Proverbs 28.2
“When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.”
Proverbs 8.12, 15-16
“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion … By me kings reign, and rulers enact just laws; by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.”
The solution to our national crisis is at once both simple and difficult. We need to be better people, and we need to elect better leaders. It starts with us. We need to live with greater degrees of integrity and courage.
And as a nation we need to rediscover what “we the people” means. It is time to do the work of reforming our society on the basis of timeless truth rather than self-interest, partisan politics, or far-left or far-right ideology.
We, the citizens of our nation, must decide what core principles we want at the heart of American society, personally commit to aligning our lives with those values, and then elect leaders of character and competence who will protect and preserve the values.
Although we are on the brink of losing it, we are still a constitutional republic. We choose our elected officials. Proverbs 28.2 tells us that national stability and longevity require leaders of understanding (bin) and knowledge (yada), and that requires “we the people” to have the wisdom to elect them.
I suggest we return to first things. Reclaim the pillars of the American founding and fully embrace the lessons we have learned as a nation in the last 250 years. This would be a tremendous challenge, because so many today either don’t understand the original principles of American society, don’t care, or are actively seeking to undermine those very principles.
And that is the battle. The truth is that secularism and postmodernism have no adequate root system with which to nourish the ideals of a constitutional republic. The secularists do not provide an adequate foundation for such core American principles as the sanctity of life, the dignity of the individual person, the responsibility of freedom, justice, equality and universality—let alone any response to the growing polarization and increasing social violence in our society.
Which is why “we the people” must do the work to actively pray for, support, and develop effective leaders throughout American society.
This should be a major priority for the church in the post-CV19 world. The church should commit to a focused, rigorous, multi-disciplinary plan for leadership development that embraces every sector of our culture. I am talking about next-level leadership development that goes far beyond anything the church or its institutions is doing today.
It is a biblical truth: You reap what you sow. “We the people” choose our political leaders. Have we been making wise choices? Have we chosen leaders who respect God and his standards, or have we chosen leaders who support our personal preferences?
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness. By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.” (Proverbs 10.10-11)
Because we still live in a representative form of government, the citizenship — at least for now — has more power than the leadership. What will the American people do with that power? What will American Christians do?
The clock is ticking.
