I’d like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Prov. 28:12. Last week we were in Deut. 28 and I brought you a message titled “The Benefits of Principled Living.” We saw that principles are divine in origin – principles don’t come into existence by a majority vote, and you can’t rescind them if you get enough signatures on a ballot. God created this universe with certain principle designed to govern it (economic, political, agricultural, spiritual, social, familial, civil, biological, physical), and to the extent we follow those principles, we will benefit from them. But the converse of that is true as well. To the extent we violate God’s principles, we will suffer.
I then gave you an extended illustration of how we see this being played out on a daily basis in our country in the abortion breast cancer connection. The reason there is a connection between abortion and breast cancer is because abortion violates one of the principles that God established to rule His universe, and that is human life is precious. How many of you knew that human life is so precious that even animals that kill a human are under the death penalty? Read Gen. 9:1-6 this afternoon and see if that isn’t what God is saying. The reason human life is precious is because humans are created in the image of God. That fetus bears the image of God, and to terminate the life of the fetus is tantamount to an attack on God Himself – and God doesn’t take that lightly. The message of Deut. 28 is that to the extent we violate God’s principles, we will suffer, and to the extent we honor God’s principles, we will be blessed.
Now before we leave this and get into today’s message, there are two very important clarifications I need to make. First of all, I don’t want anyone to make the logical mistake that every woman you know who has had breast cancer has also had an abortion. There is a connection, but there is not a one-to-one correlation. For instance, do we know that there is a connection between driving while intoxicated and wrecking your car? Yes. There is irrefutable evidence that if you drive while intoxicated there is a higher incidence of accidents. But do we immediately assume that everyone who has a car wreck was intoxicated? Not at all. There is an connection, but there is not a one-to-one correlation. That is the way I want you to view this abortion breast cancer link.
The second clarification is that as terrible and brutal as abortion is, God’s mercy is infinitely larger and more capable for forgiveness and restoration. This is the thrust of Paul’s teaching in Rom. 5:20 when he says, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Do you see the proportionate nature of God’s grace? God’s grace is always more than enough to meet the need. What that means is that there is no sin beyond God’s capacity for forgiveness. The Bible teaches that “if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This verse teaches that God’s forgiveness is tied to two of his attributes, his faithfulness and justice. The faithfulness makes sense to us, but we don’t often think about forgiveness and justice in the same thought, do we? What do we usually equate justice with? Punishment, right. But this verse equates justice with forgiveness. In other words, if we were to confess a sin, and God refused to forgive us, He would be an unjust God. Well, abortion is one of the sins that this verse covers. So if abortion is a part of you past, there is a message of forgiveness and hope and healing in Christ.
So with that introduction to the concept and importance of God’s principles, I want us to turn our attention now to a series of principles that affect the Christian citizen. Remember, the theme of this series is the role of the follower of Christ in the political process. If you want to know what your role is, you have to know first of all what is important in the big scheme of things. In other words, you have to know what principles are at stake in the political process.
If you want to know how to safely navigate the political process, you have to know first of all what is really important in the big scheme of things.
If you want to have a positive impact on the political process, you have to know first of all what is really important in the big scheme of things.
If you want to know which candidate is going to serve your interests the best, you have to know what he believes about the issues that are really important.
So what I want to do this morning and next Sunday as well is share with you a series of principles that have tremendous bearing on our country. The first one is found in Prov. 28:12, and I’m calling it the principle of righteous leadership.
I. The Principle of Righteous Leadership – Prov. 28:12, 29:2
“When the righteous (צַדִּיק - not “born again,” but just, or ethical in conduct and character) triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.”
“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, people groan.”
This is a principle that obviously has tremendous ramifications for our political situation, and when it is violated, the consequences are devastating. How many of you are familiar with the term “brain drain?” Brain drain is the term given to large-scale immigration of individuals who are academically, artistically, and technologically skilled. Brain drain is almost invariably the outworking of Prov. 28:12 – “when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.” Out of hundreds of possible illustrations, think for a moment about Ethiopia and some of the other African countries. Conservatively speaking, brain drain has cost the African continent over $4 billion a year! This is due to the flight of over 150,000 professionals, and the revenue they generate, annually. Ethiopia lost 75 per cent of its skilled workforce between 1980 and 1991. Guess why? Because of the rise of Communism under Mengistu. Hundreds of thousands of people were murdered without trial in the red terror, and all who could fled the country. This is why there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago today than there are in Ethiopia. “When the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.”
What does this principle (the principle of righteous leadership) mean for you and me as Christian citizens? It means we have a vested interest in the character of our elected officials. From our town officials, to our county officials, to our state officials, to our national officials, character counts! If there is a person running for office who is a local businessman, we need to investigate how he runs his business because how he runs his business is going to be how he runs his agency. We need to investigate his fidelity to his spouse because his fidelity or infidelity will be replicated in his political office. If he won’t honor commitments made to his spouse, do you think he will suddenly start honoring commitments made to his constituency? Character and ethical conduct are huge! You cannot separate political skill from personal character.
This principle is why it is right for people to be adamantly opposed to people like JFK, and Bill Clinton, and Eliot Spitzer serving as elected officials. And by the way, I think there is a difference between a man who succumbs to temptation and falls, but then confesses, repents, makes restitution and gets on with his life; and the man who is chronically unfaithful and lies and deceives and diminishes his guilt. But character is inextricably bound to political skill.
Most people know Samuel Adams only as a beer label, but listen to this quote: “Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt [this is last week’s principle – “the way of the transgressor is hard”. If you have a nation full of corrupt people, their lives will be difficult no matter how many wise laws and constitutions are passed.] He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.” Let me repeat that so it sticks in our minds. “He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.”
This sentiment was tenaciously held to by our founding fathers. They understood the principle of righteous leadership. They knew, based on their understanding of European and world history, that “when the wicked rule, men groan and go into hiding.” This is why they were adamant that men of noble character served in public office. For instance, they deliberately kept the salary of elected official very low so that greedy men would not be attracted to office. Greed is a character issue and our founding fathers believed that character was important. This is why George Washington refused a salary when he was the president – even though his plantation had been basically destroyed in the war and had not been built back to full production. He also refused a salary while serving as Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces during the Revolutionary War. This was the attitude of our country’s early public servants which is why our nation thrived under their leadership. “When the righteous triumph, there is great rejoicing, but when the wicked come to power, men go into hiding.”
Before I give you a series of practical steps to take in relation to this principle, let’s look at one more passage in Proverbs. Turn back one chapter to chapter 28 and look with me at verses 15 and 16. “Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.[How many historical illustrations could we come up with that demonstrate this truth?] A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding [this is a message all elected officials need to hear], but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days [cf. G. Washington not wanting to serve a second or third term].”
If you want to read a biblical example of how this works, read 2 Chron. 10:1-10 this afternoon. This is the account where King Rehoboam, upon ascending the throne of his father Solomon, rejected the advice of his elders and followed the advice of the young men he grew up with, and look at the consequences of his foolishness. He was a “great oppressor” [“my father disciplined you with whips, I will discipline you with scorpions”] which showed his “lack of understanding.” Rehoboam rejected sound principles because he was not a principled man, and he paid a high price for his foolishness.
What this means for you and me as citizens of the greatest nation this world has known, is that we have a huge privilege in being able to elect our leaders. We don’t live in a monarch like Israel did – we have a voice in who rules us. We don’t have a dictator who seized the Oval Office by armed revolution – we have a voice in who rules us. So let’s not forget this principle of righteous leadership.
Here are the three action steps we need to take if we are going to apply the principle we have studied this morning. Step #1 – get registered to vote if you aren’t already. How many of you heard the statistic Jason McGuire told us two weeks ago about church voting records? He said that in the last election, only 50% of the people in the church were registered to vote. That ain’t right! Or as my Southern friends say it, “dat’s just wroang.” Only half of all church members are registered to vote. It is a privilege to have a voice in the election of our officials, but if you aren’t registered, you have no say.
The second action step is to actually vote. Jason also told us that only half of the registered voters in the church actually voted! Again, that ain’t right! What that means is that out of all the possible voters in the church, only 25% of them actually made the effort to go out and vote in the last election. How can we have ethical, just rulers if only 25% of the church is voting? Again, it is a privilege to have a voice in the election of our officials, but if you aren’t actually going to the polls, you have no say.
The final step is to get to know the character of the candidates. Out of the three action steps, this one is the hardest. It isn’t hard work to get registered. It isn’t hard work to get out on election day, but it does take some effort to know the character of the candidates. The good news though is that there are lots of resources available that make the work easier. Voting records are online. You can just scan down the list of bills up for vote, see how they voted, and then draw conclusions about their character based on their voting record. There are organizations that are dedicated to voter education. And perhaps most importantly for us Christians, there are Christian Political Action Committees committed to educating Christian voters about where the various candidates stand. Next week I’ll try to have some links printed in the bulletin to show you where to go for information.
So, what is the role of the follower of Christ in the political process? His first role involves the principle of righteous leadership. “When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.” What are you doing as a follower of Christ to bring righteous leadership to our town, state, and country?
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