American Government Makes A Miserable Savior

When I was a kid, we didn’t expect much from the government. Meaning, Americans (at the least the majority of them) didn’t want a large government. Americans valued freedom more than they valued “free” healthcare or “free” college or “free” anything. I use quotation marks around the word free because, as I was taught as a child, nothing is truly free. Someone always pays. But I digress. The point is, I didn’t live in a world where citizens called upon the government to provide for them anymore than absolutely necessary. Small government was highly valued because the smaller the government, the more freedom was enjoyed.

Of course, with great freedom comes great responsibility, and our country no longer values responsibility because responsibility gets personal. The problem is, if we are not individually responsible, if we do not govern ourselves properly, the government has, in many cases, no choice but to step in and do the governing. I notice though that government, especially since the Clinton era, has no qualms about governing people in ways they shouldn’t. In ways they have no right to. In ways that result in Americans losing more and more freedoms as time goes on.

We the People end up being we the frogs. We begin to die the slow death that frogs die when boiled in water. The frog doesn’t notice he’s being exterminated, because when first placed in the water, the atmosphere is cool. It seems right. Comfortable. Good, even. But what the frog doesn’t know is that the heat is on. That the one who placed him in a habitat that seemed fair and reasonable to him meant harm – to the point of the frog’s demise. 

So it is with gun control, legalizing abortion, and many other government interferences. America is and has been for quite some time making too many choices for the People — partly because the People fail to govern themselves, partly because freedom lovers have been lazy and not fought as they should, and partly because government has at times made decisions not within their realm of governing rights (the Supreme Court’s nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, for instance). As a result, we’ve gotten ourselves into a situation where now a good number of our citizens expect the government to give them their every need and want.

In short, many Americans are looking to American government to be their savior.

What those folks don’t realize is that America and politics and policies and laws and restrictions and new immoral rulings will not make them happy, content, justified, validated, or loved. Those are heart issues which no fallible man or government can possibly provide. One only has to look as far as fourth wave feminists to realize that no matter how much is given, satisfaction eludes them. At times, one must ask whether the only thing that would pacify modern day feminists would be an obliteration of men from the earth, given their hatred toward anything that resembles masculinity.

Mankind’s heart is made to long for something great. Something higher than the human race. And in those longings, there’s a deeper longing to be part of something big. So it seems the plan is to take on something “big”, in the form of rallies and Facebook shouting matches that make one feel as though they’re fighting a worthy battle. Granted, rallies and Facebook discussions (and other methods of trying to be heard), if done appropriately, can be a practical method of standing up for what’s right. But those things will also fail in giving us the deep longings of our hearts. I know I’ve said it a million times, but here it is again:

Our deepest and most desperate heart needs can only be met and satisfied by Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate, one and only true Savior. Everything and everyone else may, for a Season, appear to be the answer. But we must realize our hearts are idol factories. We want to look everywhere but Christ for the answer, because if Christ is the answer, we’ve probably got some personal governing to attend to. And that’s difficult. It’s much easier to point a finger somewhere else and place blame. Humans have done that since the beginning of time, starting with Adam and Eve. Adam blamed Eve for the Fall. Eve blamed the Serpent. We blame our neighbor, too. The only difference is that we have a lot more neighbors to choose from than Adam and Eve did, so we have the luxury of leaving our closest family and friends out of the blame game, and pointing fingers at those we don’t have day to day contact with. Politicians, judges, the police, the POTUS …

In saying all of this, I’m not trying to start a large, online feud. I’m simply attempting to get people to think in a different direction, because clearly, what we’re doing isn’t working. Nobody is satisfied. Liberals are livid. Conservatives are confounded (and livid). Christians are concerned.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light.”

America needs to find the Way that is right. She needs to understand and operate off of the fact that there is Truth. She needs a Light for the dark path she’s been set on, even though she is on that path largely of her own volition. Thankfully, in addition to being the Way, the Truth, and the Light, Jesus is also a generous giver of mercy and grace.

Truth is, American government makes a miserable savior, but Jesus Christ makes a wonderful, everlasting, love-filled Savior. My only goal today is to bring that simple message to a hurting, angry, confused world. Because I feel like if we would turn to Christ and as a result realize that this world isn’t our home, that we are just passing through, and that the something big we so desire to be a part of is ours for the asking, it would do us and those around us a world of good. Much more good than could ever be accomplished by Washington.