The following is a statement from Bob Vander Plaats and The FAMiLY Leader on the protests, turned riots, at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021:
The real tragedy of Jan. 6, 2021, was that the outrage was never going to change anything. The electoral votes were cast, they were going to be certified, and Joe Biden was always going to be our next president. Even Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, admitted in their formal objection that the election would be certified. And yet violence erupted, lives were lost, and our Capitol was besieged by people whose actions were never going to change a thing.
Moving forward, however, we must ask, “What will change anything?”
For Americans who know our culture is sprinting away from the heart of God and who are rightly concerned about our country’s future, what can we do?
First and foremost, we must put our hope where our hope belongs. Let’s get real, ugly honest here for a moment: It’s idolatrous to invest all our hope and fears in any elected official, candidate, or even government itself. It’s idolatry to think all will be well if our party is in power or all is lost when our candidate loses.
Even when all the world tempts us to worship our kings, to put our hopes in government programs or political parties, there is only one King worthy of that hope, only one Messiah – the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.
Yes, elections do matter, and we should earnestly seek righteous laws that are just and bless those governed by them. And yes, our elected leaders wield great authority – but there is a higher authority. And just as pastors are shepherds of their congregations, elected officials are shepherds of their constituents – and both shepherds answer to God.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,” noted the Bible’s King David in Psalm 20:7, “but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”
“Where does my help come from?” David asked in Psalm 121. “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
David’s words challenge us to think bigger, look higher, and expect more. Let’s think bigger than merely winning the next election, as if every election were the fulfillment or end of all our hopes. Let’s look higher, because America has God-sized problems that no politician can solve (but God can!). Let’s stop expecting miraculous deliverance from our earthly leaders … and expect more from God!
For God is our help, and He has provided the nations with a powerful engine for changing, moving, and healing the hearts of broken humanity. And that engine isn’t the White House; it’s the Church.
So what will change anything?
If God is our hope, the gospel His power, and the Church His vehicle of change, then we must start with the Church.
At The FAMiLY Leader, we believe our calling is to inspire the Church to be the Church, not just within its doors, but in every sphere of life, private and public. We encourage the Church to be salt and light, even to our government – not for political ends, but to advance the kingdom of God. We bring pastors to state capitols to pray with our elected leaders, to build intentional relationships with them, to share the transforming power of the gospel, and to encourage them in their role as shepherds under the ultimate Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We’re rebuilding the biblical and constitutional relationship between shepherds of the Church and shepherds of government to bless our communities.
Engaging the Church is the key that will change anything. In fact, it can change everything. For revival begins, not in the House of Representatives, but in the House of the Lord:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” – 2 Chronicles 7:14.
The revival we seek is an inside-out, versus an outside-in, proposition. Let it begin with me. With you. With us.
