05/13/10 THE CHURCH GOES FORTH TO BATTLE
Sometimes people say that preachers ought not to address the problems of government or politics. I responded to that with the following comment.
Somebody should have complained about preachers addressing political issues concerning Abraham, Lot, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, all of the Judges, all of the Prophets, all of the Kings (especially David and Solomon), John the Baptist, Jesus, Matthew, John, Peter, James, Luke, Paul and others. They will have to rip entire books from the Bible.
The greatest advancements in history (governmental, educational, medical, economic, social and moral) have come about as a result of preachers attacking the ills of wicked government and calling society to the advantages of the gospel, as with Chrysostom, Fox, Tyndale, Knox, Penn, E Fry, Woolman, Wilberforce, Wesley, Edwards, Moody, Finny, Livingston and a host of other preachers that have shaped nations by their fiery message. There would be no free world today had men of God avoided the subject of government. Maybe there would be no world today if preachers had been silent in the face of oppression. Imagine a world left to the godless tyrants.
The problem is not that preachers address the ills of government, the problem is that preachers have bought into the lie that the gospel does not have anything to say or the right to say anything about the sins of government.
There is no Holy Bible if you eliminate that aspect. There is not Savior if you make government beyond the reach of God and His message.
The greatest country in the history of the world came into existence because of the standards lifted up by the preaching of the word of God and speaking against the tyrants in government.
If people want a nation that is not addressed by Bible preachers, maybe they should move to North Korea, Saudi Arabia or China to name a few. Oh, wait a minute, don't move, it is coming to a neighborhood near you, because there have been too few preachers in our own country, who have preached the truth concerning the sins of our government.
I Further Said...
John, just like you, I want people to like me, even love me, but just like you, I am not in a popularity contest, I am a messenger with a message that cannot be changed.
Jesus was killed by the government (both Jewish and Roman), because they perceived His message to be a threat to the political status quo and secular orientation of the State. Peter, Paul and the other apostles were persecuted by the government and executed by the government, because they preached the KINGDOM OF GOD.
While His Kingdom is not of this world, we are His ambassadors, and we are lights in a dark world. Believers have always found themselves in conflict with wickedness in high places, including the seats of national authority.
It is costly to hold high the standard, but it is more costly not to hold it high.
