Peter Ducy of Fox News was reporting from the “Roy Moore for Senate” election watch party the nig
ht of the recent senatorial election in Alabama. According to Ducy, as the returns were coming in and the projections began to predict a Moore defeat, the tension, worry and consternation began to grow among Moore’s associates. However, Moore remained calm himself and expressed something like this: “God is in charge; if we win that will be fine; if not, that will be fine as well. God’s will will be done.”
When I heard this, I did not think it sounded “kookey” nor was I surprised as Ducy seemed to be. I knew that Moore, if elected, would be a true, biblical statesman, i.e., one who understands the purpose and place for civil government in the kingdom of God and has the personal, biblical qualifications to serve.
I believe there are two, human reasons why this did not happen and Moore was defeated:
1. The rise of postmodernism in our culture, Postmodernism is described by this statement: “Truth is what you believe it to be. What is right is what is right for you. There is no absolute right and wrong, no fixed gender, no absolute meaning in the constitution, etc.”
This also means the laws of establishing guilt are unnecessary for the accused to be convicted, only an accusation. We no longer, in the public mind, are “innocent until proven guilty” though we may still be in a court of law. This is a fatal shift in the national mood. Without “innocent until proven guilty,” anyone is fair game. All anyone could say against Moore, including supposedly conservative Christian Republicans, was “I believe the accusations, ” but that was enough. In the court of public opinion, it was “guilty as accused, with no evidence.” An examination of the handwriting by experts on the only piece of evidence against Moore, from 30 years ago, was not allowed by the accuser.
All the politicians who were already against Moore said, very piously, “The witnesses were credible.” Who says? They were not to me. Why the thirty-year wait until The Washington Post “discovered” them just before the elections?.” Where is a shred of examined evidence? Where is any presumption of innocence, which is the foundation of our Western, biblically based, judicial system?
There is a second, more subtle reason for Moore’s defeat.
2. The ignorance of many Christians of the “Gospel of the Kingdom,” referred to and preached by Jesus. He told us to pray for that kingdom to come and therefore God’s will be done all over the earth as it is done right now in heaven. To many believers without a biblical worldview, the gospel does not include the kingdom coming to earth, right now, through the influence and rule of Jesus, through His people, wherever they have authority (in families, business, politics, etc.). They feel that Jesus’ rule, right now, is only in our hearts. Jesus says it is both.
That Bible says that Jesus is “King of kings”—King of over all other kings (governments, in today’s ruling structure) in this current age—and they are all told in the Bible (Psalm 2) to bow to Jesus, right now.
However, many Christians don’t feel God is interested in politics, so we do not look at candidates for public office from a biblical perspective—as civil magistrates in the kingdom of God. Because of this ignorance on the part of the believers in Alabama and their willingness to unconsciously imbibe of the postmodernism of the culture, Alabamians rejected the most qualified candidate for statewide, federal government office in decades. Here is why I believe that statement to be true.
We discussed the biblical qualifications for the office of civil magistrate (political office) during the election. I want to review them, this time with Roy Moore instead of the potential presidential nominees under scrutiny. The first four are found in Exodus 18:21, and the last is modeled by the ancient Hebrew Republic in the Old Testament and Romans 13:1-7 in the New.
1. Able. This means someone who has the knowledge, experience and ability to carry out the duties the office demands. Roy Moore has proven that in previous situations. Although he has been a judge for many years, he has moved in political circles and is very experienced in dealing with political situations.
2. Fear God. The biblical civil magistrate recognizes that ultimately God rules over His creation, and he is but a sinner, forgiven by God, and ultimately accountable to God for how he rules. He is God’s vice-regent on the earth. This is at the heart of who Roy Moore is. He has been very unpopular among unbelievers, even conservatives who agree with him politically, because of this character trait. His unwillingness to “go along to get along” if God’s law, the constitution, or his conscience is violated. This has cost him dearly politically.
3. Men of truth. In today’s society, this is a rare commodity. It is perfectly acceptable to have a flexible definition of what “is” is. Roy Moore’s 40 year public life has been a demonstration of this trait. As a result, the accusations of sexual assault are laughable. Dating older teen-agers, particularly with parental permission as did Moore, may be rare but is perfectly acceptable, and is obviously not automatic evidence that he molested them.
4. Hating covetousness. Covetousness is wanting what is not yours to have. Moore is said to “never win elections in a landslide,” and to be “a polarizing figure.” That is because he is a man of truth and speaks what is in his heart no matter how unpopular, and he does not covet a position of power to the degree that he would compromise his beliefs.
5. Understands the job description. Does he know what he is supposed to do, constitutionally and biblically? Shockingly, most civil magistrates don’t. The message of both the Constitution and the Bible is that civil government’s job is exclusively to 1.) protect the law-keepers, 2.) punish law-breakers. Magistrates should be working to bring government back within these parameters. Moore understands this, and would have always worked toward that end if he had been elected, just the opposite of the vast majority of politicians in D.C. today.
God’s will is inscrutable, and we can never fully comprehend it, particularly when it flies in the face of what seems so in line with what God tells us is His eternal purpose. However, we can know only what He has chosen to show us. Our desire to know more, to know what He knows, is an indication that we still harbor in our hearts the desire we acquired in the Garden of Eden—to be like God. We are not satisfied to be as His little children, trusting him to always be in control of His world, no matter how terrible the situation seems to us. Roy Moore’s words, as they waited for the election returns,.were an indication that he was trusting Daddy in that way: “God is in charge; if we win that will be fine; if not, that will be fine as well. God’s will will be done.” May we learn to do likewise.
