The
statement, “Jesus wept” I believe is ubiquitous in Heaven’s community. Jesus
weeps, has wept and will continue to weep because of a cheap mindset or
philosophy many Christians hold in regard to changing the world.
The
dictionary.com defines a mindset as “a fixed mental attitude or disposition
that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of situations.”
A myth on the other hand is an unproved or false collective belief that is used
to justify a social institution.
Christians
over the years have held the belief that situations will be better if
Christians hold political positions all over the world. Over the years, it has
become a common thing to see Christians pray for a Christian to be elected
president of a country. We call on heavens to make that Christian a mayor or
top executive of a public institution. That is nice and good but not the best
and pure. This utopian thinking is unreal and will not produce any valuable
results.
The
Bible tells us vividly that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (see Proverbs
23:7). It is therefore undoubtedly necessary for Christians to check their
perception on various issues. It is very important for Christians to have the
Word-Mindset instead of having anything that falls short of the standards of
Christ.
“See to it that no one carries you off
as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and
intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the
spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and
disregarding [the teachings of] Christ.” (Colossians
2:8, AMP, Emphasis mine). The Apostle
Paul gives the saints in Colossae this resounding warning.
The
philosophy that a country will change for the better if Christians were to
occupy top positions in government is a popular belief many hold. But is this
true? This philosophy which Christians have held over the year has proven to be
only false and “unfortunate”. Governments come and go; yet we have not seen
such reality take place on the earth. History is full of examples where
Christians became kings, governors and the likes yet their domain didn’t become
like heaven. One cannot even bet his life on the kinds and types of leadership
that exist in God’s church. Funny enough, we are ready to bet our future on the
kind of leadership that a Christian will give in a carnal system when he/she is
in the helm of affairs. The world is not
getting any better. Christians shouldn’t fool themselves; the world is getting dirtier, darker and
deadlier; that include the governance system of this world.
Nations
are ruled by laws. Interestingly, these laws are supposed to be drafted and
enforced by humans corrupt from birth. One or two people at the top will not
change the already corrupt political system. Entrenched systems can’t be
changed by whims. The so-called godly politicians only get into power to meet a
corrupt political system. Such system are so well structured that, you either
‘play’ according to the rules or back out. The former is always the case. The
current political system does not allow one person to rule ( or have his way),
it involve such a complex myriad of influencers from political parties
founders, lobbyists, business bullies,
cronies, party financiers to party members at the grassroots. Guess what! All
these guys won’t be saints.
The
problem of corruption doesn’t even start in government. It stems from the
political parties. Whether a party is in power or not, chronic corruption is
endemic at all levels of the party. People in the same political party may even
stab each other’s back to have their way. In Africa were politicians use money
to get power; and power to get money, you can’t expect anything better. With political leadership being an issue of
personal ambition, the sinful nature of man will certainly have influence.
Crime,
promiscuity and indiscipline have still engulfed many nations irrespective of
the fact that Christians find themselves in government. There are many examples
(all over the world) that one can site especially if one is abreast with
governance issues. President Obama of the United States is a good example. The little
said about him the better. There is no need for further discussion; you can
guess the rest. Wickedness has always had supremacy in many nations though
Christians rule.
Don’t
get me wrong, I am not suggesting it is wrong for Christians to take top
positions in government. How dare I? The point is this: governments cannot do
what the church has been called to do. Governments are incapable of producing
morality through legislation.
Government
can do something but it cannot establish godly moral foundation in the hearts
of men. John Adams, America’s first president put it like this: “we have no government armed with power capable of contending
with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…our constitutions was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government
of any other.” “We have no constitution which
functions in the absence of a moral people”, he adds. Abraham
Lincoln says, “the only assurance of our national safety is
to lay our foundation in morality…” and this the government
cannot do except the church. George Washington put it this way: “true religion
affords to the government it surest support. Religion and morality are the
essentials pillars of civil society.”
The
only agent of change under the sun is the Gospel of Jesus Christ (or more
importantly the Word of God). It is the Word that can change the hearts of men
and nothing else. If the church fails to
make people disciples of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, a lot of ungodly men will
make their way into every nook and cranny of the social order. When this
happens disaster is inevitable. If we want prudent and trustworthy financial
systems we must endeavour to change the hearts of the men of the nation and not
push some one or two people to the top. Governments
most of the time are reflections of the heart of men of a nation.
The
king comes from the people and not the people from king. That is why the people
always get the king they deserve. Think of it, the Apostle Paul live in a time
when immorality and political corruption were the things of the day. Yet he
didn’t tell the saints to endeavour to become governors rather, he told them to
submit to the government (see Romans 13) and pray for the authorities (see 1Timothy
2:1 – 4).
With
such counsel Christianity ended up as the official religion of the Roman
Empire. Today, there is not even one Christian nation in the world, but several
Islamic countries exist. Today, Christians cannot build a church anywhere in
Dubai but Muslims can build a place of worship near Ground Zero.
Elias
Boundit said that the moral character of a people once degenerate, their
political character must soon follow. There is a war going on – a battle for
the hearts and mind of the people of our nation, we can only win with the
Gospel.
The
church must amass her energy in fulfilling the Great Commission and stop
dreaming of having some Christian political leaders in government work out
“magic”. It is high time the church educate her members of the significance of
desiring and yielding to this wisdom of God.
Today,
the average Christian knows more about movies stars as compared to Jesus’
disciples. How sad!
Democracy
is the rule of the majority; unfortunately the majority are not always right,
in fact they are never right; no wonder God does not practise such governance.
God is depending on you to ensure that Jesus and his influence are not
eliminated from our nation.
Copyright
© 2011. Jacob Nana Kwesi Dapaah.
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