Government policies are important, but Charles Colson reminds us of a larger truth:
Putting it simply, the political illusion is the notion that human nature can be perfected by government; that a new Jerusalem, so to speak, can be built using the tools of politics; that politics is all that matters.
The enormous destruction wrought by the utopian “isms” of the 20th century—socialism, communism, fascism, and Nazism—should have disabused us of the political illusion. But today people are turning once again to government to solve all our problems.
Colson goes on to say:
But government simply cannot meet all of humanity’s needs, nor should it try to. The biblical mandate for government is clear: to preserve order, restrain evil, and to do justice. Civil authority, as Paul said in Romans, is “God’s servant, an agent of
wrath to bring punishment on the wrong doer.” Peter wrote that governments were to “punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”
Even in the Old Testament, whether we see Moses judging disputes among the people or the prophet Amos excoriating the leaders of Israel for “depriving the poor of justice in the courts,” we can understand God’s concern to establish civil order and justice.
There is no biblical basis, however, for government to solve every problem under the sun.
And practically speaking, no president can do what President Obama says he wants to do. I believe he’s sincerely trying to live up to his campaign promises. I think he has a true reformer’s zeal for the environment and healthcare and a host of other domestic issues.
But right now, as some columnists--- like the New York Times’ David Brooks---are urging, we need him to focus on the economic and national security issues. By trying to focus on everything, the President can focus on nothing. . . (more. . . )