Before we move forward with this weeks’ topic, I wanted to go back to revisit the roots of self-government.  The more we understand God’s hand in the earth, the more we value what we have been given.  I have always said that there were only two nations on earth that were created by God – Israel and the United States.  About two weeks ago I heard Bill Federer, who is a historian, on the radio discussing his studies on the roots of self-government.  He said that when Moses gave God’s law to the Israelites in the desert that set the course for a self-governing system of government that included private property rights, free-enterprise, and equality under the law.  They continued to be governed in this way for several generations as long as the priests taught the law to the people.  During this time they had security from their enemies, prospered and governed themselves according to the Hebraic law.  Righteousness reigned in the land.

They had no need of a police force, as there was little crime; they owned private property (this was unheard of in the world at that time), operated under free enterprise and had no standing army as every male was trained for war.  All of the things that our founders embraced in the writing of our founding documents were in operation during those three or four generations.  Then as the priests lost their love for God and became corrupt the culture and economy started to fail and they became subject to the nations around them.  Ultimately, they cried out for a king like all the nations around them and became subject to the personal righteousness of their kings.

America became the second nation to enter into a self-governing governmental system.  We are also the only other nation besides Israel that began with a covenant with God.  The Mayflower Compact was America’s first founding document and a covenant between the people and God in how they were to set up their civil government.  It was the most historic and significant document ever produced at that point in history.

The Founders believed that in order for a government to be legitimate it must have the consent of the governed (the people).  They also knew that this would put the responsibility for maintaining the republic with the people and that they would need to continue to value virtue, personal responsibility, hard work and freedom.  These character qualities stem from the Judeo-Christian roots of those who founded this nation.  As long as the Bible was taught in our schools each generation had an understanding of these truths and knew what truth was.

Here is what Joseph Story, in his Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833 had to say regarding virtue…“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.”  If we had an educational system that maintained a respect for the Bible, recognizing its importance in instruction on wisdom, personal responsibility, and public virtue, we would not have the downward spiral of American culture currently on public display.

Wisdom is the most important quality we can possess, especially if it is the wisdom that comes from God.  Wisdom brings knowledge and understanding to think critically regarding the issues of the day and even come up with viable solutions to these issues.  Without wisdom we cannot even use the common sense and logic God gave us to make good decisions. Because truth has become a relative matter (it fluctuates from person to person) the standards for honesty have become lowered.  We can see this in every industry but most explicitly in the government.  It is nothing for our leaders to lie to us and it is also rare for them to be called out for it.  It has been rare for any public official to be called a liar from their peers but in the last four years I have heard the “L” word used more than ever before.  Usually, what we hear from news and talking heads is not that what was said was a lie but “oh, they misspoke” or we misunderstood what they said.

The world, up until modern times, has always been black and white, good versus evil. And there was always awareness that life is not fair.  Bad things do happen to good people.  The truth is that it still is good versus evil but today’s popular view of the world is gray and many shades of gray with an obsessive need to make life fair for everyone.  This view allows us to excuse bad behavior in ourselves and others to the detriment of our individual rights, freedoms and safety.  We have been ‘dumbed down’ so much, that instead of thinking critically, we allow our emotions to govern our thinking and decision making.  Wisdom is crying out to us today to wake up and embrace truth, liberty and freedom.

Next Week: Who Influences our Understanding of the Constitution?

Dinner Table Discussion Question: What exactly is virtue and how can we embrace it and influence those around us?