In God we trust...Really???

“Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.”  Richard Armour

  A few months back I was having a good natured debate with a friend on whether we should still have, “In God we trust” on our money. To be candid, I have mixed emotions. First, it’s just not true. Our country doesn’t look to God as the ultimate authority. We simply don’t trust Him, often we don’t even acknowledge Him. In my mind, it tends to be hypocritical.

  Yet, on the other hand, at one time the vast majority in our country did believe in God, held to moral absolutes and looked to God as the final authority…even those who were “non-believers.” “In God we trust” has the value then of reminding us of our heritage and what our country was founded on. While I don’t personally believe our country was ever a “Christian” nation, our forefathers did have a Judeo-Christian worldview.

  That’s not the case today. Rapidly, we are devolving into the indictment of the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (5:20-21).

  You may not know this but “In God we trust” is relatively new as our national motto. Though it’s appeared and disappeared on our money almost since our nation’s conception, it wasn’t until 1956, at a particularly tense time in the Cold War, that it became law. The United States wanted to distinguish itself from the Soviet Union, which promoted state atheism. As a result, the 84^th Congress passed a joint resolution “declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States.” That law was signed by President Eisenhower on July 30, 1956 and the motto was progressively added to all of our money.

  So who or what do we trust in? For the past few months, I’ve been musing over this and I’m still thinking it through. Typically, I share what I’m fairly conclusive about here – this is not one of those times. So can I challenge you to mull this over with me?

  Basically, I believe that there are two political worldviews in America on what we trust. Our worldview then determines where our political alliance is, how we vote and who we vote for.

  First, I think there are those who’d be honest if they acknowledged, “In government we trust.” Essentially, it’s the deification of the state. There are many in our country who look to the government to resolve every problem and to care for the populace from the cradle to the grave. They are willing to surrender personal liberty for the greater good of the State. Since the establishment of government, governmental leaders have continually been tempted to play the role of parents to their people. These “parents” aren’t just the symbol of authority, they seek to be the source of every provision. A parental state feeds its children, nurtures, educates, comforts, counsels, disciplines and provides for all of their needs for security. Ultimately, it even directs their end of life decisions and is sometimes responsible for their burial. Citizens are seen as children who don’t know what’s best for them, which is a terribly insulting way to treat adults. There’s a tendency to place political leaders on a super-human pedestal that they can’t fulfill. Ultimately, it transforms government from being a gift from God, given to protect us from violence, into an idol. We look to government to meet every need. A deified state thrives on dependency. Interestingly, it become parasitic on the very ones whom it’s turned into parasites. For the Christian, the State is not who we trust, nor is the State our final authority, “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Our final authority is God. It’s our Almighty God that we trust and depend on.

  Then, I think that there are those who would be honest if they acknowledged, “In gold we trust.” Essentially, it’s the deification of money. It sees whatever governmental system or leader who benefits us the most economically as the best choice and the greatest good. It overlooks the moral reality that that while true needs can be satisfied—food, drink, companionship—when our highest motivation is economic, it opens us up to illegitimate wants that are insatiable—pride, envy, greed—to name a few. Materialism becomes the opium of the people, yet enough is never enough. It’s the horror of the wicked witch in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia Tales who gives her victims food that only causes greater hunger. It degenerates into worshiping the almighty dollar rather than the Almighty God. When our political motivations are economic, we become like the rich man of Luke 12 who believes that money and possessions make life. Yet, Jesus reminds us that possessions not only don’t give life, they don’t even give existence. Ultimately, death separates us from all our possessions, anything and everything we think we own. When we deify economic benefit, we forget Jesus’ words, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

  It’s my opinion, too, that sometimes Christians are a bit simplistic in the candidates they support. For example, in recent years, the plumb line for evangelicals has been whether a candidate is pro-life and pro-marriage. While those are very important distinctions, I don’t think that they should be the final consideration. Some who are pro-life and pro-marriage are also incompetent and would make terrible leaders. For example, though Pat Robertson is pro-life, personally, I could never vote for him.

  Then, we forget that politicians for the most part are primarily pragmatic. Many will essentially do whatever it takes to get or stay in power. One of my heroes and my favorite President of recent history was Ronald Reagan. President Reagan was unashamedly pro-life, yet his most influential political advisor, Nancy Reagan, was pro-choice. While I would hope not, yet I’m not totally confident that if his bid for the White House had been in jeopardy, that he wouldn’t have compromised his “values” to gain the Presidency. Fortunately, we will never know.

  How then should a Christian vote? First, we need to pray for wisdom, James 1:5. In today’s culture, sometimes voting is not choosing the greatest good, it’s voting for the lesser evil. If Jesus Christ is Lord, then we must vote with Kingdom values. We must not vote for who will take care of us (in government we trust) or who will potentially benefit us economically (in gold we trust), we must vote for the candidate who we believe has the greatest potential to bring glory to God and will allow us as Christians to advance Christ’s Kingdom. Our allegiance must be to King Jesus and His desires first. Sometimes that choice may hurt us or make our lives more difficult, yet helps the cause of Christ. As Christians, our first loyalty must always be to our Savior and Lord.