Politics And Guarding The Heart

By Terry Rayburn

I became politically active in 1964, when Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson. I was only 14 years old.

I've campaigned, planted signs, made phone-bank calls, done door-to-door flyers, attended rallies, written speeches.

In the late 60's, while half the country was going Left and anarchic, I went Right and Republican. I attended anti-communist John Birch Society meetings, led by Fred and Ethel [not their real names], a husband and wife who became my good friends.

But politics can't satisfy the heart, and I was lost as lost could be, until 1976, when God reached down and opened my heart to Jesus Christ.

As a new believer, I still took an active interest in political happenings, but the rabid hand-wringing and fighting ceased. I began to see the sovereignty of God in everything. I saw that the history that was unfolding was God's history, and that He was raising up and bringing down men and nations at will.

I began attending a wonderful church in 1976, and lo and behold, there were my friends Fred and Ethel, Christians who had told me about the Lord, but not with the enthusiasm they had for fighting the Communist Conspiracy.We became friends again, but Fred was always distraught about "the state of the Government and the World".

I was now engaged in ministry, and politics took a seat way in the back by comparison. Fred would have none of it. He seemed to truly love the Lord, but his crusade was a political one, seeking to save the world by politics, and it drove him over the edge. In the early 80's, Ethel went home one day and found Fred dead, hanging from a rope.

Devoid of understanding the sovereignty of God in nations, and not understanding that the Kingdom of God is not of this world, Fred thought things had gotten out of God's hand.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness..." That's what's of primary importance to us. And that means that we not only witness of our Lord Jesus Christ, it means we rest in Him and His sovereignty, even while we support our candidates according to our consciences.

And it means that our faith should work itself out in love (Gal. 5:6) . . . Love for Republicans, and Democrats, and political opponents, and other ethnic groups, and immigrants (legal and otherwise), and Muslims, and even terrorists (though the Government doesn't bear the sword for nothing -- Rom. 13:4).

Otherwise, we're just clanging cymbals (1 Cor. 13:1), and our politics has become our God in practice.

Government Intrusion Inevitable Without Morality

I cannot forget that our second President, John Adams, said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." This means that when the people cease to be a moral people, then government intrusion will be inevitable.

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness..." Isaiah 5:20

Without the people pursuing God and His righteousness, the inevitable result of having a godless, immoral society is to have the government regulate their behavior, instead of God doing it through their consciences. If the people have no moral restraints of their own, then someone must restrain them.

Ideally, and hopefully soon, God will once again become the Restrainer of our morality. But people have yet to believe that God is the only One Who can restrain us. He does it spiritually. He has to change our "heart of stone" first, as the Bible says, and give us a "heart of flesh".

The only way to end abortion is for people to have a change of heart. That change has to come from God. And those that already know Him must pray for America daily, that He will revive us again.

For many, there is some worry and even some anger as we see these things unfold---an apathetic, increasingly godless nation that seems to be unconcerned about virtually everything, including what is going on in our government.

As long as people go further and further away from the knowledge of the true God, and have no moral foundation or moral restraints, it will become inevitable that we will see the government take over more and more of our lives. They are doing it partly for our safety, but mostly to take advantage of us in their quest for power, ignoring the real solution to our "heart" problem, because they are ignoring God.

But we should look at all these things unfolding like a tapestry, from God's point of view, and trust Him as the Grand Designer. Know that He is in control of this whole situation, and that nothing happening in America escapes His notice or confounds His Master Plan. There is a Plan and Purpose for these events unfolding the way they are. And I just hope that many will find peace of mind in trusting God for the outcome of all these events.

I began studying politics because I wanted to see what God was doing in that arena of life. I find it fascinating and appalling at the same time. If it were not for my faith in the Sovereign God, Who is in control of all things, I would be robbed of my joy. But since I do know Him, I am able to hold onto Him, steadfast in my faith, unable to be moved (spiritually speaking) by the shocking things going on in our country.

It is good and important to know what is going on in our country, and to stand for what is right. But it is vital to not lose sight of the Sovereign God, Who is in total control of all these events---though it may not seem like it most of the time.

That's what faith is.