Bryan Fischer
I want a president who knows the difference between good and evil
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
I don't want a president who will "run government like a business." That frankly scares me to death, since the purpose of business is to grow, expand, bring in more revenue and hire more people.
The very last thing we need right now is a bigger, larger, more intrusive government, sucking ever more hard-earned tax dollars into its insatiable maw.
No, I want a president who will run government like a government. That is, a president who understands how severely limited the power of the federal government is by the Constitution of the United States. A president who is dedicated to restraining the growth of the central government and reversing its insane, tumor-like growth, a growth which, like all parasites, will destroy the host unless it is stopped in its tracks.
A president who will, in the inimitable words of Texas governor Rick Perry, "take a wrecking ball to Washington" and make it as irrelevant as possible in the lives of ordinary Americans.
A president who will take Article I, Section 8 as his guide for what pieces of legislation to sign and which to veto. If a bill commissions the central government to do something that is not authorized by "We the People" in that section of the Constitution, we need a president who will veto it and tell us why. A bill authorizing implementation of any part of ObamaCare? Vetoed. A bill re-authorizing the departments of education, commerce, agriculture and energy? Vetoed.
Essentially, I want a president who understands what the role of government is. From a biblical standpoint, the proper role of government can be summed up in one word: justice. I want a president who understands that.
I want a president who agrees with James Madison:
"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."
This is consistent with what we find in the Judeo-Christian tradition, where we read that the purpose of government is simple and straightforward: "to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good" (1 Peter 2: 14).
The bottom line, then, is that we need a president who understands the difference between good and evil.
Otherwise, how will he know what to punish and what to praise? And more to the point, how will he know whom to punish and whom to praise?
John MacArthur is an evangelical pastor who is well-known for his opposition to Christian involvement in politics. However, even he has become so alarmed at the drift in our national politics that he is now speaking out in his sermons against the Democratic party platform.
And well he should. MacArthur observed in a recent sermon that the Democrats have now taken the list of sins found in Romans 1 and turned it into their party platform. These sins — abortion, homosexuality, rejection of God — which the Democrats now grotesquely argue are virtues, will bring God's judgement on any nation which honors them.
MacArthur agrees with something I have said repeatedly since the Democratic National Convention: the difference between these two parties is now no longer political but moral.
So we do not need a president who will run government like a business. No, we need a president who understands the purpose of government and who knows the difference between good and evil.
Whether we choose a president like that on November 6 will determine whether America has a future under God's blessing or under God's judgment. May the American people choose well.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
October 2, 2012
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
I don't want a president who will "run government like a business." That frankly scares me to death, since the purpose of business is to grow, expand, bring in more revenue and hire more people.
The very last thing we need right now is a bigger, larger, more intrusive government, sucking ever more hard-earned tax dollars into its insatiable maw.
No, I want a president who will run government like a government. That is, a president who understands how severely limited the power of the federal government is by the Constitution of the United States. A president who is dedicated to restraining the growth of the central government and reversing its insane, tumor-like growth, a growth which, like all parasites, will destroy the host unless it is stopped in its tracks.
A president who will, in the inimitable words of Texas governor Rick Perry, "take a wrecking ball to Washington" and make it as irrelevant as possible in the lives of ordinary Americans.
A president who will take Article I, Section 8 as his guide for what pieces of legislation to sign and which to veto. If a bill commissions the central government to do something that is not authorized by "We the People" in that section of the Constitution, we need a president who will veto it and tell us why. A bill authorizing implementation of any part of ObamaCare? Vetoed. A bill re-authorizing the departments of education, commerce, agriculture and energy? Vetoed.
Essentially, I want a president who understands what the role of government is. From a biblical standpoint, the proper role of government can be summed up in one word: justice. I want a president who understands that.
I want a president who agrees with James Madison:
"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."
This is consistent with what we find in the Judeo-Christian tradition, where we read that the purpose of government is simple and straightforward: "to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good" (1 Peter 2: 14).
The bottom line, then, is that we need a president who understands the difference between good and evil.
Otherwise, how will he know what to punish and what to praise? And more to the point, how will he know whom to punish and whom to praise?
John MacArthur is an evangelical pastor who is well-known for his opposition to Christian involvement in politics. However, even he has become so alarmed at the drift in our national politics that he is now speaking out in his sermons against the Democratic party platform.
And well he should. MacArthur observed in a recent sermon that the Democrats have now taken the list of sins found in Romans 1 and turned it into their party platform. These sins — abortion, homosexuality, rejection of God — which the Democrats now grotesquely argue are virtues, will bring God's judgement on any nation which honors them.
MacArthur agrees with something I have said repeatedly since the Democratic National Convention: the difference between these two parties is now no longer political but moral.
So we do not need a president who will run government like a business. No, we need a president who understands the purpose of government and who knows the difference between good and evil.
Whether we choose a president like that on November 6 will determine whether America has a future under God's blessing or under God's judgment. May the American people choose well.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
