In Government We Trust

I’m going to break into the world of politics for a little bit.  I try to stay away from this issue, because I know of the divisive effects of politics, and really, when it comes down to it, there is no good side to be on in politics for each side is as corrupt as the other side.  But something I have come to find out is that the problems we are facing in our nation is not with the politicians, although there is plenty of blame going around for both Republicans and Democrats.  And I’m not saying that they don’t have their faults, because they do.  But the real issue does not lie with them.  The problem with our nation is that we have quit fighting for ourselves and have demanded that our government start taking care of us.  We’re expecting government to solve our economic problems through bailout programs.  We expect government to solve our education problems through policies that affect teachers and what they teach.  We expect government to solve our moral problems through gun control and sex education programs.  We expect government to solve our environment problems by coming up with ways to force its citizens to take care of the environment.  And when their policies and programs do not work as well as we think they should, then it’s their fault.  And, of course, we’re quicker to blame the side we’re against.  Republicans blame Democrats, Liberals blame Conservatives, etc.  We’ve quit taking responsibility for ourselves and have completely begun to depend upon our government to do our thinking and living for us.

I believe that if we quit relying on the government to do things for us, but instead began to think and live for ourselves, it will solve a lot of our current problems.  Are there problems with education?  Yes.  Is another political policy going to solve it for us?  No.  We need parents who are willing to teach their kids and keep them responsible for learning will solve most of the education problems.  My grandfather had to quit school before he was a teenager because his father died and he had to help take care of the family.  But he was one of the smartest men I knew because he took responsibility for himself and forced himself to learn on his own.  He wasn’t dependent on any government facility to give him his education.  As a result, all our students should be that much smarter because they are being given an education, even if it is poor education because its more than what my grandfather had.  And yet, as a result, we have a lot of problems because kids are not being taught by their parents to be responsible for themselves.  It’s not solely because our government is failing in education.  It’s because parents overall do not care.  That’s one example.  The same can be said about sex education.  The problem is not due to a lack of education in school.  It’s a lack of education at home and parents not teaching their children the nature and responsibility of a healthy sexual lifestyle.  The environmental problems we have can be solved with people just doing what they can in taking care of the environment.  We shouldn’t need another government act being passed that forces its citizens to take care of our environment.  But we do, because we are not taking responsibility for ourselves.

So what does this mean?  This means that if we want to solve the problems we’re facing in this country, then we’ve got to stop relying on our government officials to do all the work for us.  We trust too much in government.  We’ve got to start working at solving the problems ourselves.  To take a quote from John F. Kennedy, “Do not ask what your country can do for you, ask what can you do for your country.”  We’ve lost this mentality.  Now we’re constantly asking what our country can do for us.  And if they don’t do it to our expectations, then they’re to blame.

Now, everything up to this point I think has application for every citizen of our nation.  But, this is “Religious Affections”.  This post would really not fit here if I do not go further and examine what this means for the true follower of Christ.

For too long, we as Christians have been dependent upon trying to get a Christian conservative into office to solve all the moral problems in our nation.  For eight years, we were satisfied because we had a good “Christian” man in office.  I’m not saying that former President Bush is not a Christian.  I pray and hope he is.  And I’m not even saying that we shouldn’t do our part by voting for men that most closely fit the biblical stance on the issues our country is facing.  We should do whatever we can in voting for good, godly Christian men and women in office.  But our problem is that as long as we have that perfect candidate in office, then our job of positively affecting our society is completed.  Our “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16) influence seems to be limited to what we do in the political arena.  We seem to forget that Jesus did not seem so interested in the affairs of the government of His day.  His concern was more for individual people that He came into contact with and shared with them how He could meet their individual spiritual needs.  In fact, one of the most political statements Jesus made was simply for people, as citizens of their country, to “render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar’s and to God what is God’s.”  Again, I believe that we should take interest in the political affairs of our country.  In fact, the right to vote that we have in our country to day is a blessing which God has bestowed upon us and we need to take advantage of that freedom for as long as we have it.  Not everyone around the world has the same privilege that we have in being so involved in the direction of politics.  However, we cannot let what we do at the booths substitute what we do in the personal lives of those around us.  We are called to personally share the love of Christ with those around us.  Politics and government will never change the hearts of people.  Only the Word of God can do that.  But how will they believe if they have never heard?  And how will they hear if there is no one preaching it to them?  We have to stop relying on government to solve our problems and start doing what God has called us to do in testifying to the truth of His Word.

Let us be able to truly say, “In God We Trust”, once more, by relying on the power of God and not government to solve the problems that we are facing today.