James Robison A Weekly Commentary
It is obvious for all with eyes to observe that when God and spiritual life decreases in importance, government expands its powerful, out-of-control attempt to be in total control and it expands rapidly. The less we hear God’s unadulterated Word, the duller our hearing.
The prophets said on numerous occasions in reference to the national population, “You have eyes but cannot see and you have ears but you cannot hear.” Faith fails when the Word which is necessary to open our ears to hear is not faithfully declared. The Word tunes our ears to hear clearly in the spiritual realm so that we can walk in the light of divine guidance. When we do not see and hear clearly, we will make very poor choices concerning those who serve and are chosen to lead. The population begins to believe lies and there is no more dangerous person than the deceiver who thinks he is telling the truth. Those who are deceived are most effective deceiving others. The prophet Jeremiah said to a nation facing similar problems as ours, “The Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.”
Without the wisdom that comes from God and His Word, we will not be able to discern truth and choose those with proven character to serve in both houses of Congress and in the White House. Keep in mind our representatives also choose the judges, cabinet members, and heads of bureaucratic agencies. Every election is important because those chosen to represent us set the course determining our future security and stability while also encouraging or encumbering the potential for success and prosperity.
While everyone may long for freedom at some level, history teaches us that people will often give up their freedom without a fight if they are promised security in return. This is a sucker’s bargain! As Benjamin Franklin said, “Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security.”
The election this year is critically important because of the heavy weight of our present-day challenges. There is, however, something even more important than the election and that is to grasp an understanding of necessary direction and corrections that must be made. Beginning with this election, if we don’t know the correct course, we will function like a mindless monstrosity. Church and national leaders along with all believers must lift up a reliable standard and seek to find those who recognize its value and importance. The standard must be consistent with biblical and historically-proven principles. When we elect those that we believe to be committed to the right standard, we the people must then hold those representatives to the standard or remove them as quickly as possible.
As God becomes smaller and our all-consuming government grows larger, you will also observe the smaller others become, the less important they seem to be, the less noticed and less effectively assisted. Meaningful assistance is the result of personal attention, interaction and legitimate concern. When government and its bureaucratic agencies or institutions become the so-called “safety net,” little, if any, effective help results. Without what I refer to as the “compassion connection,” there will be no necessary inspiration or encouragement to improve. Without personal interaction, the importance of assuming responsibility and the proper oversight requiring accountability will always be missing. Through many federal programs we are actually contributing to a sense of insignificance and dependence upon the government rather than independence and the drive to achieve. Jesus did say, “To whom much is given, much is required,” but He never said we are required to give it to the government and yet we foolishly continue to tolerate this mindless practice. National leaders continually appeal to our legitimate concern to justify policies that always fail and cannot be sustained.
Private sector, local community, church and non-government organizations will consistently prove more effective assisting the poor. When government becomes involved supporting programs that do function efficiently, one of the first things they do is demand that references to God be stopped along with faith, prayer, and religious expressions. As a result, government immediately eliminates the main reason the program is successful. God, faith, prayer, love, and compassion are responsible for the transforming effect.
People have become less interested and involved in the plight of the poor here in America because it is now fully under the government’s so-called “safety net.” There is growing resentment on the part of the American people because the government keeps taking more money from those who pay the taxes to support proven-to-fail policies and programs. The government keeps demanding more while blaming those who pay the most to help provide assistance for the poor as being the cause of poverty. There will be no success until the public, private, local, and national representatives learn how to effectively work together. Government is not the answer; it is often the biggest problem. The fact is we do need God to help direct how we address any serious problem as well as the needs of others. Mother Teresa said, “Help one person at a time. Start with the person nearest you.”
We should pray that the poor will have their needs met and that poverty will diminish; and we should follow our prayers with action and establish many compassion connections. If we want our prayers to be answered, we must move beyond vague and even misguided generalizations and consider how poverty is normally alleviated in the world God created which has been adversely affected by sin. The proven course of action will always be to become fruitful, productive, more prosperous, and generous. James, the half-brother of Jesus, said, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Substituting ineffective government programs for godly living will always prove damaging to every citizen. Government will properly serve or will seductively enslave our population. More often than solving our problems, it adds to them.
However one interprets the Apostle John’s Revelation, it is undeniable that the Bible ends with a horrific portrayal of a state dominating vast multitudes of people. In the 20th century, more than 100 million people were murdered by their own government, and that was just in communist countries. History and scripture agree: because of sin, governments with too much power are the worst propagators of evil and destruction known to man. As long as I live, I will stand against any power presented as or perceived to be a substitute for what God alone can do through those committed to His Kingdom purpose. Government power will always increase as God’s power manifested through the lives of believers diminishes. We the people must join together lifting up the standard pointing to the direction necessary to bring our government under control with appropriate limited power. Founder James Madison shared, “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
As believers, we must freely release the power of God’s love in action. Remember, the Apostle Paul said, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” “Help one person at a time. Start with the person nearest you.”
