A Crisis of Leadership Proverbs 28, 29 Dr. Michael Gabbert

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1 A Crisis of Leadership Proverbs 28, 29 Dr. Michael Gabbert I still want to answer the question that I ve been asked dozens of times. Who do I vote for in this election? As I've prayed about it, I think there is no simple answer. The question requires us to order our thinking, if you will. Previously, we looked at Psalm 11 and we saw that God is still on His throne. We had to get our thinking straight about God before we could move forward to talk about politics. To discover an answer to the question of who we vote for, we must first confront the attitude of people who say, "You know, I m just going to wash my hands of politics; I m going to step out of the public square. We re just going to go into our little church; we re just going to close the doors; we re just going to do church stuff." I answer, "How can you say that to me? Because I ve taken my refuge in the Lord and He means for us to be involved." If we get our thinking straight about God, then it s appropriate next to ensure our thinking is straight about government. We must consider A Crisis of Leadership. As we explore in Proverbs, I want to think through questions such as: "Should Christians try and influence law and politics?" Secularists today contend that faith doesn t belong in the public square. "Go do your church stuff in your church building," they suggest, "but faith doesn t have a voice in the great issues of our day." Unfortunately, there are even Christians who say that. I wish the politicians who are trying to exclude the church would go back and read the early history of America. And I wish the preachers who are trying to avoid politics would go back and read the Bible. If our politicians understood our history and our constitution and our preachers understood the Bible, I think we could see a difference in this culture. So, that s the challenge. How are we to be involved in a way that demonstrates our qualities of salt and light? The moral standards that God reveals in the Bible are not up for vote; they are standards to which God holds all people accountable. Our role is to be a prophetic voice in our culture, helping those who are in roles of leadership to understand that those standards apply to them and they are accountable to God. I would not want to be president of the United States. Not because I think the job is too hard, but because I think the accountability before God for a job like that is huge. I ve heard people say all my life that one should avoid politics and religion in polite conversation. And yet, I believe, those are the very subjects we cannot avoid if we are to be salt and light in our culture. Pastors are regularly told to do evangelism, and to not do politics. In fact, it s a risky thing in some churches to speak in a political vein. The problem with avoiding politics in church is the fear that the government can take away our tax-exempt status. The church survived 1900 years without tax-exempt status. It s nothing but an attempted blackmail to silence the Church. If the people of God don t understand God s expectations of government and if we abdicate our responsibility as a A Crisis of Leadership Page 1

2 prophetic voice in our culture, there will be no one to blame for America s demise but ourselves. The Church has to be involved in the political process. As a step in the direction of deciding how to vote, we must have our minds right about God, and then we have to solidify our biblical understanding about government. Consequences of Bad Government Let s talk about the consequences of bad government. I was in Russia in 2004, and I had a conversation with a man there which I have never forgotten. We were talking about global politics, the US and Russia, and he made an interesting comment. This was more than 12 years ago, and we were talking about Putin, the leader of Russia. This Russian man said, "Watch out for Putin. He wants to be Czar." At the time I thought, Well, that s a little dramatic" and yet, this many years later, that s exactly what s happening. Putin is pursuing that kind of political power. In an article dated June 28, 2016, reports, "Christians in Russia have called for a day of prayer and fasting tomorrow (Wednesday, June 29 th) as the country looks set to introduce draconian new restrictions on freedom of religion similar to those that existed in the communist era. Last Friday, two members of the Russian Parliament introduced a series of amendments that would require individuals to gain prior state authorization before even discussing their faith with someone else." Now think that through. The new law requires any sharing of the Christian faith, even a casual conversation with a friend, to have prior authorization from the state. This restriction includes something as basic as an ed invitation to attend church. Even in a private home, worship and prayer will only be allowed if there are no unbelievers present, and foreigners will be outlawed from attending any such events. Look what s happening to Christianity in Russia. Christianity in Russia is more than one thousand years old. It came to Russia in the year 987 and swept across that continent. Theirs is a long tradition, one of the longest Christian traditions anywhere on the planet; and yet they re moving to such severe restrictions as to make it virtually impossible to even have faith as a topic of conversation between friends. Just as I was feeling bad about Russia, I found an article at the very next day. It s about California Senate Bill 1146, a bill that has already passed the California Senate and is slated for an upcoming vote in the California assembly It is a bill that seeks to limit federal religious exemptions from Federal Title Nine regulations. (SB 1146 was later withdrawn by its sponsor, but the prospect of re-submission next year has already been suggested.) Christian organizations, churches, universities, schools, and ministries, have always been routinely granted exemption to some of the Title Nine requirements as a matter of conscience. California, in this senate bill, would be taking it a step further than even the federal government by eliminating those normal exemptions, except for what they call seminaries or schools which specifically train pastors. In a practical sense, for the thirty Christian universities currently in the state of California, it might soon be illegal for them A Crisis of Leadership Page 2

3 to limit employment to confessing Christians. It might soon be illegal for them to incorporate Bible courses into their state-mandated curriculum. It might soon be illegal for schools to have an expectation of a profession of faith on the part of their students. It might soon be illegal for a school to have a weekly chapel requirement for their student body. What this means is that these schools may still be an institution of higher learning, but it would be impossible to function as a distinctively Christian university. Russia. California. You may shrug and think, well, that's California, it's expected. But I ve lived long enough to know that things that happen in California make their way everywhere, eventually. Loss of Humanity Proverbs 28:12, 28. See the consequences of bad government. V.12 says, When the righteous triumph, there is great rejoicing, but when the wicked come to power, people hide themselves." Then, v.28, When the wicked come to power, people hide, but when they are destroyed, the righteous flourish. The word that s translated in both of those verses as "people" is really the word Adam. It s not a word that means a collection of individuals, as in all you people. It s a word that describes the essence of what it means to be human. We might translate it as humanity not humanity in the sense of all people on the planet, but humanity in the sense of that which makes us different from animals. That s the Hebrew word. These proverbs conclude that one of the consequences of bad government is a loss of humanity. The meaning of these verses suggests more than the fact that good people sometimes hide when they are afraid. Rather, humanity itself is harder to find when society becomes de-humanized. In other words, when placed under poor government, man, a unique creation of God, sinks to the level of beastly behavior. I don t care if you re a Democrat or Republican; I don t care who you voted for in last election. We must be in agreement that, in the last five or six years, our culture has become more animal-like. We ve seen humanity slipping away from us. What's clear in these verses is that when society becomes more animal-like, a major share of the responsibility rests with government. Leaders and rulers can be evaluated by the society and the culture that is created under their administration. Bad government produces a society that loses its humanity. Spread of Corruption A second consequence of bad government is the spread of corruption. Proverbs 29:2, 12 says, When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, people groan. If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked. When leaders are corrupted, corruption filters down to the lowest segments of society. Corrupt leaders produce a miserable culture. And when the leaders' standards lack integrity, the administration becomes corrupt and society, especially the poor, suffers as a result. A Crisis of Leadership Page 3

4 The bottom line is that bad government allows corruption to become normal and humanity becomes hidden. It doesn t matter which side of the political fence you re on, you have to be able to admit that corruption is now normal to us. What bothers me is when I see Christians bending over backwards to try and justify why corruption is no big deal. It is a big deal because the private lives and character of our leaders has a ripple effect in the culture. I see people who practice mental gymnastics by saying, "Well, we re not electing a pastor; we re electing a president. Why do their private lives matter?" Just like you, their private lives are indications of character and the absence of character in private lives doesn t suddenly go away and produce a virtuous leader in public life. A crook is a crook is a crook. A philanderer is a philanderer. A person lacking integrity, a person whose word cannot be trusted, even if those are private characteristics, produces public consequences. We need to return to the standards of the Word of God and be a prophetic voice in our culture. Comfort for Committed Believers This chapter also provides comfort for committed believers. Inherent Instability of Evil Proverbs 29:16. When the wicked increase, rebellion increases, but the righteous will see their downfall." Let me remind you that proverbs are not promises; proverbs are general observations about the way life usually works. One of the general observations made here is that because evil is inherently unstable, it never ultimately lasts. We fought World War II to defeat Hitler, but the reality is that Hitler s 1000-year Reich was never going to last 1000 years because it was built on evil, and evil never sustains anything very long. It is inherently unstable and the general observation of life that s given here confirms that those who continue to do right, even in the midst of a culture that practices evil, will eventually see the fall of ruthless evil doers. There is assurance here for those who stay the course of righteousness. Things will not always continue as they are now. There is hope here of a supernatural reversal that gives strength to the people of God. As long as God is still on His throne, as long as the Church still has people who are salt and light, as long as the promises of God are still good, we are not yet finished. There is an assurance here that if we continue to do what s right, there will one day be a change, because evil is inherently unstable. Ultimate Vindication of Right Proverbs 29:18, 23. Without revelation people run wild, but one who listens to instruction will be happy. A person s pride will humble him, but a humble spirit will gain honor. It is vital for the revelation of God, what we call the Bible, to stay in the conversations of the public square. When there is no prophetic witness in a culture, this translation says that (v. 18) "people run wild." The New American Standard Bible says "people cast off restraint." That s what we are seeing today, because the church has too often hidden behind the church doors, because both by attack and by voluntary resignation the Bible has been removed from conversations in the public square. Where A Crisis of Leadership Page 4

5 there is not a prophetic witness, there is not a call to stand accountable before God. We see a nation where people are doing whatever they want to do. It s called casting off restraint or running wild. Social harmony and justice cannot be achieved without prophetic teaching and the standards of God s Word. Therefore, we don t have the right to run and hide. You might think you don't have any influence. You do in the conversations with the people that you cross paths with on a daily basis. Maybe you think you need to be a preacher to have influence. I m not asking you to be a preacher. I m asking you to understand what God s expectations are for a culture, and then to just go be salt and light. This means living the life of Jesus and giving testimony of why we live that way. You should be the best neighbor on your street; and when they want to know why you re such a good neighbor, the answer is Jesus Christ. You should be involved in your home owners association or the PTA. Some of your neighbors never cross paths with anybody who lives by biblical standards. Be the voice of truth in kindness. The assurance intended here is that those who pursue right will see evil times pass. There s no promise when this will happen. In fact, there s not even a promise that it will happen in our lifetimes. But when you go to Hebrews 11, you find an entire chapter of heroes of the faith. One thing they had in common was that they didn t see the fulfillment of the promises they'd received, but they still lived according to the fact that the promises were true. This means we have to keep doing what s right. We have to live by the standards of the word of God. We have to be salt and light in our world, regardless of whether we ever win another vote ever. Call to Significant Christian Influence There is a call here to exert significant Christian influence in the political world. Some people argue that the ancient church was part of the Roman Empire, therefore they never were involved in politics in any tangible way and that Jesus was silent on this subject. Jesus wasn t silent and neither were His followers. New Testament Models Luke 3: The first model of political involvement is John the Baptist. Part of what John does in his ministry is to speak with moral authority to Herod, ruler of Galilee. Herod Antipas was a tetrarch, which meant that he shared authority over several areas (as opposed to a monarch). Herod Antipas ruled Galilee from 4 BC to AD 39. There were numerous vulgarities in Herod s life, but his private life was marked by outrageous behaviors sexual infidelities as well as political betrayals. He was a wicked man and John called him out, particularly relating to the fact that he took his brother s wife in a sexual relationship. Luke 3:18-20 relates, Then, along with many other exhortations, John proclaimed good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him about Herodias, his brother s wife, and about all the evil things Herod had done, added this to everything else he locked John up in prison." A Crisis of Leadership Page 5

6 Actually, John was delivering the good news of forgiveness to the people; but there was a place in his ministry for speaking boldly to the officials of the empire about the immoralities of their policies and their behaviors. He spoke out against Herod because of the evil things which were being done. John was arrested and eventually executed for his boldness. I get that. I m not wild about the potential of being arrested someday, and I m certainly not thrilled about the prospect of being executed. But when we stand before Jesus, how will we answer for our silence in difficult days? We re not born arbitrarily; we are here for a purpose. This is our culture. This is our nation. This is where we are called to be salt and light. God put us right here, right now, to be His people, in this place, with His knowledge of everything that would be happening today. John gives us the example of someone who was not afraid to call out what is true, Herod, you re accountable before God. The king could cut off John s head, but he could not avoid answering to God. Acts 24: The Apostle Paul took advantage of his arrest in Acts 24 to interact with a governor named Felix. The word translated spoke in these verses is actually better understood as converse. The idea is that Paul and Felix had time to sit down and discuss the issues of the day. "After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and listened to him on the subject of faith in Christ Jesus. Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and replied, 'Leave for now, but when I find time I ll call for you.' Paul spoke to Felix about the moral standards of the day and about how this ruler was accountable to God. He was clearly willing to evaluate the policies and the behavior of this governor. In fact, the conversation hit so close to home that Felix was afraid and he sent Paul away. We've bought into a lie in this generation. Our culture has been harping, harping, and harping that if you disagree with anybody about anything, you must then hate them. True followers of Jesus are not haters. And to stay true to the standards of the word of God, and to share those standards with people, is not to be a bigot or a hater; but we ve let that harping lie drive us into silence. The Bible says in Hebrews that it is appointed for a man to die once and then comes the judgment. Our silence is not only hurting the people we care about, but it s allowing our culture to be damaged by evil men. Responsibilities of Representative Democracy "Who do I vote for?" We haven t gotten to that question just yet, but we have discovered the responsibilities that come with being part of a representative democracy. First, we have to provide a clear moral compass. Moral absolutes need to be contrasted to individual opinions. There are many moral and ethical issues in our day that are related to spiritual warfare; and while the kingdom of God is our highest loyalty, the fight for a Judeo-Christian America is to recreate a platform for the gospel to the world. America is not the nation of Israel. When we pray 2 Chronicles 7:14 we are not praying that God will hear America s prayers and restore America. What we re saying is that America has many of God s people in it and when God s people call His name, when they seek His A Crisis of Leadership Page 6

7 face, when God s people turn from their wicked ways. Think about what that means. When we begin to seek the Lord, when we begin to repent of our part in America s immorality, then God will hear from heaven, He will hear our prayers. Our land may yet prove to be useful to the Kingdom of God. We have an obligation to be a moral compass in our generation. We also have an obligation to become a well-informed, prayerful electorate. A significant part of ruling power in America has been entrusted to citizens, usually through the ballot box. We ve watched the phrase low information voter become a part of our cultural vocabulary. How should we approach voting days? First, we need to understand the biblical standard for government that God outlines. You need to be knowledgeable of the issues that are in play, and you need to be aware of the character of the politicians who are asking for your vote. And here is a radical idea: you should pray extensively before you go cast your ballots. You should vote for a politician because you have God s permission and direction to cast that vote. What would happen if God really was considered as our top advisor for political decisions? Here is the take away from this lesson: Christians must vote. Whatever you may think about the presidential race, there are many other races down the ballot that require your participation. In fact, if the overreaching policies coming out of Washington DC are to be resisted, we will need strong, good leaders in every state. Whatever you decide about the presidency, you need to decide to vote for good men and women all the way down the ballot. You might be thinking that you re not interested in the presidential race; you might just stay home. Frankly, I don t believe you have the right to stay home. God didn t put you in a dictatorship where you can just wash your hands and say, "There is not really much I can do." He put you in a representative democracy; and while it has been compromised to some degree, it is still functioning at the point of allowing us to vote. So, we may have a dilemma before us, but remember: God is on His throne. We must have our minds right about God. Government has some expectations biblically, and so we need to have our minds right about government. These are the first two steps needed before choosing who you will vote for. But there s still more Copyright, 2016, by Michael Gabbert A Crisis of Leadership Page 7