“These are times that try men’s souls,” wrote American Founding Father Thomas Paine during the Revolutionary War. As we look around our country today, his quote seems to describe the present: a time when heathens reign over us and degeneracy fills our halls. As U.S. President John Adams once said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Today, we see our nation breaking down around us. So, what are we to do?
Entire volumes have been written to answer this single question. I cannot do it justice. However, Scripture can point us in the right direction, for we are not the first country to teeter along this precipice. Babylon fell at the hands of the Medes and Persians for similar decadence (Daniel 5:25–28), Rome got a Caesar (Luke 2:1), and Israel went its own way time and time again.
Today, we have three options: (1) Doing nothing in hopes that small governance will auto-correct the problem, (2) appointing a top-down Caesar, or (3) following a bottom-up grassroots movement.
The Hands-Off Approach
Neither history nor the Bible supports the hands-off approach of doing nothing regarding our societal decay. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. For example, the society and family that overlooks child sacrifice will likewise be judged for it (Leviticus 20:4–5).
The people of Israel realized the danger of this approach in the days of the upright prophet and judge Samuel. As he grew old, the people of Israel looked to his sons and saw only ruin (1 Samuel 8:4–5). Realizing they could not simply stand by and do nothing, they scrambled for options—and it was then that they settled on a “Caesar”: a king of their own.
The Caesar Approach
Selecting a “Caesar” seemed obvious; it was what all the other nations around them did (v. 5). History itself strongly attests to this method. Decaying societies yearn for a Julius Caesar, a King Richard the Lionheart, or an Oliver Cromwell. We desire someone to set things right. Such a nature is built within us—and it is good—for Scripture says that the very purpose of government is to be “God’s minister to you for good … an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:4). God set up government to be a terror to the ungodly and a protector of the good (v. 3). When it goes against God’s plan, justice cries forth from the ground, and its people yearn in vain, for they know it ought to be different.
In the span of a few years, Julius Caesar saved Rome, King Richard the Lionheart fought back the Muslim scourge abroad before restoring order at home, and Oliver Cromwell saved England from the clutches of the Roman Catholic Church. John Bunyan, the renowned Puritan writer of The Pilgrim’s Progress, was himself a supporter of Cromwell to his dying day, having voluntarily fought in Cromwell’s forces as a young man. Good, strong government is a blessing from the Lord, and a Caesar figure can provide that.
Consider David, Hezekiah, and Jehoshaphat. These men weren’t afraid to kick down the high places of their day. But instead, the people of Israel first got Saul—a man who fit their bill all too perfectly. They had looked at the nations around them, and instead of seeking a strong leader to bring them closer to the Lord, they sought a strong leader to be like the pagan nations. As a result, they got Saul, a king like those in the nations around them. God saw their abandonment of Him and declared to Samuel, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).
Instead of seeking the Lord’s will regarding their dilemma, the people of Israel sought their own king rather than God, and He judged them for it.
Every government needs a strong leader. In Israel’s case, God is its Leader and King in a unique way no other nation shares. Instead of seeking the Lord’s will regarding their dilemma, the people of Israel sought their own king rather than God, and He judged them for it (vv. 9–18).
The Bottom-Up Grassroots Approach
Should we solely rely on bottom-up grassroots movements to turn our country around? These movements show very few signs of actually making headway in our broader culture, nation, and politics. Grassroots movements are certainly worthwhile both practically and scripturally. The U.S. political Left first seized control through what has now been termed “The Long March Through the Institutions,” a bottom-up movement. Cromwell, too, gained power as a result of a grassroots movement of faithful Protestants who said, “No more!” with the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
A Godly Solution
What should we do, then? A synthesis of bottom-up and top-down leadership is pragmatically what it will take to bring any significant change within our country. Even King David began with a growing band of men fleeing King Saul in the wilderness.
We must not seek conformity with the nations around us or find a solution outside of God.
I do not necessarily wish for a Caesar figure to seize the reins of government, and I’m rather glad our country is no longer a monarchy. But history does not grant a high likelihood of nothing fixing everything—leave that to the evolutionist. The coming Caesar will bring either judgment or blessing, and it is my prayer that God grants us a David and not a Saul.
We must not seek conformity with the nations around us or find a solution outside of God. We can improve our society through a godly Caesar, a godly grassroots movement, or perhaps both. But the only way is through Christ.
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