Empowering Leaders for Righteousness
Capitol Commission exists not only to convert the ruler but also to warn the ruler that they are accountable to God. We need leaders who are declared righteous. In seeing a righteous God, we come face-to-face with our own unrighteousness. We see ourselves as sinners. Paul says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10, 11). That bad news leads Paul to expand the good news that man can be counted righteous by another’s righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. We need leaders who become righteous. Those leaders who are declared righteous in Christ are called “saints” in the New Testament.
Last night, I had the honor of giving the keynote address at the Capitol Commission annual banquet. Capitol Commission is a ministry whose aim is to reach government officials with the gospel. They are not a lobbying group or a policy group. Rather, they commission well-vetted, faithful Bible teachers and evangelists as “ministers” to serve at the state capitol as a chaplain, so to speak. In that role, they lead Bible studies that everyone is welcome to attend, and they proclaim the gospel at every opportunity. GraceAnna and I have personally supported this ministry and commend it to you and your church as a ministry for your consideration. The following is a loose transcript of my message.
Neil Howe has written a fascinating theory of American history entitled The Fourth Turning is Here. He argues persuasively that American history has progressively moved in cycles called “saeculum,” which essentially last the average length of a lifespan, 80 to 100 years. Within each saeculum are roughly four periods, each at least 20 to 25 years. These periods are called spring, summer, fall, and winter. Without breaking down each of these periods, as you can imagine, “winter” is a period of death and disintegration. The old order passes away, and something new emerges, where the nation emerges in a new period of history. Howe argues that we are now in this “winter” period or “fourth turning.” He begins this “winter” period with the 2008 financial crisis and cites the political polarization, the COVID-19 fallout, and the social disintegration we have experienced. He argues we are a national tinderbox, so to speak, which will burst into flames when we face a natural crisis, whether that be a global war or a great economic difficulty. Out of this crisis moment, he argues that a new order will emerge.
Though mainly agreeing with his argument for a cyclical history, Howe did not address the spiritual condition of the nation. I point this out because America’s problem is much deeper than political discord and economic debt. America’s problem is spiritual. America’s problem is ethical. The problem is that America has turned her back on God. Rather than fearing the Lord, we have crafted idols of our own making. It is a hard and fast rule: God honors nations that honor Him. Nations that do not honor Him are eventually given over to judgment. It struck me as I was reading Howe’s descriptions of America’s cycles, which roughly go from the Revolutionary period to the Civil War, from Reconstruction to World War II, and from the 50s to the present crisis. The thought struck me, though, in analyzing this, that America is not guaranteed a rebirth. America is not guaranteed another “saeculum.” In many ways, God delivered our nation through our previous crises by His kind hand of providence. But does America deserve to be delivered from another? She doesn’t. America deserves the judgment of God, not the kindness of God. There is nothing to prevent God from marching on America.
That is why this year’s banquet theme of “Empowering Leaders for Righteousness” is so important. We desperately need leaders to stand for righteousness in local, state, and national government. In thinking about this theme, I keyed on the word righteousness. Righteousness is an attribute of God. When we are talking about righteousness, we are talking about the character of God. Psalm 111:3 says, “Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.” Psalm 116:5 says, “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.” Psalm 145:17 says, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. Psalm 4:1 reads, “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!” In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called “the Righteous One” (Acts 22:14). Righteousness (Heb. sedeq or Gr. dikia) can be defined as “God’s divine holiness applied in moral government and the domain of law.”[1]
If righteousness is an attribute of God describing his holy rule, then we desperately need those who are intimately acquainted with God and His rule! That leads to the first point this evening. We need leaders who know the righteous God. We need leaders with a glimpse of his holiness. We need leaders who make decisions with God’s righteousness as their standard. It seems to me that this is the main problem today in government: people don’t know who God is. Therefore, their ethic is not fixed but relativistic. Leaders make decisions in the dark in the service of their man-made idols rather than in service to their Creator. I saw a picture recently of the astronaut Bruce Mccandless doing the first untethered spacewalk.
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God’s Paradigm for Our Unity
Written by Reuben M. Bredenhof |
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Expressing unity internationally is valuable, but even more vital is living it out locally. As church we get to live in real community with each other. We can share our gifts, our talents, our time, our burdens. We have a common table where we eat and drink in remembrance of Christ.The Holy Spirit says, “How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps 133:1). This pleasant gift is something that a congregation enjoys when we study Scripture together, worship together, or have fellowship.
Another powerful expression of unity is when we confess our faith. A New Testament word for confession means literally, “saying the same thing.” When we sing or recite our creed, we’re saying the same thing. We don’t contribute our own ideas about God, but we listen to what Scripture says and then confess it together.
A church of Christ not only confesses the same faith but is shaped by this faith. Right beliefs should always lead to right behaviour. And whenever we confess faith in our triune God, He is a model for our life together. The beautiful unity of the Trinity should lead to beautiful unity in the church.
We see this truth in Jesus’s prayer John 17. This prayer is sometimes called his “high priestly prayer” because it’s largely a prayer of intercession. The Old Testament priests approached God at the temple and asked for his favour on for Israel. In a similar way, Jesus prays for his church.
And it is remarkable how Jesus looks ahead to the church’s growth in coming centuries. He prays for believers who haven’t even been born! He says in verse 20, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” The disciples haven’t gone out yet for their missionary task, but soon they will. And as they preach, many will come to faith in Christ.
Anticipating how his believers will grow to become many millions, spread all over the world, Jesus prays to the Father. It should strike us that his very first petition for the future church is for our unity, in verse 21:
…that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.
Notice how Jesus refers to the close unity of the Father and the Son (and the Holy Spirit, of course). All three persons of the Trinity share a common sovereignty and purpose and glory. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are bound to each other in an eternally loving relationship. They are one!Related Posts:
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How Is Archaeology Helpful for Studying the Bible?
Written by John D. Currid |
Friday, September 8, 2023
Archaeology is a sword in the battle against ahistoricism. It truly demonstrates the “earthiness” of the Scriptures and how the episodes of the Bible occurred in time, place, and history. History is a pillar of Christian thought. God is the God of history: He created history, and time is moving historically from creation to consummation. Creation- fall-redemption-glorification is both a theological and historical construction and movement.Just about fifty years ago, I participated in my first excavation in modern-day Israel. The site was Tell Qasile, an ancient Philistine town located within the bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv. In my excavation area, we discovered the first signs of a now-famous Philistine temple when we uncovered two pillar bases that stood in the main hall of the building. These two round stone bases were approximately ten feet apart, and they would have supported two large wooden pillars. The pillars, in turn, held up the second story and roof of the temple. The diggers in my area will never forget when Ami Mazar, the site’s chief archaeologist, announced to us: “You have just discovered the Philistine temple!” Right then and there, I caught the proverbial archaeological bug.
Why was this discovery so important? One reason is that it helps explain the story of the death of Samson. After the capture of Samson, the Philistines paraded him in the temple of Dagon in their city of Gaza (Judg. 16:23). Mocking Samson, the Philistines made him stand between the two foundational pillars of the temple (v. 25). When he pushed them, the entire edifice collapsed, including the roof, and killed many of the attendants. The archaeological finds of the temple in Tell Qasile help us understand that the events related in the Bible actually took place in space and time—that is, these events occurred in history. Archaeology can enlighten us regarding many aspects of daily life and how people lived in ancient times. It provides an “earthiness” to Scripture.
Rahab at Jericho
Another example may be helpful. In Joshua 2:15, in the account of Rahab the harlot, we read the curious statement, “Then she let them [the two Hebrew spies] down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.” The configuration of city walls surrounding ancient cities varied from age to age. During Rahab’s time in the late Bronze Age, many Canaanite cities had thick outer fortification walls. We know through excavation, however, that some of the cities had what is called a casemate outer wall system. It was formed by two parallel walls with periodic perpendicular walls that created rooms in which people could live. In times of siege or war, these double outer walls were filled with boulders, and this would make the outer wall of the city stronger and thicker. Thus, Rahab, just as the book of Joshua says, could indeed live “in the wall” of the city of Jericho.
Earlier in the story of Rahab, she is pictured as hiding the two Hebrew spies on the roof of her house under stalks of flax that she had laid down on the roof. That is curious. But archaeologists have uncovered many houses from this time that have staircases leading to a roof. As is done today in numerous villages in Israel, the roof in ancient times was used for drying foodstuffs in the sun. What Rahab had on her roof was common for the day, and it would not have raised suspicion from the authorities. It would have been a perfect place to hide the Israelite spies, and thus they went undetected.The weight of archaeological research is that it deals with the very physical nature of things and that it is therefore grounded in the realia (real things) of what happened in biblical times. We live in an age, however, in which history is typically seen as irrelevant, as meaningless, and as having little application to modern living. Common thinking today is ahistorical, in which scholars argue that there is no history that reflects truth and reality. Thus, many people today believe that history may be rewritten to suit one’s own agenda and purposes. Archaeology is a sword in the battle against ahistoricism. It truly demonstrates the “earthiness” of the Scriptures and how the episodes of the Bible occurred in time, place, and history. History is a pillar of Christian thought. God is the God of history: He created history, and time is moving historically from creation to consummation. Creation- fall-redemption-glorification is both a theological and historical construction and movement.
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The Heavens Declare
The Son of God most High now hangs cursed for the sins of his people on a tree, suspended between the same heaven and earth he created. And in response, the heavens who before wept for the sins of man with a flood, now drape themselves in black garments of mourning for the murder of their Maker, and the earth quakes under the weight of his accursed cross. The sun turns its eye from beholding the Lamb of God, brutally mutilated by his enemies, by transforming the day into night. For the one who spreads out the heavens as a curtain (Ps. 104:2), the heavens, in turn, spread out a curtain of darkness between his holy manhood and the wicked eyes of men.
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst, (Luke 23:44-45).
The enemies of Christ, those scribes and pharisees that wanted him silenced, were ever taunting him to give them a “sign from heaven” – some miraculous indication that he was truly the Son of God (Matt. 12:38, Luke 11:29). Of course, as Luke describes them, this was an “evil generation,” for if they had truly wanted to see and believe, Jesus gave them more signs and miracles in his brief earthly ministry than could be recorded by man (John 21:25).
But even aside from his many miracles, what better “sign from heaven” could they ask for than his creation, the heavens themselves? (Ps. 19:1). God himself said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs…” And the apostle John in the first chapter of his gospel makes it plain that the Word that became flesh before their eyes was the same who was “in the beginning with God,” and that “all things were made by him,” (John 1:1-3). Further, his creation as witness to divine power and majesty was common in the Old Testament, as Moses often called upon “heaven and earth to witness against Israel,” (Deut. 30:19), and the psalmist refers to the moon as “a faithful witness in heaven,” (Ps. 89:37).
The Son of God most High now hangs cursed for the sins of his people on a tree, suspended between the same heaven and earth he created. And in response, the heavens who before wept for the sins of man with a flood, now drape themselves in black garments of mourning for the murder of their Maker, and the earth quakes under the weight of his accursed cross.
The sun turns its eye from beholding the Lamb of God, brutally mutilated by his enemies, by transforming the day into night. For the one who spreads out the heavens as a curtain (Ps. 104:2), the heavens, in turn, spread out a curtain of darkness between his holy manhood and the wicked eyes of men.
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