By Chuck Baldwin
America's most celebrated jurist, Daniel Webster (himself a dedicated
Christian man), said, "God grants liberty only to those who love it,  and
are always ready to guard and defend it." Obviously, Christian men  down
through our history have personally and collectively shown  themselves more
than willing to "guard and defend" our liberties. From  Bunker Hill to the
Alamo, Christian men stood tall in the defense of  America's freedom. So, it
is more than a little disconcerting to  realize that there is a sizeable
percentage of today's Christians who  seem completely unwilling to "guard
and defend" liberty in these  United States of America.
Oh, I know that almost all of our pastors and church leaders will laud  and
honor a young Christian man's decision to join our armed forces  and go
overseas to fight enemies abroad. But when it comes to opposing  those
within our own country who seek to dismantle constitutional  government or
the principles of liberty, their support for resistance  turns to apathy and
indifference. (The reason for this couldn't be  because they simply don't
want to do the hard work, could it? Please  tell me it ain't so!)
I have even had Christians tell me that we should not oppose any  attempts
to resist draconian developments within our country, because  doing so would
actually be resisting God. The reasoning goes something  like this: "The
Bible says things will get worse and worse. Therefore,  all this 'bad' stuff
happening is God's will, and if we try to prevent  it, we are fighting
against God's will." I know it sounds incredible,  but we might be shocked
as to the number of professing Christians that  actually subscribe to such
nonsense.
Isn't it interesting, however, that these same Christians did not  believe
we were fighting against God's will when we sent hundreds of  thousands of
U.S. military forces (many of them Christians) to fight  and destroy the
evil regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq? If things are  supposed to get worse
and worse and we would be opposing God's will by  resisting, why should we
interfere in Iraq? Why should we send troops  to Afghanistan, if we are not
to resist evil?
And, of course, the bigger question is, If it is right to resist evil  in a
foreign country half way around the world, why is it not right to  resist
evil in our own country?
Furthermore, the same Christians that tell us we should not oppose any  evil
being perpetrated by those within our own government will scream  about the
importance of going to the polls in November and defeating  the "evil"
Democrats. But why? If Christians are not to resist evil,  because the Bible
says things will get worse and worse, why should we  worry about who wins an
election? In fact, it would seem that the best  thing we could do would be
to identify the absolute worst, most evil  candidate we could find and vote
for him (or her). After all, if God  intends for things to get worse and
worse, why don't we help Him out  by assisting the efforts of evil people?
I wonder if Christians actually think about what they are saying?
When Jesus said, "resist not evil," (Matt. 5:39) did He mean that we
should not oppose a would-be rapist or murderer? Did He mean we should  not
oppose those who would destroy our homes or country? I know a few  honest
pacifists. However, this is not the belief system of most  Christians. Most
Christians believe in lawful self-defense (including  this writer).
The fact is, if it is right to oppose evil in Iraq (and I am among  those
who question the constitutional right and authority of the war  in Iraq), it
is right to oppose evil in America. If we Christians are  willing to send
our fellow believers to fight and die in opposition to  tyranny half way
around the world, it is right that we should be  willing to fight and even
die in opposition to tyranny right here at  home. It is absolute lunacy for
Christians to flippantly dismiss their  moral, spiritual, and civil
obligation to resist the tyrannical  tendencies of corrupt political powers
in these United States.
Christians are plainly commanded to resist the Evil One (James 4:7; 1  Peter
5:9). When Abraham's nephew, Lot, was taken captive by an alien  army, did
Abraham say, "Things are going to get worse and worse and  there is nothing
we can do about it"? Or did he gather his own army  and attack the invaders
and deliver his nephew (see Genesis chapter 14)?
During the dark days of Israel's captivities, did not God raise up
deliverers to stand against the evildoers? When David saw Goliath, did  he
say, "Things are supposed to get worse and worse"? Or did he gather  his
sling and stones and march out to face the pagan?
The history of the early church in New Testament times is one  continuous
example of resistance to tyrannical authority. The apostles  repeatedly
refused to submit to the dictates and demands of both  Jewish and Roman
authorities. Every apostle, save John, was killed for  resisting carnal
authority.
Throughout church history, martyrdom was common. Some such as Huss and
Tyndale died passively at the hands of various religious and political
elements, while others such as Zwingli died on the battlefield  resisting
corrupt and tyrannical governments.
The fact is, for more than two thousand years of Church history--from  John
the Baptist to John Witherspoon--Christians have repeatedly and
consistently resisted evil authorities. How dare pastors and  Christians now
say that we should not resist the evil, tyrannical  tendencies of powerful
politicos? How dare they suggest that it is  "God's will" that we allow evil
to triumph in our land?
Worse still is the apathy and indifference that many Christians  display
toward the great freedoms and liberties into which they have  been born as
Americans. We enjoy these great liberties, because our  forebears (many of
them Christians) were willing to fight and die to  bequeath them to us. We
do not enjoy the rights and freedoms  enumerated in the Constitution and
Bill of Rights and announced in the  Declaration of Independence by chance
or luck. These freedoms were  secured by the blood, sweat, and tears of
brave Americans who chose to  fight evil in our own country.
America has enjoyed the blessings of liberty, because, as Webster  said,
our fathers and grandfathers were willing to "guard and defend"  it. Will
this be the generation that refuses to "guard and defend"  liberty? Will
this be the generation that permits the evil  machinations of powerful, but
corrupt, athorities to steal liberty  from our posterity?
There is another statement by Daniel Webster that today's Christians  need
to take to heart: "There is no nation on earth powerful enough to
accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will  be
from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the  concerns of
their government, from their carelessness and negligence.  I must confess
that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may  place too implicit a
confidence in their public servants, and fail  properly to scrutinize their
conduct; that in this way they may be  made the dupes of designing men, and
become the instruments of their  own undoing."
Should Webster's warning come true for America, it will be because our
pastors and Christian leaders refused to "guard and defend" liberty in  our
own land. Should this happen, our tombstone will read, "Here lies  the
United States of America: killed by the apathy and indifference of  its
pastors and churches."
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