component of freedom, the Founder’s reasoned, depositing the Scripture deep into the soil of America was compulsory from generation to generation to ensure freedom and liberty.
America’s Founders believed that knowing Scripture was the most powerful weapon with which to fight the adversary, Satan, so they passed the first public education law in Massachusetts (1642). They called the “Old Deluder Satan Law,” and stated: “It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures.”
The attempt to remove the Scriptures from the public square is an age-old problem. And to our shame, after three centuries of attempts, the secularists of the U.S. Supreme Court accomplished this feat in 1963 with the removal of the Scriptures from public schools. In essence, this was the “disarmament” of America—America’s Founders would never have allowed that to happen.
To demonstrate how far America has drifted from the Founder’s model, Fisher Ames (a member of the First U. S. Congress) proposed the language of the First Amendment to the Constitution on August 20, 1789: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
One month later, September 20, 1789, Congressman Ames wrote in Palladium: “We have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education. We’re starting to put more and more textbooks into our schools…We’ve become accustomed of late of putting little books into the hands of children containing fables and moral lessons…We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principal text in our schools.”
Senior pastors in America’s churches must re-establish prayer and the Word if we are to survive.
The sweet psalmist of Israel penned lyrics about the Lord being the fortress in adversity for the righteous. “In You, O Lord, do I seek refuge; may I never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness” (Ps. 31:1). For those attempting to restore America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and re-establish a biblically based culture, we find solace and courage in David’s words. We will trust the Lord for the spiritual resurrection of America.
“How can the Lord permit the man to be ultimately put to shame who depends alone upon him? This would not be dealing like a God of truth and grace. It would bring dishonor upon God himself if faith were not in the end rewarded. It will be an ill day indeed for religion when trust in God brings no consolation and no assistance.”*
Jesus asked, “Where is your faith?”
We simply need a Gideon or Rahab to stand. {eoa}
*Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
