“Make America Good Again!”
By Stan Key
It’s an election year. Have you noticed? The campaign for the White House has barely begun, and I’m already weary. As in every presidential election, the issues are real and the stakes are high, but somehow this year feels different. It seems that the future of our nation is hanging in the balance. I confess that my cynicism about the political process leaves me wondering where to turn, what to think, who to vote for, and even how to pray.
In my musings and cogitations, I find myself wondering if it is time for a third-party write-in candidate. In fact, that is why I’m writing this tract: to encourage you to consider the same. Before your blood pressure rises and you question my sanity—not to mention my sanctification!—let me assure you that my proposal is not the kind of third-party candidacy that is being discussed in the news. I’m thinking about an alternative campaign that would actually make Jesus a viable candidate for the highest office in the land. Let me explain.
Reading recently through the book of Jeremiah, I realized how many similarities there are between the world Jeremiah lived in and our culture today. Barbarians are at the gates. Culture is coming apart. Government is corrupt. And the church is asleep. Though Judah continues to pay lip service to God, she has no intention of turning from sin or putting her trust in the one who gave her birth. Without repentance, revival, and reform, judgment will fall on the nation and God’s people will be sent into exile.
God sends Jeremiah to address the situation, but where to begin? Though the prophet has much to say to the false prophets, the priests, and the people, some of his severest words are reserved for the political leaders of his day. Jeremiah 21:1–23:8 conveys the message he gave to a series of kings. Calling each one by name, he declares that each has failed to do his duty and, therefore, judgement is coming on the land. He addresses his words to Zedekiah (21:1–10), Shallum (22:11–17), Jehoiakim (22:18–23), and Coniah (22:24–30).
Examining his message, we can discern the outline of a kind of divine job description for government leaders. There is no mention of health care, tax reform, military spending, or social security, but in Jeremiah’s words, we get a glimpse of God’s political platform for kings and presidents. Government leaders in all nations down through the centuries will stand one day before the King of kings and be examined based on how they conformed to this God-ordained job description.
Execute justice. “Hear the word of the Lord, O house of David! Thus says the Lord: ‘Execute justice in the morning [every day]…. Do justice and righteousness…’” (Jer 21:11–12; 22:3). Basically, a leader of government has the same role in society as an elementary school teacher on the playground: ensuring that everyone plays fairly. Share with one another, don’t exclude anyone, don’t fight, don’t be a bully, say “I’m sorry,” etc. God expects government leaders to “do righteousness” as well as doing justice. While “justice” refers primarily to the king’s performance, “righteousness” refers mainly to the king’s character. In God’s eyes, who the king is in his heart is just as important as what the king does in his actions.
Defend the defenseless. “Deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow…” (Jer 22:3). God has a special concern for those members of society who have no one to defend them. He holds government leaders responsible to make sure these most vulnerable persons among us are protected and cared for.
Do not abuse power. The temptation is great for those who have power to use their position for selfish gain. Jeremiah’s prophetic words against King Shallum were provoked by the way he took advantage of others and abused his power:
Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, who says, “I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,” who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.
Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father [King Josiah] eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord. But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence. (Jeremiah 22:13–17)
All of the kings in Jeremiah’s day failed to live up to their job description. The sad truth is that the history of kings and presidents down through the ages reveals the same sad saga. Every president, at some level, disappoints us. The reason is simple: to execute justice, you must first be just yourself. The Bible, as well as human experience, clearly shows that “none is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10). Does this mean we should never expect justice from our government leaders? To a degree, yes. In a fallen world, there are limits to what we can expect from kings and presidents. However, this is not the end of the story. God wants to show us a better way.
Jesus for President
Rather than leaving us to wallow in our injustice and unrighteousness, God steps in and makes a startling twofold announcement in Jeremiah 23:1–8. First, he wants us to understand that the day is coming when he personally will judge every king and president. No act of oppression, no deed of injustice, no failure to defend the defenseless will be unnoticed.
“Woe to the shepherds [kings] who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord…. “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold I will attend to you for your evil deeds….” (Jeremiah 23:1–2)
Second, God promises us a coming king who will be both righteous and just, the kind of government leader we have always dreamed of:
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5–6)
For centuries, Israel waited for this promised son of David. Some thought it might be Zerubbabel, others Judas Maccabeus. Finally, when Jesus was born, the prophecy came true. Behold, your King! Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. His reign has already begun. King Jesus has an agenda that will make the tentacles of “big government” reach into every area of your life.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder…. Of the increase of his government…there will be no end….
(Isaiah 9:6–7)
Perhaps the most amazing characteristic of the reign of King Jesus is his name: “the Lord is our righteousness.” His name tells us both who he is—righteous and just—and what he does—he makes us righteous and just, so that we can reign with him.
Though Jeremiah 23:5–6 is seldom preached today, the great preachers of years gone by preached it often. Wesley, Whitefield, Spurgeon, and others have sermons entitled “The Lord Our Righteousness.” Their message is the same as Jeremiah’s: when Jesus is lifted up as King and Lord, his righteousness becomes our righteousness.
That I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3:8–9)
Donald Trump rallies his supporters with the cry, “Make America great again.” Though one can understand the need for change in our nation, the slogan easily can become a mask for the selfish greed and arrogant nationalism lying just beneath our collective consciousness. Perhaps a better slogan would be “Make America good again.” We have a much better chance of finding our way as a nation if we rediscover our spiritual roots and godly character. I am not sure of the origin of the following quote (it is sometimes attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville) but it states well the true source of our greatness:
I sought for the key to the greatness of America in her harbors; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America ceases to be great.
Kiss the Son
So yes, I hope you’ll join me in promoting Jesus as a third-party candidate for president. Our activism may have little effect on who actually will sit in the Oval Office. But when we lift up King Jesus, we remind all people everywhere that our primary citizenship in not in the United States, and our hope for the future is not based on who wins this election. Our calling is much higher than that.
Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill!”
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2)