The Search For Political Salvation

Josiah was a righteous king who followed soon after his grandfather, Manasseh, one of the most abominable kings in history. Manasseh sounds very familiar to us today. He instituted child sacrifice as a religious practice for the nation (2 Kings 21: 11-16). He set up occult idols in the Temple in the name of God. He promoted all sorts of evil in the name of political expediency. If we were to compare him to current leadership in our nation, we find the same practices: abortion in the name of personal liberty; homosexuality in the name of Christian charity; and moral compromise in the name of political expediency. And like a Temple full of idols, much of the Church in the United States is so badly compromised that it does not stand against these political and moral misrepresentations of the will of God. Church leaders embrace and endorse perversion in the name of Christ, and the people are willing to ignore moral issues and vote for selfish, personal gain. There is a vocal minority that, like a remnant, raises issues of conscience, but they are safely outnumbered by a complacent majority. And so, Manasseh’s policies continue to direct the course of the nation.As the 1996 presidential election (USA) approaches, the remnant Church is tempted to place its hopes once again in the political process, capitalizing on perceived gains of the 1994. The hope is that with a conservative Congress and a conservative President, the moral agenda of the nation might once again be addressed. Laws could be passed that restrict abortion, reign in the Supreme Court, reverse the gains of the homosexual lobby, and lessen the burden of taxation on the family. This hope is for a restoration of righteousness in the country through the means of the political process. Unfortunately, conservatives and liberals alike have fallen for the same deception, believing that government can save the nation.In the 1960’s, liberals sought to institute a Great Society. Through government programs which redistributed wealth they hoped to end poverty and racism. Through busing and education they hoped to end discrimination. The problem the liberals encountered with their dreams of utopia is that government could not, by passing laws or social engineering, change the heart of humanity. Racism still exists in the human soul, and no amount of government finger wagging can remove it. The Great Society did not end poverty, and increased taxation only indebted the rest of the populace. The idea that our government could save the nation through huge federal spending programs seemed to be rejected as a naive and failed hope with the conservative backlash of 1992.

Now, however, conservative Christians seem to be pinning their hopes to the same false expectation: that the nation’s problems can be solved by a return to moral government through federal legislation. The thought is, “If we can just elect some moral leaders, we can solve this nation’s problems.” But we should learn a lesson from Josiah’s reign. Although he was the most righteous king who ever lived in Judah, his reforms canada were imposed upon the people from the top down. Rather than an expression of the majority of the populace, his reforms were actually welcomed only by a small, a truly devoted remnant. The hearts of the people were not challenged nor convinced by the change of leadership. They merely endured the change of kings and governments with disinterest. And as soon as Josiah died, the nation reverted to its former practices, and the gains he achieved were quickly lost.

The danger conservative Christians face is that even though they may elect a majority for a season, the laws and reforms they put in place will not last if they are not also the reflection of the will of the people. Instead, they will quickly see a backlash that reverses any gains they make. These gains will be especially vulnerable if conservative economic reforms fail to create a general prosperity. Indeed, the Republican majority in Congress already seems to be threatened by their failure to win the hearts of the populace with a conservative economic message . A reaction against a left wing, Democratic excess is not the same thing as endorsement of the moral and economic agenda of the Conservative Right. The gains so far achieved are tenuous at best. The lesson of history is simple. If the remnant Church wants to see a long lasting gain in a restoration of righteousness in the nation, it must do much more than seek a change in the political arena or merely seek the passage of new laws. A top down imposition of legalisms will do no more than create a resentment in the populace – a resentment that will result in an even greater backlash. As liberal laws failed to end racism in the human heart, so conservative laws will fail to change hearts committed to abortion and homsexual rights. Any long lasting gain is dependent upon a revival that changes the hearts of the vast majority of the American people, so that they desire righteousness. Then the laws that are passed become a reflection of the will of the majority and they are easily sustained for generations.
The Church has, by and large, failed its calling and so it seeks a remedy in a substitute savior: politics. Instead of going to God, who is surely able to deliver, it is falling prey to the same deception of liberalism: salvation by government program. Yet there is a promise in scripture that if the Church in America will repent of its complacency and self indulgence and seek the face of God and pray, then God will deliver the land in which his people dwell:

“…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, RSV).

If the Church will do what it is supposed to do, then God will send revival and the character of the nation will conform to the righteous will of God. Passing just laws will be easy, and the rejection of sin will be common place. Not only will sin be illegal, but it will become so socially unacceptable, that the threatened ostracism of the community will do far more to maintain righteous behavior in the people than the passsage of any laws. It is so important then, that the Church seeks its salvation in the only One who can deliver, Jesus Christ. And whatever gains its works for in the temporal arena, the Church should recognize that politics is, at best, only a means that can be used well if all the other requirements for revival are met.