Bible-based Government

My last few posts have dealt with the Seven Spheres of Society as defined by Loren Cunningham. As discussed in the first post, it is only through bringing Biblical principles in each of these seven spheres that we can truly change the course of an entire nation. We then went on to discuss what it means to bring Biblical principles into the family and the church. This brings us to the next sphere of society, namely government. Talking about applying Biblical principles in the government is an extremely touchy subject in American society. Christians claim that our government was based on Biblical principles from the start and that we need to return to that whereas non-Christians stress freedom of religion and claim that our founding fathers didn't truly follow Christianity. Before we can continue to discuss this topic we must define what we are proposing.

What do we mean by Bible-based?
Many people probably have already turned off to this post because they have understood this statement wrong. What is a Bible-based government? Does it mean that we force everyone to follow the Bible? Of course not. One of the major Biblical principles is the freedom of choice. God has given us choice and desires that we choose Him. No one can be forced to follow God even if we wanted to, and God doesn't want to. Therefore a Bible-based government would have freedom of religion as one of it's core values today just as it did in 1787 when the U.S. Constitution was ratified. So what does a Bible-based government mean if it is not to force everyone to follow the Bible? It means simply that the people running the government run it on Biblical principles.

Biblical Principle #1: Integrity
One of the first principles that we need to start demanding from our government is integrity. In today's society Politician has become almost synonymous with liar and this needs to change. As citizens we have simply accepted the fact that politicians will make promises they can't keep and that they will simply tell us what we want to hear.  We can no longer accept this, we must demand integrity and truth from our government. We must pray for our leaders and ask God to give them the courage and boldness to speak out in truth and to act in integrity.

Biblical Principle #2: Selflessness
We need to get politicians who will stop looking for personal gain first. This kind of selflessness will allow politicians to make bold, decisive decisions without worry about the votes he/she may win or lose. Often in politics the leaders are afraid to 'rock the boat', especially in an election year, and this holds them back from making the important decisions. We need politicians with a true desire to make a difference in government that trumps their personal ambition and their own wants.

Biblical Principle #3: Vision
The Bible says that "without vision the people perish". Vision is a Godly direction or goal. Nowadays campaigns seem to simply consist of 'bashing' the opponent rather than promoting personal vision. Politicians need to start promoting the vision that they have for their time in office. As mentioned above, I don't mean empty promises, I mean what do you desire to see done in your time in office. Make that vision lofty but reachable, and preferably make that vision something that the Holy Spirit led you too.

These are just three general principles that we need to start demanding from our politicians. I don't care if they are Democrat or Republican or any of the other parties, if they have these three qualities they will go a long way in changing the way our government runs. It will take a while to completely change the course of government in this country but all of us can do our part by praying for our leaders, speaking good over them, and voting while being led by the Holy Spirit.