I am not sure the source for the quote. I heard it on an “And We Know” podcast a few days ago. It made me stop and reflect on our times. There are some people who are like the sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32 (ESV) as they were numbered among the troops who were coming to David to turn the kingdom over to him:
32 Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command.
You see, the American church has bought into a falsehood. Most Christians in America believe that there is no place for churches to act on the civil affairs of the nation. Most think we are removed from governing the land and are only to focus on “spiritual” matters. I put spiritual in quotes because every arena in life overlaps into the next. Everything is actually spiritual.
Adolph Hitler told the clergy of Germany that he would take care of the government and they were to take care of their churches. Most very willingly agreed. There was compliance with silence and it brought tyrants.
Just look at the mess of Nazi Germany with the enormous loss of life and property as a result of Hitler’s tyranny. Jewish people by the millions died under his hand. So did anyone who did not measure up to Nazi standards, racially, ethnically, mentally, or politically.
Communist nations like Russia and China have followed a similar pattern. As a result, to flex their power and bring people under their submission, the tyrannical Communist leaders have murdered their millions. Now there is compliance with silence in fear of the tyrants.
Americans’ idea of the “separation of church and state” does not come from the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, or the Bible. It comes from a letter President Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association. They were concerned that the United States would establish its own national church like the other nations and persecute other denominations. Jefferson let them know that would not happen.
There is indeed a wall of separation between church and state. Government is to stay out of the business of churches. That is one of the reasons churches have been given tax-exempt status. However, church members can and should be involved in the governance of our land. After all, if Christians create a vacuum of leadership by relinquishing godly responsibilities, who will fill the void? Obviously, it will be filled with the low-life and the underhanded. Welcome to 21st Century American government!
The question is always, “What can we do about it?” We have to re-engage in our responsibilities as godly citizens to regain control of the Republic. We must first be sure we are godly in our lifestyles and then proceed to be active in the proper ruling of our land.
Government was set up for our good according to Romans 13. The job of government is to protect the God-given rights of good people. It is not the government’s job to issue rights or even unconstitutional mandates to control the public.
It is too bad we have abdicated our responsibilities. Whether we have been deceived or have become lazy the Christian voice has been silenced in the public arena. We must repent and return to the leadership of God in our lives before He will rule the nation.
Once we held the truths of God to be our guidance as individuals and as a nation. On July 4, 1821, John Quincy Adams made the following statement:
“From the day of the Declaration…they (the American people) were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of The Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct.”
Tyranny only grows by compliance and silence. But, silence is not really silence. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Not to speak is to speak.” We become complicit to tyranny when we are silent. Our silence is a vote for evil.
Tyranny must be resisted just like the devil because that is where it arises. The half-brother of Jesus reminds us in James 4:7 (KJV):
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We resist tyranny when we get ourselves right with God; and when we speak truth – even in regard to government. There is power in a united “We the People” led by the Spirit of God. That means an end to tyranny and the maintenance of Liberty.
God’s not going to wave a magic wand and change the tyranny we are experiencing. Too many are sitting back, hoping for change, even praying for it. Things won’t change until we act by following God into the arenas that have fallen to the enemy. If we don’t, Compliance with silence brings tyrants.
Keep The Light of Resisting Evil Burning!