Posted on 08/01/2014 9:14:41 PM PDT by OneVike
Righteousness is the only ingredient that makes the soup of government sweet and satisfying to the people, but unfortunately, this ingredient is lacking in most government/political arenas in the world.
I will try to define the term righteousness, its relationship with politics and its importance in any (capitalist and socialist) government and again, the word religion and righteousness, will be used interchangeably for the purpose of clarity.
Definition of Righteousness
Righteousness is a quality that can be possessed by any man/woman who desires it. It is the quality of being morally right or justifiable. It is the quality of being fair and just to fellow humans. This quality must be possessed by world leaders if there must be world peace, and African leaders to be precise, if there must be an end to all the corruption and wickedness that goes on everyday in Africa. When a leader is righteous, then he will be accountable to the people. Then and only then will the people experience true democracy.
“When the godly (righteous) are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan” Proverbs 29:2
Relationship Between Righteousness and Politics
Karl Marx in his ingenuity and scholarship tried to separate religion from politics, as long as he was concerned, “Religion is the Opium of the people”. That was his own perspective of religion but the word of God made it clear that for a nation to be great and exalted (economically, socially and all-around development) righteousness has its role to play.
We are told in Proverb 14:34 that,
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14: 34
Religion and politics are like a chemical combination of sodium and chloride. They are inseparable. Try to separate the two and you will not have salt. Politics is sour without righteousness. Both are like the wheel and show the grease, the engine and oil. Remove the oil from the engine and what you have is failure, rot and decay. Righteousness is like oil to the engine, and more than that, it is like the fuel of government.
Tell me of a nation where crime and evil are normal practices and occurs frequently, where its own people are being killed daily for rituals (by its leaders and privileged bourgeoisies) and I will you a nation suffering from stagnation in development. Sin is a reproach.
The Importance of Righteousness in a Nation
When the righteous are occupying the seat of power as presidents and commissioners of the land, they represent and respect the people and ensure that they do their jobs with honesty and integrity because of the fear of God. They provide all the basic amenities like hospitals, roads, electricity, and water etc. needed by the people. Sadly, many African leaders do not do this, because there is no fear of God and no righteousness. Many of them travel outside their country for medical treatment because they refused to build standard hospitals in their own country, and many take....
(Excerpt) Read more at therelevantchristianmagazine.com ...
Daniel goes about his day holding fast to his faith in God through Christ. He preaches earnestly the message of Holiness, Healing and Heaven. Currently an undergraduate of History and Diplomatic Studies at Elizade University- Ondo State, Nigeria.
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3)
This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ (Zechariah 7:9,10)
Those who do these things will know the blessings of Almighty God. But when we forget these, we will see only judgment and misery.
This is an excellent article. There is a moral righteousness and a spiritual righteousness which shouldn't be confused. People can do things that are morally right and God blesses them and the nations that does them. The repentance of Nineveh is a prime scriptural example. The problem we're seeing today is a breakdown of any nation willing to do what is morally right. The last time this happened Noah built an ark.
Righteousness is never valued in ‘any shade of grey’.
It is always fair and just, when valued in black and white.
America has been sold a bill of goods, beginning with ‘you are not responsible for what you do’. ‘You are a product of your environment, bad parents, abuse, for example.’
Even preachers have become soft, for fear of the empty coffers.
Example: One time in my life, after a sermon, “with my nose connected to the carpet”, I painfully asked one of the pastors standing near me, “Where does that put me?” That pastor just looked at me, and walked away. He did not have the guts to even answer my question, nor offer to pray with me, and I was not alone when I asked that question.
At first I thought he was talking about the US.
We’re in worse shape than I realized.....
Daniel lives in the Southern part of Nigeria while the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, is gaining control of the North in their desire to turn the country into an Islamic state.
As you read this, please keep the almost 100 Christian Nigerians in your prayer. Nigeria has long been one of the most Christian nations in Africa, so it comes with grief when ever I hear of the atrocities that Obama's Islamic friends are wrecking on the Christians. Make no mistake, it is against Christians these devils from hell are directing their wrath, so please keep them in your prayer.
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I meant to post this last night, but I lost my internet connection and decided to do so this morning. Well, you can imagine my shock when I realized it was posted. The last thing I was doing when my connection was broken was trying to post after setting it up. I figured it wasn't posted, but it was. So now I am pinging my list to bring it to your attention.
Please if you read this, could you leave a comment for Daniel as to your thoughts of his article and your prayers for his nation. We need more men like Daniel to stand up for what's right in the countries they live and they need to know that people are listening and praying for them.
Being a theological concept it will never be found in OUR government.
Am I being harsh?
Well it could, but I agree it won’t.
Our government is the people, if the people become righteous then they will elect righteous leaders, but since the people are not, neither is our government.
It’s always something to strive for, but alas, for those of us who are Christian we know the end of the book and it does not bode well for our government of “By And For The People”.
It’s always something to strive for, but alas, for those of us who are Christian we know the end of the book and it does not bode well for our government of “By And For The People”
It's not always the goal to reach, I think, but our striving to achieve it.
It's like us--we know we can't be perfect and God-like, but do strive to be. We know we are sinners but we strive not to be.
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