Pastor Matt: Hello. I’m Matt Sturdevant, Lead Pastor of Hope Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Today we’re starting a brand new series. A series called Understanding the Times, as we try to make sense of the world that we’re living in right now. I mentioned several times recently that I grew up in Southern California, but I moved to Texas about 19 years ago. I have been a proud Texan ever since that point. One of the things that I realized when I moved here is that there are some unwritten rules. There are some things that you just don’t do here in Texas. For example, you don’t say to someone that you see on the street, “Where are your boots and your cowboy hat?” You also shouldn’t ask, “Why do you not mess with Texas?” Probably one of the most important things that I learned as I was becoming a Texan is you don’t invite someone to come over for barbecue if what you mean to say is that you want to grill hot dogs and hamburgers. Barbecue in California means hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s very important that you make the distinction here in Texas.
There also seems to be a universal truth that seems to apply, not just to Texas, but everywhere. There are just two things you don’t talk about in polite company. Those two things are, you probably guessed it, religion and politics. Well, with our new series, that’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to break all the rules. We’re going to talk about both religion and politics. Before you get up and leave or turn off this online service, you probably aren’t surprised by the fact that we’re going to talk about religion. After all, you tuned in to an online church service. Maybe you’ll be a little surprised or even shocked to learn that we’re going to talk about politics and government because frankly, we just don’t do that. We especially don’t do that at church.
I want to remind you of a pie that I showed you earlier this summer in one of my messages. It’s called the Lordship Pie. It looks like this. With the Lordship Pie, you can see that Jesus is at the center of our life. He touches all the different areas of our life—church, school, community, recreation, money, family, our career. Then, there’s an etc. box. The truth is that politics and government are actually slices of that pie. You could put them in the etc. slice there. They all come under Christ’s Lordship. I want to help you become informed about the guidance God gives us as followers of Christ on how we should be thinking regarding the subjects. What does God’s Word have to say about government and politics?
First, I want you to know that here at Hope Church we’re coming at this from the angle that the Bible is God’s Word. In fact, I heard it said once that if you want to hear God speak all you have to simply do is read the Bible out loud. Then, you’ve heard Him speak. For the next three weeks, we’re going to explore what the Bible has to say about religion and politics. More specifically, we’re going to take a look at how we should be informed and what the Bible has to say about our views when it comes to politics and government. For the purpose of this series, I’m going to be using a broad definition of politics. I’m using politics to mean “how groups of humans organize their affairs.”
Would you bow with me in prayer as we begin this series? I want to ask the Lord’s help, and then I want to share several verses with you that I think help frame our understanding of the times. Let’s pray. Father, You are the Sovereign Creator of the universe, and You are Lord of everything. As Creator, You rule everything. You possess all the wisdom, all the insight, all the knowledge that’s needed to properly understand the times that we’re currently living in. I ask, in the name of Jesus, that You would open our hearts, that You would open our minds, and that You would speak to us from Your Word. Holy Spirit, please guide our discussion on these matters today and for the rest of the series. You are the Spirit of Truth who guides us into Truth, and I ask that You would do that now. It’s in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Well, let’s open up God’s Word and take a look at several passages. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself… They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Presently, we are living in some times that are hard to understand. On one hand, it makes perfect sense regarding what we just read in God’s Word. I want to tell you my goals for this series. As a church as followers of Christ, we need to talk about the major issues that are going on in the world around us, issues that I know you have questions about already. Especially as we lead up to this November, this election that’s going to happen is probably one of the most important elections in our lifetime. Now, I know we say that about every election because they keep getting more and more important. Things that will be decided during this election and years to come after it will have a major impact on life as we know it here in this country. I want to remind you that our walk with Jesus is a walk by faith. It’s a walk that’s intended to inform and impact every area of our lives, including government and politics. I want to help equip you to walk forward in faith, not in fear, during these uncertain and strange times that we live in. I also want to give you several resources, some practical tools and things you can actually do in the middle of these times when it seems like there’s so much that we can’t do.
Those are my goals, but I want to tell you why. Why are we spending three weeks to understand the times? Well, basically this is it: We are at war. Yes, I said it. We are at war. There is a cosmic, spiritual battle, spiritual war that’s going on all around us. This is a battle, a war, between good and evil; a battle, a war, between God and Satan. We are in this world, and for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ, we are followers of Him. And, we are at war, but here’s the thing. For those who do not follow Jesus, they’re actually prisoners of this war. They are captive by the enemy, and they are under his rule and his control. They are doing what makes sense to them, given their worldview, given their perspective, given the things that the enemy going on in this world. Things we looked at in those verses just a few minutes ago. As followers of Jesus Christ, we actually have a role to play in this war. In fact, last week I gave several examples of illustrations of what the church is life. We are the people of God, but one of the illustrations is that we’re like an army at war. Therefore, we are soldiers, and we have roles to play. We have things to do in the middle of this great war.
We are in this world but not of the world, but we are still in the world. As long as we’re in this world, we have a role to play. There are things that we can do. In fact throughout history, it’s interesting that God has placed His people in certain times and places so that they can influence the world around them for good. They can influence the world around them and show the things that are good and true and right, the things that actually line up with God’s ways. Proverbs 11:11 says, “By the blessing [of the influence] of the upright the city is exalted. But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.” Those of us who are followers of Jesus can use our influence to bless the city. One of the best examples of God’s people making an impact in the world around them in the time and place that they live in is Queen Esther in Persia.
Esther was a Jewish girl living in Persia. She found favor with the king and became the queen. She had knowledge of a plot that was meant to destroy her people and destroy all of the Jews living in the land. Mordecai says to Esther in Esther 4:14. He says, “...And who knows whether you have not come to this kingdom for such a time as this?” God, the Creator of the universe, has determined that you and I live right now in 2020, not some other time in history but right now in the year 2020. I believe that He has you and I here for such a time as this. For those of us who are followers of the Lord Jesus, He has us here in this time and in this place to use our influence for good, for the good of society, to hold up what is right and true, to hold up God’s ways in our country. That’s why we’re doing this series.
I know that many of you have been a part of one of the Walk Thru the Bible events that we’ve done over the years here at Hope Church. If you’re familiar with the Walk Thru the Bible events, you know we don’t dig deep into every single thing there is because the Bible is a large book. Instead, we sort of “water ski” across the surface looking at the major people, places, and events. We never scuba dive down to the depths and really discover the deep insights that we could find. Well, this series is going to be a lot like that. There’s so much to cover when it comes to government and politics, and we’re just not going to be able to talk about every single thing that you may want to talk about and even that I want to talk about. In fact, what you’re going to hear on Sunday mornings some of you are going to hear more than enough for your taste. You’re going to say, “That’s great. That’s enough. Thank you.” Others of you are going to wish that I would go a lot deeper and a lot further than I simply have time for in our Sunday morning services.
One of the things I’m going to do is I’m going to give you lots of resources. In your handout, you’re going to find lots of resources and links, books, websites, articles, you name it. Resources you can use to dig further into the things that we’re going to be talking about. As we get started today and start talking about some difficult topics, topics that I don’t expect that we all have complete agreement on, I want you to know the angle of approach that I’m taking with this series. Actually, this is the same angle of approach that I take with every series. We just don’t take the time to talk about it every Sunday or at the beginning of every series. As we do with this important series, I want you to know the angle I’m coming at. Here’s the approach to this series. You’ll find it at the top of your handout.
Our approach is that the Bible is God’s Word to us. God doesn’t think like we do. Humanity's underlying problem is sin. Forgiveness, redemption, and purpose are found only in Jesus Christ. This world that we live in is both a physical and spiritual world. That’s the approach that we’re going to be taking with this series. I’ve listed some Scriptures in your handout if you want to go a little further on that. I know that everyone watching today doesn’t think, act, vote, or even have the same position on every issue. That’s really okay with me. As your pastor, I want to help you understand God’s Word, to live it out the best you can in all areas of your life. That includes government and politics. I want to help you as you interact with these issues that we’re facing today in our nation and we’re facing in the world around us. Here’s the thing. Each and every one of us will stand before the Lord, and we will give an account for our actions, for our decisions, for even the words that we’ve spoken.
In your handout and for the rest of the series, I’m giving you a lot of Scripture references. In fact, I’ve given you way more than what we have time to look at in our time together today. I want to encourage you to take some time to read and study. Ask questions. Write down questions you have, and come to your own conclusions based on what the Bible says. I want to encourage you to let the BIble guide your thoughts through this process. Don’t rely on your own internal opinion or what you see on social media or even the news. I want to encourage you and invite you to really pray and ask God to give you understanding of the times in these important matters but give you understanding of the times from His perspective.
For me personally over the years as I’ve studied the Bible, I’ve had to change a lot of my perspectives and a lot of my ideas. I want you to actually take time to understand the times, to understand the issues, from the approach that the Bible takes. Understand from God’s Word and then, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to align your thoughts and your conclusions and your actions on what most closely aligns with what God says in His Word, not just what you think or what you feel or what you heard a friend say in the past, even if those things that align most closely with God’s Word are uncool or unpopular in our culture today.
This week, we’re going to be taking a look at more broadly the topics of truth and history. Then next week, we’re going to narrow our focus down a little bit more, but today, this will really set up our discussion for the entire series. To understand the times, we must realize that followers of Jesus are in a spiritual battle. In fact, I already mentioned this earlier and why we’re doing this series. The fact that we, as followers of Jesus, have to know that we are in a war; this isn’t a war that we went down and decided to enlist in. This is a war we were drafted into when we were born. When we were born, before we knew Jesus, we were a prisoner of war. But, we’ve actually been freed. We are part of helping the rest of the world be freed as we share the gospel, those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. This is a real war, a spiritual war that we are in. Just by virtue of the fact that you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re in the war.
In fact, Revelation 12:17 talking about Satan, our enemy, says this. It says he “...went off to make war on...those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus…” We’re at war, but let me jump way ahead to the end. The end is we’re on the winning side, and we know that from John 3:8. It says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil.” What Jesus did on the cross destroyed the works of the devil, and now we’re in this time period where God will wrap up time and history. Jesus will return, and it will be the end of all things. Between when Jesus died on the cross and when He comes back, we’re in this time period where we as followers of Jesus have an opportunity to share the gospel with others but also to make an impact and influence the world around us. We’re on the winning side as Christians, but until the world wraps up, we’re in a spiritual battle.
A part of this battle is a battle of worldviews. Let me give you a quick side note here. This is probably the first place for those of you who want to dig into the details that you’re going to be disappointed because again we’re skimming across the surface here. I’m not going to go very deep into worldviews. Basically, what is a worldview? A worldview is basically the glasses that we wear to interpret the world around us. Everyone has a worldview regardless of if they realize they have it. They have a worldview. You can read some of the different experts, and they have their own definitions. Basically, they all agree upon the fact that a worldview helps us answer six to ten of the really big questions out there. Questions like: What’s the purpose of life? That’s kind of a big question. Right? Well, your worldview helps you answer that question. How do we know right from wrong? For the purpose of our discussion, we can think of a worldview as the glasses that we look at, and we look at everything through those pairs of glasses.
Also, worldview in one way or another really answers key questions. That is, what’s wrong with this world? Then, how do we fix it? In fact, when I shared the angle of approach that I’m taking with this series, the thing listed there at the top of your handout, the thing I shared with you a moment ago is consistent with a Biblical worldview. It’s not everything, but it’s consistent with a Biblical worldview. In addition to the battlefield of worldviews, we’re also in a battle for Truth. We saw the first shots of this battle fired way back in the Garden, way back in Genesis chapter 3 when the serpent told the first lie. In Genesis 3:1, he calls into question. He says, “...did God actually say…” Then just a little bit later in verse four, Genesis 3:4, he says, “You will not surely die.” The serpent directly contradicted what God said. This battle for Truth started in the Garden and has been going on throughout time. It’s the same battle we are in today in the year 2020. Postmodernism, which is another worldview, says that there are basically no objective truths, and there are no moral standards. Reality is ultimately a human, social construction.
This battle for a worldview leads us to the second thing that we realize, and that is that Truth exists and it conforms to reality. We’re currently living in a society right now that is confused. They’re confused about one of the most basic things that there is, and this is “What is Truth?” In fact a few years ago, the Oxford word of the year was “post-truth.” I want to paraphrase Abdu Murray, who works with the Ravi Zachariah’s International Ministries. He talks about post-truth, and he basically says that here’s what post-truth is. It’s elevating feelings and preferences above facts and truth. It doesn’t say that facts and truth don’t exist, but we simply elevate our preferences and our feelings above the facts and truth. As long as our preferences and our feelings line up and agree with the facts and truth, then that’s great. We will use facts and truth. The moment that our opinions, that our preferences, don’t line up with facts and truth, then we just sort of do away with them. We put them, as he says, on the bottom shelf, and we go with our feelings and our preferences and opinions over what the facts present themselves to be.
I want to ask you. Does that sound kind of familiar? I read Romans 1:18-32 when we started, and I want to invite you to go back after you finish watching this. Go back and re-read Romans 1:18-32 and think about this concept of post-truth. Truth conforms to reality, and reality is the way the world actually is. Reality is what actually happened, so I either have on a blue shirt or I don’t. Truth matches reality. Jesus, when he was on trial just before He was crucified, said this. He said, “...For this purpose, I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Truth actually does exist, and it conforms to reality, the way things really are. So if something is being presented that doesn’t match up with reality, it needs to be questioned. We’ve got to question it because it may not be true. If someone told you that I have a pink shirt on right now and I really have a blue shirt on, you need to question that because it’s not true that I have a pink shirt on. You could say that Truth is the way things really are, the way things really work, according to the way God has set up reality.
The devil has been telling humans this lie ever since the Garden. He has been telling us lies, and he doesn’t want us to know the Truth. Do you want to know why he doesn’t want us to know the Truth? Listen to what Jesus, who is Truth, said. In John 8:31-32, He says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It’s as we decide to follow Jesus that we experience freedom like none other. Here’s a truth for you. Ideas have consequences. Without Truth, there’s no lies. Without Truth, law just becomes arbitrary. It’s not connected in any way to reality. In fact, we’re seeing that right now in the way that some of the state and local government agencies are responding to this pandemic that we’re in. Justice becomes arbitrary without Truth, and the judge just does what they prefer. Again, we’re seeing this right now in our nation.
Without Truth, tyranny looms because there’s no or very little legal restraint on anything. I want you to think for just a moment about some of the cultural lies that are out there right now and the impact that they have. There’s a statement—My body, my choice. There is an element of truth to that. It’s my body. I can choose what kind of food I want to eat. That is a choice that I have, but the way that that is most often used has to do with abortion. How many millions of unborn babies have been murdered at the hand of that lie. Here’s another one for you—Gender is not connected to biology. How many people right now, including young children, are confused and are making permanent decisions that they’re probably going to regret in just a short time based on that lie?
Something really interesting, I want you to listen to the words of the prophet, Isaiah. He’s speaking to the ancient Israelites. Listen to what he says. He could be speaking to us right now in August of 2020 here in the United States. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those...who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!” What does Truth do? Truth exists and enables us to actually navigate reality. Truth is very precious. Truth removes us from the self-serving, self-destructive fantasy of our own creation. Perhaps you’re familiar with the story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” where the emperor gets these new clothes that are actually no clothes. He’s walking around with no clothes on. Everyone is saying this lie that that’s just wonderful. It takes a little kid to say, “He’s got no clothes on!”
So much of what’s going on in the world around us is just like that. There’s this self-serving, self-destructive fantasy of our own creation, and without Truth, there’s no way to remove that. Truth also puts us in contact with reality—the way things really, actually are. Here’s the thing. Truth leads to a life of well-being and flourishing in the long run. Sometimes Truth hurts, but it’s the kind of pain that you want to endure, so that your life will be so much better in the long run. I know this time period that we’re living in right now is really hard to get a hold of the Truth. How do we do it? How do we actually get Truth? Here’s a couple of things for you. One is we have to dig for the Truth. That nugget that’s just sort of there on the surface may or may not be the Truth. Often we have to dig, to work, for the Truth. Work—it’s work to get it.
Consider the source of the information that you’re getting. What’s their worldview? As Christians, we should be living a Biblical worldview. What’s the worldview of the source of the information? Here’s the thing. Anything that you see on tv or anything that you hear from the three-letter news agencies, I guarantee you, is not coming from a Biblical worldview. Another thing is to consider the track record of the person who is giving you the information. Do they have a long-standing track record of being honest, doing what they say they are going to do, having integrity? Or, can you look back at the track record that they lie, they deceive, they are so far from the Truth? That’s probably not the kind of person you want to trust. The best indicator of what someone will do in the future is what they’ve done in the past. Yes, people can change, but decades of a life in one direction usually don’t change immediately in the new direction. Does the person or place you’re getting the information from have an agenda? If they do, what is that agenda? Does that agenda line up with your worldview, with your goals?
You also might need to define terms. There’s a saying from our buddy from The Princess Bride—“I don’t think that means what you think it means.” Sometimes, we need to define the terms. Somebody throws out this word. Well, what do you mean by that? That way if you know their definition, you can understand if their definition lines up with your definition or if you’re actually talking about two, totally different things. The other thing is that you can actually ask. If you are a follower of Jesus, you can ask the Holy Spirit for help. John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes…” And, He’s already come. “...He will guide you into all truth…” Those of us who are followers of Jesus have a secret weapon when it comes to Truth. We have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth that will guide us into all Truth.
I told you that today we’re going to be focusing on Truth and history. I want to shift the conversation now and take a look at history. I believe that this is one of the biggest areas where we have a battle for Truth happening right now. It’s interesting. As you read through the Scriptures, you find words and phrases, like “remember” and “do not forget.” I think one of the great examples of this we find in the book of Joshua. In Joshua chapter 4, Moses has died, and Joshua has become the new leader of God’s people. He’s the one who is going to lead them into the Promised Land. They’re on one side of the Jordan River, and they’ve got to get to the other side of the Jordan River. So, God once again holds back the waters, and His people cross over on dry land. Then, God tells His people to pick up some stones from the bottom of the river where it would be completely deep under the water. He says to pick up those stones where it’s dry now and take them and set them on the other side. In Joshua 4:7 it says, “...So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”
Why did God want His people to remember? Because, remembering connects us to a much larger story than the moment that we’re living in right now. You see, time exists, and at some point in the past, God created this world and everything in it. One day, time and space as we know it will wrap up. We don’t know when that date is at this point, but we know that it will come. After God created things, there was a point at which mankind rebelled against Him. We call that “the Fall.” Then, time went on and God sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem us—to pay the price for our sin. We’re now living in this time period between when Jesus came and when He will return. We live right now in the year 2020, and we live for 70-80 years. That’s really just a dot in the whole, big scheme of what God is doing in time and space. We need to remember the place that we have. We need to remember that God is telling a much bigger story, and we’re a part of that. We need to remember the bigger heritage that we are a part of.
The third thing that we must realize is that the purpose of history is to remember and learn, not necessarily to like it. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and I’m going to guess that there may be at least one thing in your past in the story of your life that between he moment that you were born and this moment right now, one thing at least, you wish didn’t happen or you don’t like. Maybe it was a stupid decision that you made, a moment of indiscretion as some like to call it. Or, maybe it was something pretty big and pretty tragic that happened. You don’t like that that’s a part of your story, a part of your personal history. But, here’s the thing. The truth is God has used that, even those things that you don’t like, to form you into the man or woman that you are today. He’s using it to form you into the person that He wants you to become, and you, uniquely, will have an opportunity to help people. That’s part of your story.
Here’s a couple of interesting quotes that I found about history that I want to share with you. “One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again.” -Thomas Sowell There are some big ideas out there. We’re going to hear about them as we get closer to the election. There are some big ideas out there that have been tried before, and they have failed. That’s one of the things we need to think about. Another one is “He who controls the past, controls the future.” -George Orwell That’s interesting. If you control the past, you control the future. Then Karl Marx said, “A people without a heritage are easily persuaded.” What’s happening right now as people are tearing down the monuments in this country? For good or for bad, those monuments and the moments in history that they represent are part of our heritage. They are a part of our story as a nation, and as we tear down those monuments, which represent our past, what lies are we going to believe in the future because we’ve erased that part of our past? And, we don’t remember that was a bad, stupid, horrible thing that we did, and that we never do it again.
One of the things that’s occurring today in our nation, that’s actually been occurring for quite a while, is that we’re in the process of revising our history. One of the things that I love about our church is that we have a multi-generational church. Some of you, who are a little older, may be shocked at some of the things that kids today are learning in school. It looks a little different than what I learned and a little different from what you learned. This revision of history, specifically the certain parts that try to take out pieces that we don’t like, is changing our perspective of the past, which is going to change our perspective on the present and have an impact on the future. One of the areas that this is happening in is regarding the founding of our nation. Regardless of what you heard when you were in school or what you hear in the media today, our nation was actually founded upon Christian principles by a group of men we call the Founding Fathers, who were mostly, not all of them but mostly, very committed Christians. They understood that the principles found in Scripture were useful and actually necessary to start a nation and for that nation to ultimately be successful.
I want you to see a few minutes of a much longer discussion that I had a couple of weeks ago with a couple of members from our church here. Regardless of what you were taught in school, I want you to hear this history lesson on the founding of our country. Take a look at this. (Video begins)
Pastor Matt: I did not just pull two random people from Hope Church and say, “Do you want to have a discussion about history?” Josh and Carla have been students of history. They have been teaching it for a number of years, and really what I want to focus on is there are a lot of questions. There is a lot of confusion and misinformation today around the founding of our country—who founded it, why it was founded, the principles that were used to found our country. Knowing that, the truth of what really happened, is really important. It actually relates to a lot of what we’re seeing in our nation today. So, let’s go back to 1776 or wherever we need to go back to, and talk about our founding. What actually happened?
Carla: Well, I think we actually have to back up a little earlier than that. To understand what happened at the founding of our country, we have to know what kind of people the founders were. They were formed; their belief system and the way that they thought, had influences on it. So, a couple of things that I would bring up in discussion would be the influence of the Enlightenment on the founders and the influence of the Great Awakening. The people that lived during the time of the Enlightenment really emphasized learning and education. They prized reading books. If you’ve ever read anything by anybody written at that time period, they use four-syllable words. You need a dictionary to get through it, because they are obviously very well-learned men and women of that time. But, it really began as an emphasis on knowing who God is.
Then move forward a little bit around 1730. We have what was known as the first Great Awakening. When the Pilgrims and other people first came to the colonies back in the 1600’s, a lot of them came for religious freedom. They were seeking religious freedom. They had experienced persecution in their own homeland, so when they arrived here, they were very fervent in their religion and in wanting to evangelize and share in the gospel. But as time went by just as is very typical and more generations grew up, there was this gradual drift away from the faith of those first people who arrived. So, you get to the 1730’s, and a lot of the young people didn’t want to go to church. Church was kind of boring, and it kind of seemed to emphasize things that weren’t interesting to people. Then God brought about the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening is the spiritual revival. We had missionaries come over from Europe. We had people, who were colonists who actually had the great gift of preaching, and suddenly, people were becoming believers, turning to Christ right and left.
It’s very interesting. Benjamin Franklin had written during this time period. He’s a young man at this time period. He had written that he could not walk down the streets of Philadelphia without hearing families sing Psalms. He couldn’t go a block without that. That was how prevalent the conversion of the people was at that time. Before, you had to be really subservient to the king and do whatever he said, but this said that God’s Law is above the king’s law. If the king ever violates God’s law, it is okay to disobey, and it is okay to do what God says is right instead of what the king says is right. So, it gave them permission to rebel, and it prepared the people for what would be the American Revolution. Even though they exhausted all kinds of efforts to reconcile with England before war ever began and long before war ever began, they really knew that it was the right thing to obey God rather than the king.
Josh: I think there is so much you could say on this just one topic. We were commenting earlier about how much you could just spend a whole lot of time on one or two points. I think it’s best commented or referenced to me—Would you rather read a book about George Washington or read a book by George Washington? So I think in order to get a clear understanding, the clear comparative is important. You need to have someone else’s interpretation of what they saw, because that’s critical analysis. However, if you’re going to make judgment about these people, at least do it on their own merits. There are just literally too many examples to cite of the founders either claiming personal and sincere belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as devout Christians, or given sincere references in the positive to Christian principles and Judeo-Christian philosophy. Surely, you could go through the list of all the founders and pluck out a Deist here or somebody that isn’t sincere there, but again we could fill this table several feet high with personal references and direct quotes from the founders about either “Yes, I’m a Christian,” or rely on the merits. Samuel Adams, himself, said, “I rely on the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ to take away all my sins.” That’s just one example of many.
Carla: Essentially, even if a particular founder, if you could prove that they did not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, they still had a Biblical worldview. They still operated on the principles that there is a God in the universe who runs things. They made their decisions based on that belief system, so yes, Christianity is the foundation of the government. Whether somebody fits into the mold of what we call a Christian today or not, but when they followed a Biblical worldview and they exercised their actions based on that Biblical worldview, we have a Christian foundation for our nation.
Josh: To add onto that, if you think about the experience or education of the early founders—Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, many others that come to mind—they were very aware of the other philosophies and the worldviews that were prevalent during the 18th century. These were men that were very well read, that had a clear understanding of history. Of all the philosophies and all the principles they had access to, they chose Christianity. They chose the Bible of all the options they had, they came back to this one. So I would agree with you. You might not find them saying, “I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and I’ve asked Him for forgiveness of my sins.” It might not be Christian in terms of what we would understand it today, but you do not find a quote from a founder that says something to the extent of, “Christianity is a canard. It’s hogwash. You shouldn’t believe this. We should do something else.” I think, at least, the closest you’re going to get to someone doing that and saying that the Christian religion and the principles found in the Bible are a mediating influence. Everyone of the founders understood that people's hearts are deceptively wicked, so we have to have something to put in place so the mob rule doesn’t just come out and take over everything. These are not just isolated examples. You have multiple people during this time saying the same thing. (Video ends)
Pastor Matt: So we’ve seen that our nation was founded upon Biblical principles and a Biblical worldview. We’ve seen that eroding over the years and an attack on God’s Word and an attack on God’s people. We shouldn’t be surprised because Jesus said the world hated Him and is going to hate us. Sometimes, I think as Christians we’re like, “Oh, where did that come from?” We forget that really we’re at war. What’s at stake is that our country was founded on something very different than what's being argued for today. (Video ends)
Now, the full discussion that I had with Josh and Carla was about an hour long, and that’s going to be available later this week by video or audio podcast. I would highly encourage you to check out the whole conversation. We had a lot of fun together, and I think you will find it informative and encouraging as a follower of Jesus. To understand the times, we must understand that followers of Jesus are in a spiritual battle. Now ultimately, we’re on the winning side. That is true, but between now and then and the time that God has us here on this planet, we need to use the influence that we have for good. Use the influence that God has given us to make an impact on our society for things that are good and right and true and more in line with God and His ways than the ways of this world.
To understand the times, we must realize that Truth exists, and it conforms to reality. Absolute Truth does exist. Even if so many people around us have been taken captive by the lies of the enemy and say there is no truth, there is Truth. It exists, and it conforms to reality. To understand the times, we must understand that the purpose of history is to learn from it, not necessarily like it. We are part of a much bigger story than the dot of the 70-80 years that we spend on this planet. We need to remember that as we move into the future. For those of us who are followers of Jesus, the Lord Jesus is over every area of our life. Remember that Lordship Pie that we looked at? He’s over every area of our life, including our interaction with government and politics. It’s actually part of our stewardship to use the influence that we have while we have it to not only share the gospel but to stand for the things that are right and true and good and can impact our society for good. We, living here in America, still today have a way to exercise that stewardship, and it is through voting and getting involved in various different things. We need to use the stewardship that God has given us to make an impact.
Next week, we’re going to narrow our focus down a little bit, and we’re going to look more specifically at the role and the limits of government and what we, as followers of Jesus, are supposed to do. I want to leave you with a quote, words from the Reverend Charles Finney to Christians in his day reminding them about voting. He said this. He said, “The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics...Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently...God cannot sustain this free and blessed country which we love and pray for unless the Church will take right ground...He will bless or curse this nation according to the course (Christians) take (in politics).” The two most important things that we can do as followers of Jesus is this. Number one is pray, and then number two is vote when the time comes.
Would you join me in prayer? Father, we acknowledge that You are the Source of life and truth. Thank You that there is Truth, regardless of what the world around us feels or prefers. You represent Truth, absolute Truth. Please help us as we’re in a battle. Show us the role that You desire for each of us to play. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
