Vantage
point
Going
to the Capital
A group of leading politicians
once called on evangelist D.L. Moody and implored him to run for Congress.
“I have got a higher service
than that,” was his response.
The group left confounded, certain
he could have become governor. Some thought he could have eventually made
a run at the presidency.
But it was not Moody’s calling.
Instead he went down in history as one of our nation’s foremost soul-winners.
Moody did not eschew politics because it was wrong; it simply was not his
calling. Some are indeed called by God to this difficult arena.
And a challenging calling it is.
Athanasius, the great fourth-century
champion of the faith, used as his rallying cry “Contra mundum”
— “Against the world.” And 2 Corinthians 6:17 gives this
direction to the church: “Come out from among them and be separate,
says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you”
(NKJV).
This separation is not intended
to be complete detachment. “You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus
said (Matthew 5:13). He wants us to reject the ways of the world that contradict
Christian faith, but we are to remain a positive factor in the culture.
We are privileged to have godly
men and women in Washington, D.C. — and they need our prayer support.
But we must also pray for our other leaders — those who have made no
Christian profession. It’s biblical. (See 1 Timothy 2:1,2.)
As much as Christians in political
office might accomplish, this fact remains: The church has never made a major
impact on the morality of communities or nations without revival.
More activism? OK, but more prayer
too! More Christians in office? Yes, but more solid Christian witness!
Christians are going to Washington
en masse this August with the hope of “Turning America”
by “Praying the way.” Will you join us?
“Nothing would turn the nation
back to God so surely and so quickly,” said Samuel Chadwick, “as
a Church that prayed and prevailed.”
In August we plan to do that.
— Ken Horn
E-mail your comments to pe@ag.org.
