Theocratic Rule
There has been a lot said in the Main Stream Media (MSM for short) in recent weeks about a Theocracy. Many on the left fear the evangelical right so much, they feel the need to sound an alarm, even if not nescessary. The end result for them is to sound like the guy who cried wolf one too many times. No one pays attention anymore.
There should be some clarification on this subject, and since it is Sunday, perhaps this might be an appropriate time to do so.
In order to have a Theocracy, you would need to have God, or a god directly in charge of the government, commanding every single facet of society from the seat of power. Such is not the case here in the US. There are some who would like to see a government here with laws which mirror Old Testament laws, but their numbers are very few. To understand what the Christian right would like to see in our government, one needs to understand the Kingdom of Heaven, and what it entails for Christians.
The Kingdom of Heaven is in the hearts of Christians, and is a result of Christians acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as savior and Lord (king), and wanting to carry out His wishes, they act as salt and light to the world around them. Certainly, Christians would like to enjoy a moral and peaceful environment in which to work and raise their families. On the other hand, most Christians recognize that we live in a world filled with evil, and the most we can expect is to have some impact for good against that evil.
Another aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven is it’s present day reality. Most Christians recognize God as being on the throne and in control of the events and affairs of mankind and is in the process of bringing human history to it’s ultimate climax, which is the return of Jesus Christ. The first objection to this of course is the problem of bad things which happen to individuals, and societies. To answer this objection would take a theological treatise of several bound books, so we will use the socratic method of answering by asking another question. What would the world be like without the restraining power of the Holy Spirit of God? While you think on that for a while, we will set forth God’s structure for society.
God has chosen to use individuals and instutitions to carry out his plans as the ordinary means for society to work. Governments are instituted by God, which in turn have laws, and military, police and judges to maintain order. God has also established churches to influence individuals.
If all the individuals and institutions follow His instructions given in His Word (The Bible), everything works out very well. There are times when they don’t, and God has to intervene in an extraordinary way. There have been incidents throughout history where there are no explanations why a certain army prevailed against overwhelming odds, etc. There are governments which are bad, and are not fulfilling the role for which they were designed, and these are many times overthrown. Sometimes they are not.
So when Christians choose to exercise their rights in this country to morally influence the government, the left gets very upset, and accusations like “here comes the theocracy”, etc. are hurled both by the left and the MSM.
What the left doesn’t realize, is they are in fact living in the midst of the Kingdom of God right now, and what they are rebelling against is not the Christian right. What they are rebelling against is God Himself. We often tire of continually pounding away at what we see to be bad choices by our elected representatives, and our judicial system. What keeps us going is knowing that we are doing what we are instructed to do by God’s Word, and knowing that we are a part of the overall process of God’s plan for mankind. We also belive there will come a day when as the Apostle Paul says,
“10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11 RSV)
The Christian right is doing exactly as the framers of our Constitution intended. They are exercising their influence on the government. Can you really imagine what this country would be like without our moral laws, and our military, and our police to keep order? Do we really want to live in a nation without the restraining power of the Spirit of God as He works through Christians in our society?
If we allow the left and the MSM to continue their path of total elimination of God and His influence on our government, someday we may discover what it is like.
