Empowering Leaders for Righteousness
Grant, GraceAnna, and AudreyKate Castleberry at the Capitol Commission banquet
Last night, I had the honor of giving the keynote address at the Capitol Commission annual banquet. Capitol Commission is a ministry whose aim is to reach government officials with the gospel. They are not a lobbying group or a policy group. Rather, they commission well-vetted, faithful Bible teachers and evangelists as “ministers” to serve at the state capitol as a chaplain, so to speak. In that role, they lead Bible studies that everyone is welcome to attend, and they proclaim the gospel at every opportunity. GraceAnna and I have personally supported this ministry and commend it to you and your church as a ministry for your consideration. The following is a loose transcript of my message.
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Neil Howe has written a fascinating theory of American history entitled The Fourth Turning is Here. He argues persuasively that American history has progressively moved in cycles called “saeculum,” which essentially last the average length of a lifespan, 80 to 100 years. Within each saeculum are roughly four periods, each at least 20 to 25 years. These periods are called spring, summer, fall, and winter. Without breaking down each of these periods, as you can imagine, “winter” is a period of death and disintegration. The old order passes away, and something new emerges, where the nation emerges in a new period of history. Howe argues that we are now in this “winter” period or “fourth turning.” He begins this “winter” period with the 2008 financial crisis and cites the political polarization, the COVID-19 fallout, and the social disintegration we have experienced. He argues we are a national tinderbox, so to speak, which will burst into flames when we face a natural crisis, whether that be a global war or a great economic difficulty. Out of this crisis moment, he argues that a new order will emerge.
Though mainly agreeing with his argument for a cyclical history, Howe did not address the spiritual condition of the nation. I point this out because America’s problem is much deeper than political discord and economic debt. America’s problem is spiritual. America’s problem is ethical. The problem is that America has turned her back on God. Rather than fearing the Lord, we have crafted idols of our own making. It is a hard and fast rule: God honors nations that honor Him. Nations that do not honor Him are eventually given over to judgment. It struck me as I was reading Howe’s descriptions of America’s cycles, which roughly go from the Revolutionary period to the Civil War, from Reconstruction to World War II, and from the 50s to the present crisis. The thought struck me, though, in analyzing this, that America is not guaranteed a rebirth. America is not guaranteed another “saeculum.” In many ways, God delivered our nation through our previous crises by His kind hand of providence. But does America deserve to be delivered from another? She doesn’t. America deserves the judgment of God, not the kindness of God. There is nothing to prevent God from marching on America.
That is why this year’s banquet theme of “Empowering Leaders for Righteousness” is so important. We desperately need leaders to stand for righteousness in local, state, and national government. In thinking about this theme, I keyed on the word righteousness. Righteousness is an attribute of God. When we are talking about righteousness, we are talking about the character of God. Psalm 111:3 says, “Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.” Psalm 116:5 says, “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous.” Psalm 145:17 says, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. Psalm 4:1 reads, “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!” In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called “the Righteous One” (Acts 22:14). Righteousness (Heb. sedeq or Gr. dikia) can be defined as “God’s divine holiness applied in moral government and the domain of law.”[1]
If righteousness is an attribute of God describing his holy rule, then we desperately need those who are intimately acquainted with God and His rule! That leads to the first point this evening. We need leaders who know the righteous God. We need leaders with a glimpse of his holiness. We need leaders who make decisions with God’s righteousness as their standard. It seems to me that this is the main problem today in government: people don’t know who God is. Therefore, their ethic is not fixed but relativistic. Leaders make decisions in the dark in the service of their man-made idols rather than in service to their Creator. I saw a picture recently of the astronaut Bruce Mccandless doing the first untethered spacewalk. The picture is terrifying in the sense that it is one solitary man floating above the Earth with nothing else in view. He is not anchored to anything. You can imagine one gust of solar wind blowing him into the vast reaches of space. In a sense, this is the majority of our nation’s leaders. They are detached from God’s righteousness and are free-floating in a black abyss of moral relativism. The fact of the matter is that you can only know righteousness if you know the righteous One.
Moreover, government leaders are accountable to this righteous One. Paul says in Romans 13 that government leaders are God’s “deacons” (Rom 13:4). They will ultimately, therefore, give an account to Him for how they led according to His righteousness. Therefore, we can say that government leaders need to see God so that they can 1) know what righteousness is; and 2) know who they are accountable to.
Capitol Commission exists not only to convert the ruler but also to warn the ruler that they are accountable to God. Josiah was the great boy king who became king when he was eight years old. In his eighteenth year, when he was 26 years old, he sent his secretary to the temple to count the money that had been contributed to the upkeep of the temple. When his secretary got to the temple, Hilkiah, the high priest, said to the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” The secretary took the Book of the Law and read it to King Josiah. When the king heard it, he was stuck to the core. Josiah is recorded as saying, “For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:13). Josiah then led the nation in repentance by covenanting with God to keep His “statutes” from the heart (2 Kings 23:3). Everything changed when Josiah saw God. A glimpse of God and His holiness propelled the nation to righteousness.
Secondly, we need leaders who are declared righteous. In seeing a righteous God, we come face-to-face with our own unrighteousness. We see ourselves as sinners. Paul says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10, 11). That bad news leads Paul to expand the good news that man can be counted righteous by another’s righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God, took on our humanity, obeyed the law of God perfectly without sin, died on the cross a substitutionary death for sinners, and because He was perfect, He rose again from the dead three days later. It is only on the basis of this righteousness given as a gift that any person can stand before a holy God. It is only on the basis of this righteousness that anyone will inherit Heaven. Paul waxes eloquent on the glories of this righteousness in Philippians, “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 of God that depends on faith” (Phil 3:9). I am convinced that many government leaders have never heard this gospel. They have never heard of the righteousness of Christ that is offered to them as a gift. They must be implored to repent of their sins and self-righteousness and trust in Christ alone. The role of a Capitol Commission minister is not unlike Paul before Felix and Drusilla in Acts 24. Paul came forward and reasoned with them “about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” (Acts 24:25). Daniel calls those who “turn many to righteousness” the “stars” (Dan 12:3). It’s a great picture! Those who bring the light of the gospel are like stars who bring light to dark places. Unfortunately, we are not told that Felix and Drusilla repented of their sins. Josephus, the historian, tells us that Drusilla was killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii. We can only hope that she repented of her sin and trusted Christ before she was killed. And we should pray for a positive response to the gospel in our generation among government leaders.
Third and finally, we need leaders who become righteous. Those leaders who are declared righteous in Christ are called “saints” in the New Testament. The word “saint” comes from the same word group of “righteousness.” The New Testament teaches that those who have been declared righteous in Christ begin the inevitable journey of becoming righteous. Holiness begins to define their character. They become forces of righteousness in their own contexts. They become agents of God’s righteousness wherever they are. Moreover, God is with His righteous ones in a unique way. He watches over them. The Psalmist says, “For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever” (Psalm 112:6).
In thinking about the divine favor that God bestows on the righteous, I could not help but think about George Washington at the Battle of Trenton. As many of you are aware, Washington and his forces crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night, December 25, 1776. If you know anything about military tactics, crossing a river to attack an enemy is exceedingly dangerous. If retreat or regrouping becomes necessary in the battle, the river essentially pins you into the fury of your enemies. They marched through bitter snow and cold through the night to attack the Hessian fort at Trenton. Washington meant to surprise the enemy in the night. However, when it was almost daybreak, they saw another group of soldiers near Trenton. It turned out to be a patrol of American soldiers sent from another general, unbeknownst to Washington, to attack an outpost of Trenton to avenge the death of one of their own. Since they had already attacked the outpost, Washington was furious. His surprise was blown, or so he thought. As it turns out, a spy embedded with the American forces had warned the Hessians that the Americans were to attack that night. When the American skirmishers had attacked earlier in the evening, the commander of Trenton, Colonel Rall, assumed that that was the attack he had been warned about. So, after repelling the skirmishers, he sent his troops back to the barracks to sleep. Thus, Washington’s attack still came as a relative surprise! Obviously, you cannot attribute the ultimate success of the battle, which became the turning point of the war, to strategy or skill. You can only attribute it to the kindness of God. Washington, I believe, was under divine favor. And God providentially orchestrated the events in His favor in the course of the battle. The Lord is with the righteous. He comes to their help and aid. I pray that God will raise up righteous leaders whom God is with. Men of whom, it can be said, that God guides and directs their steps. I think the Capitol Commission will play a vital role in bringing this about. I give them my full-hearted prayers and support.
[1] Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Third Edition (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1980), 927.
