While our Country remains untainted with the Principles and manners, which are now producing desolation in so many Parts of the World: while she continues Sincere and incapable of insidious and impious Policy: We shall have the Strongest Reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned Us by Providence. But should the People of America, once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another and towards foreign nations, which assumes the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing Iniquity and Extravagance; and displays in the most captivating manner the charming Pictures of Candour frankness & sincerity while it is rioting in rapine and Insolence: this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World. Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. —John Adams
I have this fascination with government. I’m not sure why. And it’s any level of government—from self-government to national government to world government. You will find government in an any organized body of people—businesses, churches, classrooms, playgroups. For that matter, the group of people doesn’t even have to be organized. Anarchy shifts the boundaries of government from groups to individuals, but it is still a form of government.
Order and structure are things that appeal to me. I like things that are sensical and optimized. One thing about bringing order and structure to anything, however, is that you need to start organizing at the most basic unit of whatever whole it is to which you wish to bring order.
You may have heard the last two lines of the quote from John Adams before (they are quoted most often), but I find the entire paragraph packed with truth. Mr. Adams knew that the government of the united States was designed in such a way that the greatness of the whole would never—could never—exceed the greatness of the individual states of which it was constituted. And each state was given the liberty to establish governments that reflected the will of the people who lived there. If any state’s governments did not reflect the ideas and character of the people, the people had the option of throwing off that government by either reforming the government of the state they were in or moving to another state. But, either way, in order to create the environment in which a person could enjoy the greatest happiness, the government needed to be a reflection of good moral character within the individual. It isn’t possible for any individual to understand, much less bring about, good results in government (or any other area of their life) that are beyond the level of goodness that they incorporate into themselves.
Can any of us honestly believe that we are a “moral and religious people?” Read the quote from Mr. Adams again and count how many mental somersaults you have to do before you answer that question in the affirmative. You won’t have to do any to answer no. We are not a “moral and religious people”—not like we would like to think we are. Christians who are, or would be, political activists should mind this for two reasons—one that is obvious now and one that will become increasingly obvious in the future.
First, trying to get people to involved in the political process is going to be completely ineffectual in restoring a moral backbone to government until you first address the lack of morals in people. Some people realize this. Many do not, but they will.
13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7)
There is a reason why the Lord’s requirements are what they are: He cannot heal the land in absence of the repentance of the people. You can try to make changes to political parties, encourage political involvement, organize protests, and even legislate yourself into an oblivion, but you will not take the dents out of what is a complete and utter train wreck until you invoke the Lord’s blessing by first doing exactly what he says in the above scripture.
Second, as this country goes through its death throes, Christians will realize more and more that their definition of repentance does not match the Lord’s definition of repentance. An accurate understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ was lost through history, and Christians, in particular, sit in a greater darkness than they realize. In large measure, any “invocation” by them will fall on deaf ears because it is not what the Lord actually requires. Though they will plead for his intervention, it will not come until they understand what the gospel of Jesus Christ actually entails, accept it for what it is, and live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God as a result.
The needed application of what Mr. Adams wrote to our current situation should be a signal of our own moral deficiency—especially to those who might entertain the idea of somehow being the salt of the earth. As it is, Christians have an incorrect understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book to anyone who recognizes that we are lacking the same aid, comfort, assistance, healing, and deliverance from God that he so mercifully promises in scripture.