Introduction to America's Providential History Podcast and the Importance of Civil Duty
Stephen McDowell Welcome to America's Providential History Podcast, where we talk about the real story of America and explore the hand of God in our history. Now here's your host, Steven McDowell. Hello. Glad you're joining us for this edition of America's Providential History Podcast. In the last few weeks we have been exploring what can we do to fulfill our civil duties in November of this year. we have elections throughout the United States states and it's important that God's people be involved in selecting those who represent us in the seat of government. Some of the things that we've looked at, explore in the past few podcasts on how to fulfill our civil duties.
Exploring Ways to Fulfill Civil Duties: Voting, Local Politics, and Education
One, we should be involved in selecting officials. And the kind of, the least thing that we should be doing is voting, because, it's through our vote that we express, you know, our values. In other words, the people we vote for, those that should, represent us in the seat of government, standing for our values, our worldview, our morality. And we explored, of course we should be involved much more in just voting, but being involved in local party politics, we can decide who's on the ballot for those to vote for. We looked at another way to fulfill our civil duties, to educate yourself and others. Third point is take social action, speak out and act on important issues of the day. Four, promote and write godly laws. Five, stand upon our legal rights because like the Apostle Paul, he considered his civil liberties a sacred, cause. And so we want to as well. And then today I want to look at a, another way that we can fulfill our civil duties.
Serving in Positions of Influence: Examples from the Old and New Testaments
And that is to serve in positions of influence in the community and government. If we can't find anybody who represents our values and ideas, who serve on whatever position it is, the local school board or representatives to the state and national level, if we can't find anybody, then we need to consider, getting involved ourselves, running for office, seeking to find ourselves in service in positions of influence. You know, many of God's people served in civil government. Certainly in the Old Testament when we read the stories of men like Joseph and Moses, Joshua, the Judges, David, Solomon, Daniel and many, many more, these were godly people, God's people who were serving in positions of government. And the NewSong Testament also mentions Christians who served in government. Erastus was a part of Paul's missionary team until, he sent him along with Timothy to Greece. You can read of erastus in Acts 19:22. And Erastus remained at Corinth. Second Timothy 4:20 mentions him again. And while ministering to the churches there. He apparently felt called of God to serve civil government. Since Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, which was written from Corinth, that Erastus had become the city treasurer. You can read that in Romans 16:23. So here it is, Erastus, who was a part of, you might call it, the pulpit ministry, he served in Paul's missionary team preaching the gospel to individuals. But he had no problem moving from the pulpit ministry to the civil ministry because he understood what Paul teaches in Romans 13, that civil leaders are ministers of God.
Erastus: A Civil Servant as a Minister of God Exemplifying Christian Service
just as much as those who serve in the pulpit are ministers of God. Those who serve in the public arena, public square, in the civil, arena, these are also ministers of God, and they are to be ministers of God to you for good. Paul writes. And so Erastus apparently understood that, that God wanted him to minister for good. And he exemplified Christian service very well. In fact, there's a first century tablet in Corinth which contains, the inscription, inscriptions translated into English says, erast, the commissioner of public works, laid this pavement at his own expense. And this is believed to be the same Erasmus that's mentioned in the Bible. So here it is. A Christian man, part of Paul's missionary team, felt God move him to the civil ministry from the pulpit ministry. And he exemplified, the characteristics that civil leaders should have.
Jesus' Teaching on Civil Leaders as Public Servants vs. Gentile Rulers
One of those Jesus taught that civil leaders are to be public servants. In fact, Jesus taught that in Matthew 25:25 28, when his disciples were arguing among themselves about who is going to be the greatest. And Jesus said to them, you know, the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them, but it's not so among you. So the pattern of pagan leaders is to, externally impose or govern or, mandate from the top down that they weren't there serving the people, but their mentality. Caesar had the mentality that all the people are to serve me. But Jesus taught the opposite. He said, no, civil leaders are to be public servants. And Erastus understood this. And so he even paid for a road out of his own pocket, his own expense. And if I could find a civil leader today who say, I'll pay for a road, he'd be a good one, to vote for.
Biblical Basis for Christian Involvement in Civil Government and Judging
And so we see the example of Christians being involved in civil government directly throughout the Bible, throughout the Old Testament, even in the NewSong Testament. Erastus is a great example of this. You know, Paul, the Apostle Paul says that we will judge the world and angels. And if so, we must judge matters in this life, 1 Corinthians 6:1:6. And so we need to be involved in judging in this life, because we're going to be involved in judging, in the life to come, so much more in matters of this life, he says. So Paul endorses the concept of us getting involved in judgments. In addition, God has made us priests and kings. Revelation 1:6 tells us that. So God has set us up as a position as our own priest, where we can directly communicate to God. We need no mediator between us and God, but we're also made kings. In other words, God created man, as we've discussed in past podcasts, to rule in the earth. We're given the task of ruling over the earth, subduing the earth. And so we're called to rule and reign with him, not only in the future heaven and the future earth, which, by the way, ruling is part of the reward of faithful stewards, Luke 19:17 and 19 tells us, but we're called to rule and reign not only in the hereafter, but in this present world. We're to be involved in ruling and governing and judging. We have a kingly, our governing function to perform.
Fulfilling Civil Duties by Serving in Positions of Influence and Historical Examples
Now, of course, we're to do this in accordance with the biblical standards of how to govern and what the role of civil government is. A very limited role. Some of that we've discussed in past podcasts. In the future, I'm going to look at that in much more detail. But the point is, to fulfill our civil duties, we should consider serving in positions of influence in public affairs, in civil affairs. We see it throughout the Bible. We see endorsement of that by Paul, Jesus and others. And many significant government leaders throughout history have been Christians. Certainly, it's true in the history of the United States, it'd be hard to find any civil leader who wasn't a Christian. In fact, early on, you, you had to profess faith in Christianity and belief in Jesus Christ and the divine inerrancy of God's word to be able to serve in office.
Great American Leaders Were Christians Who Understood Civil Duties and Served with Humility
You know, some of our America's great leaders, George Washington, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Jon Adams, George Mason, Jon Jay, James Madison, Noah Webster, Jon Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Jon Marshall, James Garfield, William McKinley, and myriads more were Christians who understood I have civil duties. And they felt, you know, called of God to serve their fellow man because that in essence, they were first serving God in fulfilling that calling. And when we do get involved in positions of governance, we need to remember Jesus's Instruction that civil leaders are to be public servants. So we as Christians should enter into a position of civil leadership with a servant's heart. We don't enter in thinking, I have arrived.
George Washington's Example of Servant Leadership and Commitment to Country
I have all the answers to all your problems. Listen to me. no, we humbly come and say, I'm going to serve and I'm going to seek out what the Bible, what God says regarding whatever issue it is you're facing, whatever law you might be dealing with, whatever execution of justice, we need to do it in accordance with God's truth, and we need to do it in accordance with the humble servant's heart. You know, a great example of this is the father of our country, George Washington. And we've talked about Washington in the past in various podcasts, talked about his faith, and he was a man of providence and other things. But George Washington was a man who served his country for 45 years of his life in many different ways. he served his church leadership, he served in the House of Burgesses in Virginia, served as the commander of the Continental army for eight years, served at the Constitutional Convention, served as, eight years as the President of the United States. And he, he did it exemplifying a heart of a servant. You know, he served those eight years as commanding as general of the Continental army without pay. He didn't take any money, you know, for any kind of personal income.
Washington's Sacrifice and Dedication During the War for Independence and Nation's Survival
He performed his duty, though, as he wrote, he'd rather be at home at Mount Vernon. He loved Mount Vernon in his home. He said, I'd rather be at home with a friend or two about me than entertain all the heads of state of Europe. And so he gave up that desire and love. For eight years as general, he only set foot at Mount Vernon two times. And that was going to and from conflicts, military conflicts. And again, he served eight years as president. So he was away from his home that he loved. And one incident that reflects his servant's heart occurred, toward the end of the war, October 1781, at the Battle of Yorktown, where the Americans, French and the militia defeated the British. That was really the last major battle of the war. it would take almost two years to draw up a peace treaty and sign it, which officially ended the war. And so during that time, Washington still kept the army together. And, as we enter into to, 1782, it was realized, okay, I think we are going to be victorious in this manner. So we might have, you know, won the military conflict, but there was certainly no assurance that we would survive as a nation. We had many difficulties.
The Offer to Make Washington King and His Firm Rejection of Monarchy
Troops were promised pay that they weren't receiving. And that had to do with the continental congress had no authority under the orders of confederation to raise money to tax, to get the money to pay the troops. And so there was grumbling among the troops. There was, concern that each of the states may just go their own way and fall apart. It be easy prey for Britain or other European powers to come and take control of those. And. And so there was, much uncertainty of our becoming the United States of America. And so in the spring of 17, 82, there's a group of officers who came up with a plan. They said, you know, we've got to do something. So their plan was to make George Washington king. Now they said, we'll support you as the military, in this effort. We know that you won't abuse any authority, that you're not going to set up some kind of tyrannical monarchy. The people love you. They'll get behind you and that you can then use your, limited power, your restrain power to help bring order and assure that the United States of America survives. So they posed this to him. Now we might think this is a strange offer today, but every other revolution that had occurred in history in essence replaced one mon with another monarch. And so, it could seem natural that might happen in the United States. So, they proposed the idea to him in a letter. Colonel Louis Nicola, representing these military guys, did so. And Washington got the letter and then replied to them. And in his reply, he wrote, sir, with a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. By the way, Washington was home schooled. That's where he learned his ability to communicate on such high level. He wrote 40 volumes of letters, 40,000 letters in his lifetime. He turned out to be a pretty good citizen for basically being homeschooled.
Washington's Abhorrence of Monarchy and Self-Examination Regarding the Offer
But he said, sir, with a great mixture of surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed and I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. Now here's the first thing that George Washington did to the offer of making, him king. First thing he did is rebuke the guys. He said, nothing is giving me more painful sensations. And if you remember, as we've discussed in past podcasts, if you consider the Hardship he saw that his troops faced at the winter of Valley Forge and other winters where they were bleeding, suffering, and starving. that pained him greatly. This, he said, is even worse, ah, than that. So the first thing he did, he rebuked the guys. In essence, he's saying, what do you think we're fighting this war for? It's not to set up kings. It's to get rid of kings. He said, I must view with abhorrence, reprehend with severity. So he rebuked the guys who. Reminding them of what they were looking for as the outcome. And then here's the next thing this humble Christian man did. He said, I am much at loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with greatest mischiefs that can befall my country if I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself. You could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. So the next thing he did, he looked at his own heart, searched his own heart. He said, I hope there's nothing I've said or done that would make you think I would want to be king.
Humility and Servant's Heart in Civil Leadership: The Role of Christian Faith and Worldview
As far as I know, I'm against the idea more than anyone. And so he's a great example for us as Christians, as we do fulfill our civil duties, get involved in civil government, get elected to office at whatever level that we are, we need to come with, humility. We need to come with a servant's heart, like Jesus taught that civil leaders are to be public, servants. And in that way, we will be most effective. Now, of course, as well, we need to understand the biblical duty and purpose of civil government. We need to, understand biblical worldview and biblical principles so that that as we govern, as we administer God's justice in our sphere of responsibility, it will be in accordance with his precepts, and that will produce good fruit. So we need a good heart. We also need a good head, as we have discussed in the past as well. And so it was, Washington was a great example of a servant leader, and it was this Christian faith, as we explored, that produced his servant's heart. So Washington's Christian faith was key to his character and career and accomplishments.
Fulfilling Civil Duties: Voting for Godly Officials and Supporting Righteous Candidates
And it's our servant's heart, Christian faith, and Christian worldview that will bear the most fruit when we get in positions of serving our fellow man. So then what can we do to fulfill our civil duties? Well, we've discussed a lot of things over the last few podcasts. Be involved in selecting Godly officials. How do we do that? Vote. And I encourage you this here in just a couple of weeks, the first in November, that go and vote and vote for men who have godly character, men who fear God, men who hate, dishonest gain, men who fulfill the biblical qualities of godly leaders expressed in Deuteronomy 1, Exodus 18, that look for men like that who understand the limited function of civil government and stand for godly moral values, those who are the ones we should vote for. So every Christian should vote because this is, it's more than just a privilege we have living in the United States of America, but it's, I believe, a biblical duty. We have to select godly individuals who represent us, but represent God's truth, stand up for godly truth. So support those candidates.
Engaging in Local Politics, Running for Office, and Educating on Biblical Government
And again right now it's already been determined who's on the ballot we're voting for. And if you don't like any of those candidates, then begin to get involved in local party politics so that in the local process you choose and it's just a small percentage of the people who really choose those who get on the ballot. And so get involved in local party politics. And if you can't find any good people to support, then run for office yourself. Of course, to be effective, another thing we need to do and we talked about is educate yourself and others on biblical government and civil duties. it's not enough just to have a good, heart, you need to think right because you'll act and vote, legislate based upon your worldview. So educate yourself, take action, speak out on issues of the day is another thing we can do to fulfill our civil duties, promote and write godly laws, stand upon our legal rights, understand the God given rights that we have here in this nation, and serve in positions of influence.
Placing Righteous Rulers in Governance: The Divine Call and Biblical Qualifications for Leadership
So we need to do all we can to place righteous rulers in positions of governance. As we've said, the book of Romans chapter 13 tells us that civil rulers are ministers of God who hold their position by his providence. It's a ministry that God will call some people to fill. Of course we're not all called to directly serve. We are all called to support and vote and educate and these other things. But some few I believe God will call to serve in positions of government. So we should discern if those we seek to place in power, those that God has called and anointed to rule. of course most of the people on our ballot today aren't. They certainly don't meet the Biblical qualifications for governance. You know, God prepares different people to perform different things. And so recognizing the call of God on a purpose for a specific office is important. And there's many examples in history of those that God has called to serve directly in civil government, from King David to Moses, Daniel. We talked about William Penn and George Washington in some of these podcasts as well. So having a godly vision for administering God's justice in the civil realm is important for effective leadership. A godly leader will have knowledge, Christian character, and a fear of God and will be able to impart vision, hope, purpose, and direction to a nation.
Godly Rulers in Executive Positions: Using Office as a Pulpit for Vision and Hope
And this is especially true for those in executive positions like presidents, governors, and mayors. So godly rulers will use their office as, in a way, kind of like a pulpit, in a sense, to raise the vision of the American people and implant noble desires and hope for the future. That's one, one effective thing that executive leaders can do, give a vision. Here is, where God wants to take this nation. Here is the fruit of, structuring our nation and laws on the precepts of God. Noah Webster clearly explained explain the effect of unprincipled men in office when he wrote, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for yourselves rulers, just men who rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty. If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted. Laws will be made not for the public good so much as for selfish or, local purposes. Corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws.
The Consequences of Electing Unprincipled Men vs. Godly Rulers for National Prosperity
The public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men, and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must b because the citizens neglect the divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. And in recent decades, generations, we've seen the fruit of bad men elected to office, and we've seen the contrasting fruit of good men or men to some extent that it embrace godly ideas. See, the election of unprincipled men produces misery and tyranny. But godly rulers bring peace, prosperity, justice, and rejoicing.
Electing Godly Men: The Importance of Faith, Knowledge, and Character for a Bright Future
If we fulfill our duty and place godly men in office, those who have knowledge, character and faith, our future will be bright. In fact, according to 2 Samuel 23:3 4, the God of Israel said, he who rules in the fear of God is as the light of the morning. When the sun rises a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth through sunshine after rain. And so it behooves us, or it will be to our great benefit if we elect godly men to office. And so to elect godly men now and to raise up godly men, we must do all fulfill all of our civil duties that we've been talking about in the past number of podcasts. So I encourage you to consider and think and listen to these and see how you might get involved in that. And certainly, as I say, as elections are coming up very soon, assume, one of the least things that we can do, but we must do is to vote for godly men. Now, I'll, just bring your attention to a good resource that the American Family association offers called I Voter Guide. It's you can go toi voter guide.com and, and there you can view upcoming election dates by state, review the latest candidates, where they stand on certain issues, things that will be on your ballot, not just individuals you're voting for, perhaps amendments or other things, on your ballot. So it's a great resource to use to do to find out who's on the ballot, what do they stand for, what should be my position on amendments that are coming up, that's I voterguide.com so that's a great resource you can use in this and every election to help you better fulfill aspects of your civil duties to elect godly men.
Resources for Fulfilling Civil Duties: IVoterGuide, Providence Foundation, and Educated for Liberty Film
Now if you want to learn more about ideas and worldview and biblical view of government and economics and other things, you can visit our website, Providence Foundation. We have lots of articles and other things that will help enlighten you. And that's part of fulfilling our civil duties. Educate yourself and then use that to educate others as well. draw attention to our new film is Educated for Liberty. You can watch for [email protected] and show it to others. It's a way to educate others in regards to, to education and the role that government plays or shouldn't play, what we can do to fulfill our educational, duties as well. So that's another great tool that can help you in fulfilling part of your civil, duties. So I encourage you to go and gather information and go and vote and take others who adhere to correct worldview to go vote as well. Because when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.
Conclusion: Rejoicing When Righteous Rule and Groaning When the Wicked Rule
But when the wicked rule, the people groan. And I know that we all much rather rejoice than to groan. Well, thanks for joining us on this edition of America's Providential History. come back next week. As we began to explain, explore other subjects and what God has to say about them.
Closing Remarks and Invitation to Next Week's Podcast
Well, God bless you.
Introduction to America's Providential History Podcast and the Importance of Civil Duty
Stephen McDowell Welcome to America's Providential History Podcast, where we talk about the real story of America and explore the hand of God in our history. Now here's your host, Steven McDowell. Hello. Glad you're joining us for this edition of America's Providential History Podcast. In the last few weeks we have been exploring what can we do to fulfill our civil duties in November of this year. we have elections throughout the United States states and it's important that God's people be involved in selecting those who represent us in the seat of government. Some of the things that we've looked at, explore in the past few podcasts on how to fulfill our civil duties.
Exploring Ways to Fulfill Civil Duties: Voting, Local Politics, and Education
One, we should be involved in selecting officials. And the kind of, the least thing that we should be doing is voting, because, it's through our vote that we express, you know, our values. In other words, the people we vote for, those that should, represent us in the seat of government, standing for our values, our worldview, our morality. And we explored, of course we should be involved much more in just voting, but being involved in local party politics, we can decide who's on the ballot for those to vote for. We looked at another way to fulfill our civil duties, to educate yourself and others. Third point is take social action, speak out and act on important issues of the day. Four, promote and write godly laws. Five, stand upon our legal rights because like the Apostle Paul, he considered his civil liberties a sacred, cause. And so we want to as well. And then today I want to look at a, another way that we can fulfill our civil duties.
Serving in Positions of Influence: Examples from the Old and New Testaments
And that is to serve in positions of influence in the community and government. If we can't find anybody who represents our values and ideas, who serve on whatever position it is, the local school board or representatives to the state and national level, if we can't find anybody, then we need to consider, getting involved ourselves, running for office, seeking to find ourselves in service in positions of influence. You know, many of God's people served in civil government. Certainly in the Old Testament when we read the stories of men like Joseph and Moses, Joshua, the Judges, David, Solomon, Daniel and many, many more, these were godly people, God's people who were serving in positions of government. And the NewSong Testament also mentions Christians who served in government. Erastus was a part of Paul's missionary team until, he sent him along with Timothy to Greece. You can read of erastus in Acts 19:22. And Erastus remained at Corinth. Second Timothy 4:20 mentions him again. And while ministering to the churches there. He apparently felt called of God to serve civil government. Since Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, which was written from Corinth, that Erastus had become the city treasurer. You can read that in Romans 16:23. So here it is, Erastus, who was a part of, you might call it, the pulpit ministry, he served in Paul's missionary team preaching the gospel to individuals. But he had no problem moving from the pulpit ministry to the civil ministry because he understood what Paul teaches in Romans 13, that civil leaders are ministers of God.
Erastus: A Civil Servant as a Minister of God Exemplifying Christian Service
just as much as those who serve in the pulpit are ministers of God. Those who serve in the public arena, public square, in the civil, arena, these are also ministers of God, and they are to be ministers of God to you for good. Paul writes. And so Erastus apparently understood that, that God wanted him to minister for good. And he exemplified Christian service very well. In fact, there's a first century tablet in Corinth which contains, the inscription, inscriptions translated into English says, erast, the commissioner of public works, laid this pavement at his own expense. And this is believed to be the same Erasmus that's mentioned in the Bible. So here it is. A Christian man, part of Paul's missionary team, felt God move him to the civil ministry from the pulpit ministry. And he exemplified, the characteristics that civil leaders should have.
Jesus' Teaching on Civil Leaders as Public Servants vs. Gentile Rulers
One of those Jesus taught that civil leaders are to be public servants. In fact, Jesus taught that in Matthew 25:25 28, when his disciples were arguing among themselves about who is going to be the greatest. And Jesus said to them, you know, the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them, but it's not so among you. So the pattern of pagan leaders is to, externally impose or govern or, mandate from the top down that they weren't there serving the people, but their mentality. Caesar had the mentality that all the people are to serve me. But Jesus taught the opposite. He said, no, civil leaders are to be public servants. And Erastus understood this. And so he even paid for a road out of his own pocket, his own expense. And if I could find a civil leader today who say, I'll pay for a road, he'd be a good one, to vote for.
Biblical Basis for Christian Involvement in Civil Government and Judging
And so we see the example of Christians being involved in civil government directly throughout the Bible, throughout the Old Testament, even in the NewSong Testament. Erastus is a great example of this. You know, Paul, the Apostle Paul says that we will judge the world and angels. And if so, we must judge matters in this life, 1 Corinthians 6:1:6. And so we need to be involved in judging in this life, because we're going to be involved in judging, in the life to come, so much more in matters of this life, he says. So Paul endorses the concept of us getting involved in judgments. In addition, God has made us priests and kings. Revelation 1:6 tells us that. So God has set us up as a position as our own priest, where we can directly communicate to God. We need no mediator between us and God, but we're also made kings. In other words, God created man, as we've discussed in past podcasts, to rule in the earth. We're given the task of ruling over the earth, subduing the earth. And so we're called to rule and reign with him, not only in the future heaven and the future earth, which, by the way, ruling is part of the reward of faithful stewards, Luke 19:17 and 19 tells us, but we're called to rule and reign not only in the hereafter, but in this present world. We're to be involved in ruling and governing and judging. We have a kingly, our governing function to perform.
Fulfilling Civil Duties by Serving in Positions of Influence and Historical Examples
Now, of course, we're to do this in accordance with the biblical standards of how to govern and what the role of civil government is. A very limited role. Some of that we've discussed in past podcasts. In the future, I'm going to look at that in much more detail. But the point is, to fulfill our civil duties, we should consider serving in positions of influence in public affairs, in civil affairs. We see it throughout the Bible. We see endorsement of that by Paul, Jesus and others. And many significant government leaders throughout history have been Christians. Certainly, it's true in the history of the United States, it'd be hard to find any civil leader who wasn't a Christian. In fact, early on, you, you had to profess faith in Christianity and belief in Jesus Christ and the divine inerrancy of God's word to be able to serve in office.
Great American Leaders Were Christians Who Understood Civil Duties and Served with Humility
You know, some of our America's great leaders, George Washington, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Jon Adams, George Mason, Jon Jay, James Madison, Noah Webster, Jon Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Jon Marshall, James Garfield, William McKinley, and myriads more were Christians who understood I have civil duties. And they felt, you know, called of God to serve their fellow man because that in essence, they were first serving God in fulfilling that calling. And when we do get involved in positions of governance, we need to remember Jesus's Instruction that civil leaders are to be public servants. So we as Christians should enter into a position of civil leadership with a servant's heart. We don't enter in thinking, I have arrived.
George Washington's Example of Servant Leadership and Commitment to Country
I have all the answers to all your problems. Listen to me. no, we humbly come and say, I'm going to serve and I'm going to seek out what the Bible, what God says regarding whatever issue it is you're facing, whatever law you might be dealing with, whatever execution of justice, we need to do it in accordance with God's truth, and we need to do it in accordance with the humble servant's heart. You know, a great example of this is the father of our country, George Washington. And we've talked about Washington in the past in various podcasts, talked about his faith, and he was a man of providence and other things. But George Washington was a man who served his country for 45 years of his life in many different ways. he served his church leadership, he served in the House of Burgesses in Virginia, served as the commander of the Continental army for eight years, served at the Constitutional Convention, served as, eight years as the President of the United States. And he, he did it exemplifying a heart of a servant. You know, he served those eight years as commanding as general of the Continental army without pay. He didn't take any money, you know, for any kind of personal income.
Washington's Sacrifice and Dedication During the War for Independence and Nation's Survival
He performed his duty, though, as he wrote, he'd rather be at home at Mount Vernon. He loved Mount Vernon in his home. He said, I'd rather be at home with a friend or two about me than entertain all the heads of state of Europe. And so he gave up that desire and love. For eight years as general, he only set foot at Mount Vernon two times. And that was going to and from conflicts, military conflicts. And again, he served eight years as president. So he was away from his home that he loved. And one incident that reflects his servant's heart occurred, toward the end of the war, October 1781, at the Battle of Yorktown, where the Americans, French and the militia defeated the British. That was really the last major battle of the war. it would take almost two years to draw up a peace treaty and sign it, which officially ended the war. And so during that time, Washington still kept the army together. And, as we enter into to, 1782, it was realized, okay, I think we are going to be victorious in this manner. So we might have, you know, won the military conflict, but there was certainly no assurance that we would survive as a nation. We had many difficulties.
The Offer to Make Washington King and His Firm Rejection of Monarchy
Troops were promised pay that they weren't receiving. And that had to do with the continental congress had no authority under the orders of confederation to raise money to tax, to get the money to pay the troops. And so there was grumbling among the troops. There was, concern that each of the states may just go their own way and fall apart. It be easy prey for Britain or other European powers to come and take control of those. And. And so there was, much uncertainty of our becoming the United States of America. And so in the spring of 17, 82, there's a group of officers who came up with a plan. They said, you know, we've got to do something. So their plan was to make George Washington king. Now they said, we'll support you as the military, in this effort. We know that you won't abuse any authority, that you're not going to set up some kind of tyrannical monarchy. The people love you. They'll get behind you and that you can then use your, limited power, your restrain power to help bring order and assure that the United States of America survives. So they posed this to him. Now we might think this is a strange offer today, but every other revolution that had occurred in history in essence replaced one mon with another monarch. And so, it could seem natural that might happen in the United States. So, they proposed the idea to him in a letter. Colonel Louis Nicola, representing these military guys, did so. And Washington got the letter and then replied to them. And in his reply, he wrote, sir, with a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. By the way, Washington was home schooled. That's where he learned his ability to communicate on such high level. He wrote 40 volumes of letters, 40,000 letters in his lifetime. He turned out to be a pretty good citizen for basically being homeschooled.
Washington's Abhorrence of Monarchy and Self-Examination Regarding the Offer
But he said, sir, with a great mixture of surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed and I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. Now here's the first thing that George Washington did to the offer of making, him king. First thing he did is rebuke the guys. He said, nothing is giving me more painful sensations. And if you remember, as we've discussed in past podcasts, if you consider the Hardship he saw that his troops faced at the winter of Valley Forge and other winters where they were bleeding, suffering, and starving. that pained him greatly. This, he said, is even worse, ah, than that. So the first thing he did, he rebuked the guys. In essence, he's saying, what do you think we're fighting this war for? It's not to set up kings. It's to get rid of kings. He said, I must view with abhorrence, reprehend with severity. So he rebuked the guys who. Reminding them of what they were looking for as the outcome. And then here's the next thing this humble Christian man did. He said, I am much at loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with greatest mischiefs that can befall my country if I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself. You could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. So the next thing he did, he looked at his own heart, searched his own heart. He said, I hope there's nothing I've said or done that would make you think I would want to be king.
Humility and Servant's Heart in Civil Leadership: The Role of Christian Faith and Worldview
As far as I know, I'm against the idea more than anyone. And so he's a great example for us as Christians, as we do fulfill our civil duties, get involved in civil government, get elected to office at whatever level that we are, we need to come with, humility. We need to come with a servant's heart, like Jesus taught that civil leaders are to be public, servants. And in that way, we will be most effective. Now, of course, as well, we need to understand the biblical duty and purpose of civil government. We need to, understand biblical worldview and biblical principles so that that as we govern, as we administer God's justice in our sphere of responsibility, it will be in accordance with his precepts, and that will produce good fruit. So we need a good heart. We also need a good head, as we have discussed in the past as well. And so it was, Washington was a great example of a servant leader, and it was this Christian faith, as we explored, that produced his servant's heart. So Washington's Christian faith was key to his character and career and accomplishments.
Fulfilling Civil Duties: Voting for Godly Officials and Supporting Righteous Candidates
And it's our servant's heart, Christian faith, and Christian worldview that will bear the most fruit when we get in positions of serving our fellow man. So then what can we do to fulfill our civil duties? Well, we've discussed a lot of things over the last few podcasts. Be involved in selecting Godly officials. How do we do that? Vote. And I encourage you this here in just a couple of weeks, the first in November, that go and vote and vote for men who have godly character, men who fear God, men who hate, dishonest gain, men who fulfill the biblical qualities of godly leaders expressed in Deuteronomy 1, Exodus 18, that look for men like that who understand the limited function of civil government and stand for godly moral values, those who are the ones we should vote for. So every Christian should vote because this is, it's more than just a privilege we have living in the United States of America, but it's, I believe, a biblical duty. We have to select godly individuals who represent us, but represent God's truth, stand up for godly truth. So support those candidates.
Engaging in Local Politics, Running for Office, and Educating on Biblical Government
And again right now it's already been determined who's on the ballot we're voting for. And if you don't like any of those candidates, then begin to get involved in local party politics so that in the local process you choose and it's just a small percentage of the people who really choose those who get on the ballot. And so get involved in local party politics. And if you can't find any good people to support, then run for office yourself. Of course, to be effective, another thing we need to do and we talked about is educate yourself and others on biblical government and civil duties. it's not enough just to have a good, heart, you need to think right because you'll act and vote, legislate based upon your worldview. So educate yourself, take action, speak out on issues of the day is another thing we can do to fulfill our civil duties, promote and write godly laws, stand upon our legal rights, understand the God given rights that we have here in this nation, and serve in positions of influence.
Placing Righteous Rulers in Governance: The Divine Call and Biblical Qualifications for Leadership
So we need to do all we can to place righteous rulers in positions of governance. As we've said, the book of Romans chapter 13 tells us that civil rulers are ministers of God who hold their position by his providence. It's a ministry that God will call some people to fill. Of course we're not all called to directly serve. We are all called to support and vote and educate and these other things. But some few I believe God will call to serve in positions of government. So we should discern if those we seek to place in power, those that God has called and anointed to rule. of course most of the people on our ballot today aren't. They certainly don't meet the Biblical qualifications for governance. You know, God prepares different people to perform different things. And so recognizing the call of God on a purpose for a specific office is important. And there's many examples in history of those that God has called to serve directly in civil government, from King David to Moses, Daniel. We talked about William Penn and George Washington in some of these podcasts as well. So having a godly vision for administering God's justice in the civil realm is important for effective leadership. A godly leader will have knowledge, Christian character, and a fear of God and will be able to impart vision, hope, purpose, and direction to a nation.
Godly Rulers in Executive Positions: Using Office as a Pulpit for Vision and Hope
And this is especially true for those in executive positions like presidents, governors, and mayors. So godly rulers will use their office as, in a way, kind of like a pulpit, in a sense, to raise the vision of the American people and implant noble desires and hope for the future. That's one, one effective thing that executive leaders can do, give a vision. Here is, where God wants to take this nation. Here is the fruit of, structuring our nation and laws on the precepts of God. Noah Webster clearly explained explain the effect of unprincipled men in office when he wrote, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for yourselves rulers, just men who rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty. If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted. Laws will be made not for the public good so much as for selfish or, local purposes. Corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws.
The Consequences of Electing Unprincipled Men vs. Godly Rulers for National Prosperity
The public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men, and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must b because the citizens neglect the divine commands and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. And in recent decades, generations, we've seen the fruit of bad men elected to office, and we've seen the contrasting fruit of good men or men to some extent that it embrace godly ideas. See, the election of unprincipled men produces misery and tyranny. But godly rulers bring peace, prosperity, justice, and rejoicing.
Electing Godly Men: The Importance of Faith, Knowledge, and Character for a Bright Future
If we fulfill our duty and place godly men in office, those who have knowledge, character and faith, our future will be bright. In fact, according to 2 Samuel 23:3 4, the God of Israel said, he who rules in the fear of God is as the light of the morning. When the sun rises a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth through sunshine after rain. And so it behooves us, or it will be to our great benefit if we elect godly men to office. And so to elect godly men now and to raise up godly men, we must do all fulfill all of our civil duties that we've been talking about in the past number of podcasts. So I encourage you to consider and think and listen to these and see how you might get involved in that. And certainly, as I say, as elections are coming up very soon, assume, one of the least things that we can do, but we must do is to vote for godly men. Now, I'll, just bring your attention to a good resource that the American Family association offers called I Voter Guide. It's you can go toi voter guide.com and, and there you can view upcoming election dates by state, review the latest candidates, where they stand on certain issues, things that will be on your ballot, not just individuals you're voting for, perhaps amendments or other things, on your ballot. So it's a great resource to use to do to find out who's on the ballot, what do they stand for, what should be my position on amendments that are coming up, that's I voterguide.com so that's a great resource you can use in this and every election to help you better fulfill aspects of your civil duties to elect godly men.
Resources for Fulfilling Civil Duties: IVoterGuide, Providence Foundation, and Educated for Liberty Film
Now if you want to learn more about ideas and worldview and biblical view of government and economics and other things, you can visit our website, Providence Foundation. We have lots of articles and other things that will help enlighten you. And that's part of fulfilling our civil duties. Educate yourself and then use that to educate others as well. draw attention to our new film is Educated for Liberty. You can watch for [email protected] and show it to others. It's a way to educate others in regards to, to education and the role that government plays or shouldn't play, what we can do to fulfill our educational, duties as well. So that's another great tool that can help you in fulfilling part of your civil, duties. So I encourage you to go and gather information and go and vote and take others who adhere to correct worldview to go vote as well. Because when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.
Conclusion: Rejoicing When Righteous Rule and Groaning When the Wicked Rule
But when the wicked rule, the people groan. And I know that we all much rather rejoice than to groan. Well, thanks for joining us on this edition of America's Providential History. come back next week. As we began to explain, explore other subjects and what God has to say about them.
Closing Remarks and Invitation to Next Week's Podcast
Well, God bless you.
In this episode of America's Providential History Podcast, host Stephen McDowell emphasizes the importance of fulfilling our civil duties as Christians, especially in light of the upcoming elections. He discusses the biblical mandate for God's people to engage in governance, highlighting the examples of historical figures like Erastus and George Washington. McDowell encourages listeners to vote, educate themselves on candidates, and consider running for office if they cannot find representatives who align with their values. Join us for an insightful exploration of how Christians can actively participate in shaping their communities and government.
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