After Tuesday’s election results, there’s no doubt about it -- the Republican Party, guilty of inconsistency, weakness, scandals, inability to articulate policy, an addiction to big spending, and cowardice in the face of the Democrats and the mainstream media, got an old-fashioned, bare-fisted thumping from American voters. Though the G.O.P. leaders had denied its possibility for months, one of the worst-case scenarios was realized: the U.S. Senate (as well as the Congress) is now in Democrat hands. Can you say, “Mrs. Speaker, Nancy Pelosi”? Ugh.
The Republican Party’s best hope now (and the country’s, for that matter) is that George W. Bush finally learns how to veto a bill, blessing the nation with the subsequent gridlock that might stave off further disasters…at least until the G.O.P. learns its lesson and comes back properly chastened in 2008.
Will that happen? Well, it certainly can but only if these three things occur:
1) Republicans return to their foundational principles, especially defending the right to life, smaller government, being tough on criminals here and outside our borders, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution;
2) They learn to communicate those principles effectively to the voters, learning from the example of Ronald Reagan; and,
3) They commit themselves to fight for those principles with enthusiasm, intelligence and consistency. Again, Reagan serves as a terrific mentor but so too do Senator Tom Coburn, Congressman Chris Smith and many of the vibrant voices in the new media.
Those, I grant you, are three big “ifs” – but they can (and must) be done if the G.O.P. hopes to reclaim the kind of power it has frittered away these last several years.
Of course, the political landscape is just the stage setting for a much larger tragedy; namely, the severe moral calamity which America has experienced in recent decades. For instance, it wasn’t a political party yesterday that gave us referenda in favor of embryonic stem cell research…or votes against parents being notified of their minor daughter’s impending abortion…or measures increasing gambling…or South Dakota’s failure to uphold a ban on abortion…or Arizona’s refusal to ban homosexual “marriage.” And it wasn’t Howard Dean who elected a radical Muslim to Congress nor Ted Kennedy who put a self-described Socialist into the Senate.
No, the culprits who perpetrated all of these dastardly actions were regular American citizens – citizens whose minds and consciences have been warped by government schools, by Hollywood, by journalists with a leftist agenda, by muddle-headed judges, and by the coercive leaders of labor unions – citizens whose denial of a personal God (in practice if not in actual pronouncement) makes them yearn feverishly for the false sense of security promised by the nanny state.
We have met the enemy. And he is us!
Therefore, the most immediate, practicable solution is a dramatic change of heart for America…one life at a time. Big strategies and movements and politics all have a place, certainly; but our overall goal should always be conversion. And when authentic, conversion is always intensely personal. Therefore, we must accept our responsibility as believers in and followers of Jesus Christ; namely, to serve as light bearers, joy bearers, and freedom bearers to our local community, our nation and far beyond. By our words and our lives, we invest in our culture, but always in ways that will encourage others to seek an answer for the hope that is in us.
We are commanded to be, as it were, winsome and articulate “public service ads” for our Redeemer King. This doesn’t mean we compromise. Nor, God forbid, do we run for cover. It means we faithfully preach and teach the Word while, at the same time, we live out its truths of holiness, compassion and triumphant power.
So, be of good cheer; not because of Tuesday’s results, but because of what is more important (and far more lasting) than temporal politics. After all, the Bible explains that we believers are elected too – and not by a fickle and foolish people, but by Almighty God Himself! And our election isn’t for two years or four years but for all eternity.
Congratulations! Now, get to work!
