Jesus had to be the most un-politically correct person to ever walk the earth, and the more we become like Him, the more we will be too. He did not fear men. He was not running for office or seeking to win a popularity contest. He came simply to tell us the truth.
Politics is built on human alliances and humanly devised methods and strategies. These can be good and effective, but they can never measure up to obedience to God. Politics now dominates the church in America, and true spiritual leadership that is based on following The Lord is rare. The religious spirit has more influence than The Holy Spirit in most of the church today. The counterfeit authority of manipulation, control, and hype are substituted for the true spiritual authority that comes from abiding in The King.
Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10 that if he was still seeking to please men he would not be a bondservant of Christ. There is nothing more corrupting of true authority than the fear of man, being a respecter of persons, or what we today call politics. This is a primary reason why the church can now be the last place that we can find God, and why the government can be the last place that we find wisdom.
What can we expect from our leaders in the church when we have made hirelings out of them—being more dependent on men than God? This modern model for ministry is a perversion of what the ministry is called to be. Likewise, our Republic was not designed to be run by professional politicians, but rather by servant leaders who go to congress like one goes to jury duty. In the beginning, there were few benefits to serving in government. One did it for their country at great sacrifice.
Both professional politicians and professional ministers are two species that need to be extinct. They will be when real leaders and true ministers emerge. Obviously, this calls for radical change in both the church and the government. Neither will survive much longer without such radical change.
So how do we do this? The first step is simple, although this does not mean it is easy. We must go back to our founding documents—The Bible and the Constitution. Then we must resolve to comply with and defend them against those who would bend or dilute them.
The Supreme Court is not the supreme law of the land—the Constitution is. Many Supreme Court decisions are contrary to the Constitution. Possibly no other entity is more responsible than the Supreme Court for the severing of our government’s ties to the Constitution.
A best case scenario would be if the Supreme Court realized its departure from the Constitution, began to own the discord this caused in the country, and then initiated the necessary corrections. This would begin to quickly diffuse much of the discord in our country, help restore the Constitution’s authority, and restore respect for government. This action would have many consequences in our country, virtually all of them good. It would likely raise the stature and make heroes out of the Supreme Court, instead of the goat it will become if it does not do this.
This could also go a long way to restoring justice in the country, which requires the non-political nature of the judicial. It would likewise force the other branches of government to examine their own deviation from the Constitution and correct it. This would be a best case scenario—to have the branch of government most responsible for the great threats to our continued existence as a republic wake up and take action to reverse them. That is my prayer. If only one or two justices awoke to this and stood up to defend the Constitution as they swore to do, it could ignite a movement that gets this done.
The next best case scenario would be for the legislative branch to awaken to its Constitutional authority and responsibility and rein in the judicial and executive branches from their overreach, as they were given the authority to do. They were the only branch of government given the power of impeachment and the purse to do this. Of course, the legislative branch has its own sins to repent of, but this would certainly turn around their present single digit approval rating and help restore faith in the government. This will take extraordinary leadership with extraordinary courage, but extraordinary leadership is from God when it comes, and nothing is impossible for Him. We must appeal to Him.
The next best case scenario would be for a President to grasp the departure we have made from the Constitution, and for him or her to use the exceptional power of that office’s “bully pulpit” to give a clear trumpet call for the repentance and restoration needed.
The illumination of how far our government has deviated from our Constitutional moorings is coming, it is certain and the reform is coming. How hard and how costly the struggle is to do this depends on us. In Psalm 115:16 we are told, “The heavens are the heavens of The Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” This is why The Lord will not do things on the earth until we pray. He delegated authority over the earth to men, and “the gifts and callings of God are without repentance” (see Romans 11:29)—He does not take them back. This is why Jesus represented Himself as “the Son of man.”
Those who illuminate it, initiate it, and follow through on getting it done for our government will deserve to be esteemed as a new generation of Founders. That will be a great honor. As we see in Isaiah 58, it will be one of the great honors to be “a repairer of the breech, a restorer of the streets in which to dwell” (see Isaiah 58:12). To be this for our civil government will be an honor for the ages, but how much more so will it be to have been a restorer of the house of The Lord?
