restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

One Christian’s Case Against George Bush

David Alan Black

The United States Constitution is unique in its devotion to maximum individual freedom under God’s law. Most politicians, on the other hand, believe that social change is the result almost exclusively of politics and state coercion. They believe that society can be radically altered by means of state-financed public education, health education, welfare programs, speech codes, and the like. Christians, on the other hand, believe in regeneration (John 3:3). Men are not changed by politics but by God.

The problem with the president’s philosophy of government is that it follows the liberals’ line. It ignores our Founders’ philosophy that the role of the state is simply to defend and protect life, liberty, and property, and to reward the externally obedient by protecting them from the externally disobedient (Rom. 13:1-7). Its role is never to make men virtuous. Civil governments that attempt to create a virtuous society are totalitarian governments.

Unwittingly perhaps, President Bush’s leadership has contributed directly to the notion of a bloated, deified state that can solve all of our problems. Yes, God ordained civil government, but this does not mean that Christians must throw in their lot with the modern superstate. Thus, for example, Bush’s faith-based initiative may sound inviting, but in reality it will make churches dependent on public money, in direct contradiction to Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:7 that giving is to be completely voluntary.

Bush tends to be a social engineer, offering us programs to solve this or that social ill. Scripture, however, promises a completely changed life as the result of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When the president promises to take care of people’s social needs, he directly contradicts the scriptural teaching that men who do not work should not eat. Indeed, the whole idea of a welfare state is based on a violation of the eighth commandment, which prohibits theft. Keep in mind that men like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry protested against a tyrant who was taxing the colonials at a rate of about five percent. Today the average American is taxed at the rate of about 50 percent. Just as importantly, Scripture clearly says it is the parents’ responsibility to teach their children and to raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). God never suggests that this duty should be transferred to the state.

It is all a matter of returning to the foundational documents of our nation, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Read them and you will see that they do not promise a perfect society but a free one. The Founders’ concept of the state was one that was strictly limited. Their delineation of the role of government may be found in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. To remove any doubt as to their intentions, the Founders added the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States…are reserved to the States…or to the people.” Hence there is no authorization for about 90 percent of what our federal government currently spends. This includes the $14 billion the president has promised for AIDS relief in Africa and the $47 billion we spend on Food Stamps annually as a nation.

In short, there is no biblical basis for attempting to accomplish Christian objectives through politics, no matter how noble one’s intentions may be. Bush’s call for taxes, welfare, and state-sponsored health care and education squares neither with the Holy Bible nor the Constitution he took an oath to defend and protect. The solution? Leave the money in the pockets of the taxpayers and let them voluntarily give to the charity of their choice. As history shows, that is exactly what they will do.

My friend, if you haven’t read the Constitution in a while, please go here. It is an amazingly simple document. It will remind you that the United States was founded on the principles of individual freedom, free markets, private property, and limited government. Once you’ve read it, you’ll find yourself less apt to be seduced into believing that you cannot live without the political paternalism promised by the president.

And while you’re at it, why not take a look at the Constitution Party’s platform? If you are a Christian who believes in a strictly limited role for civil government, as our Founding Fathers did, you may be pleasantly surprised.

March 24, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book, Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon, will be released this year.

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Once Again, the “Mistakes” of War Are Costing Us Our Credibility

 David Alan Black 

Only a week after I published an essay entitled “Civilian Deaths and the Just Use of Force,” we have read about the deaths of at least 15 Afghan children in U.S. raids. And, as I predicted, furious Afghan leaders are warning that such “mistakes” (our euphemism) will undermine the U.S.-backed government. In Iraq, meanwhile, a Shia cleric was crushed to death by a U.S. Army tank while sitting in his car. Iraqis are understandably incensed.

All the while the president’s triumphalism continues. Speaking to troops late last month, Bush said, “Working with a fine coalition, our military went to Afghanistan, destroyed the training camps of al Qaeda and put the Taliban out of business forever.” Let’s see here, the Taliban has been “put…out of business forever”? The facts, of course, prove otherwise. The Taliban in Afghanistan is on the rise and their attacks are steadily increasing.

At the beginning of the war we were informed that our government was not “keeping score,” that is, it would not release figures on Iraqi military or civilian casualties. All of a sudden things have changed with the “deaths” of 54 guerillas in Samarra whose bodies were never recovered (the eight bodies at the local hospital were all civilians). Writes Derrick Jackson of the Boston Globe: “American scorecards are about as trustworthy as Vegas odds. Even the military admits the sudden interest in counting the bodies of Iraqi soldiers is a political ploy. It comes after the deadliest month for American soldiers since we commenced the bombing of Iraq. Eighty-one American soldiers perished—more than the 65 in March or the 73 in April during the actual invasion.”

Paul Woodward recently observed that the U.S. military, which is never quick to accept its mistakes, may express regrets but rarely assumes responsibility. And on Sunday, Jim Lobe, a correspondent for Inter Press Service in Washington, DC, reported this about the Samarra incident:

More worrisome perhaps for the occupation’s prospects, however, was what the townspeople told reporters about both the battle and their general assessment of the occupiers. “Were the French happy under the Nazis?” the U.S.-appointed police chief in Samarra asked the Financial Times after the battle. “It is the same thing here.”

Another policeman found the military’s contentions about guerrilla uniforms incomprehensible. “These are just lies,” he told Knight-Ridder. “Everyone who was wearing a kafiyeh was to them a Fedayeen. This is ridiculous.”

Others interviewed by reporters had much harsher words and vowed revenge for however many people were killed and injured in the fighting.

Could it be that our troops are not adequately trained to fight the kind of war we are currently engaged in? This is the opinion of an anonymous combat leader who participated in the attack on Samarra and who described the tactics employed by U.S. troops for the Soldiers for the Truth website: “We drive around in convoys, blast the [expletive] out of the area, break down doors and search buildings; but the guerillas continue to attacks (sic) us. It does not take a (Gen.) George Patton to see we are using the wrong tactics against these people.”

And now it seems we have decided to adopt tough new Israeli-like tactics against the guerillas in Iraq, arresting relatives of insurgents and destroying houses used to plan attacks against American troops. And things are only likely to heat up before they get any better. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, warned of a surge in attacks against coalition forces before a July 1 deadline to transfer authority to Iraqis. He cautioned that strikes might not end even if troops kill or capture Saddam Hussein. “We expect to see an increase in violence as we move forward toward sovereignty at the end of June,” Sanchez said.

Inevitably, innocent civilians will pay the price for their “sovereignty.” Ludwig von Mises, author of Omnipotent Government, once noted: “Modern war is not a war of royal armies. It is a war of the peoples, a total war. It is a war of states which do not leave to their subjects any private sphere; they consider the whole population a part of the armed forces. Whoever does not fight must work for the support and equipment of the army. Army and people are one and the same. The citizens passionately participate in the war. For it is their state, their God, who fights.”

In April, CNN aired footage of a Marine in Baghdad shouting to a crowd of angry Iraqis. His words were, “We’re here for your [expletive] freedom.” Of course, they can’t understand what he’s saying. Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with those “mistakes.”

December 10, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On War, Ideologies, and Faith

 David Alan Black 

The current debate over a war with Iraq is a topic in which every American has interest and which will have consequences that affect the whole populace or a substantial portion of it for many years to come.

Believers in limited government and nonintervention fear a permanent despoilment of the Republic and a colossal leap forward in federal power that can never be reversed. They distrust power in the hands of a few sinful and imperfect men. They find repugnant the idea that the United States must export democracy at gunpoint all around the globe.

One thing in the ongoing debate is certain, however. Political action is influenced as much by ideals as by material desires and self-interest. Most people genuinely care about the health of the society in which they live and not just what society can do for them as individuals. All people have a desire for public policy that is “good” by their standards—that is, public policy that gives expression to the public’s general notion of the kind of society in which they want to live, what things are right and wrong, and what values should be nurtured and protected. It is because people have certain ideals about the way society should be structured that they become deeply motivated to preserve their present arrangements or to struggle for change.

The recent opposition to what many perceive as militant triumphalism on the part of the administration may be seen, at least partly, as a clash of values. In political movements, values are both determinates of behavior as well as weapons used by contestants. Values are not held with aloofness; they require commitment, at times even partisanship. Politics also involves the collective effort to protect values from the threat residing in the egoism of human groups and individuals. Therefore, while the goal of politics is power, it is theology that must always give direction to politics. Hence there is a constant need to understand power—its dangers, its checks and balances, and its proper and improper uses.

Today’s debates are about competing ideologies as much as anything. An ideology is a picture of how society should be and how a society is justified. It is a set of ideas and beliefs that articulate how the basic values of a group will apply to the distribution of power in society. The fondest political aspirations are always dependent upon a culture that will sustain them. To nourish their strengths and guard against their proclivities for evil, these visions of society require virtues of love, commonality, self-restraint, justice, and—above all—devotion to truth. Such values, in my view, depend ultimately upon a foundation in religious faith, a foundation found most deeply in a faith in the God made known through Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim 2:3). This is a call to be soldiers, and soldiers go forth to wage battle. Too many people feel called only to march in dress parades and wave flags, as it were. These armchair generals discuss political strategy and argue over many things far from the conflict. Their Christian life is only a sham battle. They do not grapple with the hard realities of conflict and opposing ideologies. Clearly, today we have too many generals and too few foot soldiers.

Real progress will take prayer and obedience and right living and love and endurance. Our Lord did not meet the struggles of life with a Pollyanna philosophy, painting the clouds with sunshine. Tribulation is a reality, but we can cheer up for He has overcome all that this world can hurl at us.

To our political leaders who will decide the future of America I say: As you deliberate the vital issues before you, remember that faith makes a difference. Our God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He will be found when we search for Him with all our hearts. If promotion, organization, policies, programs, and ardor could bring unity, we would be swept by revival. When we look to these things we get what they can give. When we look to God we get what He can give.

We are all just human beings. But we can be more than that if we pray and pray earnestly and pray again.

February 13, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On the Writing (and Reading) of Books

 David Alan Black  

In the current welter of religious publication, it might be helpful to explain why, with my latest book, I’ve decided to throw another pound or two of paper on the heap.

Here’s the expanded table of contents. I think it speaks for itself.

The Downward Path of Jesus: From Cultural Conformity to Radical Discipleship

Preface

1. Introduction: The Downward Path of Jesus

Smashing Our Idols

Imitating Christ

The Jesus Paradigm

A Cruciform Lifestyle

Making Disciples

2. The Liberated Church: Recasting Our Vision of Discipleship

Cultural Christianity or Costly Discipleship?

Churchianity or Christ?

Two Allegiances?

Lions or Lambs?

The End of Christendom?

Reformation, Revival, or Restoration?

3. The Radical Reformation: The Anabaptists and Suffering Servanthood

New Testament Church Life

The Anabaptists and Clerical Ministry 

A New Covenant Approach

Apolitical Christianity

The Brotherhood of All Believers

The Anabaptists and Missions

Conclusion: Why Study the Anabaptists?

4. The Priestly Kingdom: Communal Ecclesiology and Every-Member Ministry

The FDR-ing of the Church

Whose Responsibility Is It to Admonish the Unruly?

Every Member a Minister

From Serve Us to Service

Every Member a Missionary

5. The Community of the Spirit: Leadership Jesus’ Style

How’s Your Hekastology?

There’s Only One “Senior Pastor”

Church Leadership According to Philippians 1:1

Pastors as Shepherds

Summary: Who Rules the Church?

6. The Politics of Jesus: Disarming the Principalities and Powers

The Seduction of Politics

An American Theocracy?

A Post-Political Church

“Christian” Politics?

The Just War Tradition and Pacifism

Cross-Based Politics

A Test Case: Iran

Addendum: Comparison of the 1925, 1963, and 2000 Baptist Faith and Message

7. The Future of Christianity: Habits of the Upside-Down Kingdom

Upside-Down Deviants

Doing the Kingdom Together

The Gospel of Hospitality

How’s Your Serve?

What really surprises me is that I had not thought of writing this book earlier in my career. For New Testament teachers, a subject as central as discipleship can be ignored only at our peril.

In some ways, I’ve returned to my youth, when as a Jesus freak I extolled the Jesus way of life (while spouting the worst platitudes). But Jesus freaks never go out of style. If you think there are already enough books on this subject, you are probably right. I offer my own views not as an autonomous work but as an intellectual nod to my mentors, namely Bonhoeffer, Ellul, and Muggeridge. “I planted, Apollos watered” – but neither of them mattered in the least. The essential thing is to get the message across, n’est pas?

I must have the book finalized before I leave for Central Asia next month. I’ve entrusted the manuscript to a very select group of friends and colleagues whose criticisms I await like an anxiety-ridden mother.

Jacque Ellul once said, “Look at the one speaking, study that person’s face, learn that person’s life, and then take his or her words seriously – or don’t.” I like that. It’s really the only way to judge a publication. A book is true only when we can trust the one who wrote it.

Then again, only imbeciles will orient their faith and thinking toward mere men. Everything in our lives goes perversely wrong when we place our trust in any human author. Our faith must always and only be in Christ.

So please do not expect too much from this little book of mine. In the end, the Logos made flesh is the only one we can trust.

August 20, 2008

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On the Road Again – and Needing Your Prayers

 David Alan Black 

Realizing how uncertain things are in this fallen world, I am fervently praying if it might be the Lord’s will that the door to Iran might remain open until I have an opportunity to go there. I am really overwhelmingly touched by what I read about events in the world. I see God at work so powerfully that I am filled with thanksgiving as well as feeling as though I am drowning at times in the enormity of the task. But I am willing at the drop of a hat to change my schedule if only once I could share the love of Jesus in the very place where the Ayatollahs are trained.

Here at Rosewood Farm we are surrounded by the wonder of God’s creation that it is easy to take it all for granted. Becky and I love to watch the goats from our porch in the morning as we sip our coffee together. Yesterday Becky remarked, “It’s amazing how God made goats for community, how they love to do everything together.” Isn’t it interesting that it is a natural thing, when we grow in the Lord and stay close to Him, that we should long to be with our fellow Christians or even desire to be plunged into a circle of strangers and work where the Lord Jesus is never honored or even thought of? I am frequently holding Central Asia before the dear Lord’s face in prayer. I feel it is both a place of danger and opportunity and I realize that any Christian who goes there has a tremendous responsibility of using the understanding God has given him or her to speak of the holiness and love of the Savior.

So as we set out “on the road again,” I would ask you too to be praying for Becky and me that the Lord would lead us in a very clear way – for me as I go back to Europe this month, for us as we return to Ethiopia in December and May, and again for me as I lecture in Marrakech in March – that the Lord may lead and guide us and that our time abroad, short as it is, may count much for His glory.

Remember, “His eye is on the sparrow,” and the work of God follows those in whom He has put His Spirit. Everywhere we travel we go with one driving conviction – that no stronghold of Satan is so mighty that the living God cannot penetrate, pierce, and divide asunder. This is just as true in post-Christian Europe and America as it is in Central Asia. For the Christian, the battle is not against flesh and blood, and the victory is attained only through the moment-by-moment leadership of the Holy Spirit and with spiritual weapons of warfare.

September 1, 2006

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On Sending Missionaries to Iraq

 David Alan Black 

“You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

While building our new house in Virginia we have spent a lot of time looking at lighting fixtures. Every time I go to the store and I see a roomful of lamps on display I am fairly blinded by their brilliance.

Sometimes Christians remind me of those lamps. They are not needed for light but are just shining for show. They get together and try to out-dazzle each other when they ought to be shining out in the world’s darkness where they are needed.

Last night on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, NPR aired an interesting debate. The topic was whether Southern Baptists should send missionaries into Iraq. The program included an interview with Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, who graciously yet firmly iterated the truth about the Gospel and about the believer’s desire to share God’s love with people everywhere. The business of the light, he said in essence, is to dispel darkness. Christians are not meant to be candles in a display case. As Mark Kelly of the International Missionary Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has said, “Our desire in any situation, in this case in humanitarian aid, is to give people a tangible demonstration of how much God loves them.”

“But won’t Iraqi Muslims be offended by your preaching? Surely that would be an insult to Islam!” In other words, shouldn’t you do exactly what the Lord told you not to do—hide your lamp under a bushel? Once again, the answer is clear. The Bible teaches we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove, expose, and turn the pure light of God’s Word on them (see Ephesians 5:11). In a related TIME interview, Mohler noted, “The secular world tends to look at Iraq and say, well, it’s Muslim, and that’s just a fact, and any Christian influence would just be a form of Western imperialism. The Christian has to look at Iraq and see persons desperately in need of the gospel. Compelled by the love and command of Christ, the Christian will seek to take that gospel in loving and sensitive, but very direct, ways to the people of Iraq.”

The debate over whether or not to evangelize in Iraq boils down to a fatal misunderstanding about the nature of Christianity. Christianity is a faith that talks. It has always been vocal—and sometimes articulate (as with Dr. Mohler). The family doctor used to say, “Open wide and let me see your tongue.” Likewise, our Heavenly Father asks what we are doing with our evangelistic voice. We may be inclined to say like Jeremiah, “I cannot speak,” or like Moses, “I am not eloquent,” or like Jonah, “I will not speak.” But we ought to be able say, like the apostles of old, “I cannot but speak!”

The Spirit-filled Christian is never a silent Christian, whether he is in Iraq or Ireland or Idaho. He lets his light so shine before men that they may see his good works and glorify his Father who is in heaven.

May 6, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On Dealing with Reality

Becky Lynn Black  

There are 2 aspects of reality: the seen and the unseen. And there are 2 views of reality: real and imagined. Our perception of Reality is a major battleground for the Evil One.  He delights to get us confused and disoriented.  He loves the artificial, the vapor, the superstitious. This is why it is so important that we be in the Word of God. He is Truth, and we can rely upon His interpretation of Reality.

In dealing with any major trouble in Life, the “seen” reality often looms bigger than the “unseen.”  Facts, statistics, police reports, doctors reports, drug tests, overdue bills, insulting letters….all of these things are shouting at us. And though we put the data in the bottom drawer, we cannot change these facts. 

The “unseen” reality that I’m referring to is the reality of the living God….who He is, how He operates in our lives, what He promises (or threatens). This is the unseen reality because God is a spirit; He is unseen with the human eye. The second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, took on our human body when He was born of Mary, but we cannot see Him either, because He is seated in Heaven at the right hand of the first person of the Trinity, the one we call Father. The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, lives within every true believer in Jesus Christ. And this Spirit “speaks” to us, confirming the Word of God as reality. Those without this Spirit, who have rejected Jesus Christ as God and Savior come in human body, cannot affirm in their hearts and minds that the Scriptures are reality. They are blind to the unseen aspect of reality. And they are much to be pitied, because they know only earthly things….the data in the bottom drawer….and they know nothing of heavenly things.

The two aspects of reality (the seen and the unseen) shape our course in times of trouble.  Without the ability to embrace the unseen reality, we are bound to only the ugliness of life on earth. It is impossible for us to rise above our troubles, because one of the seen realities is our own failures and weaknesses. It does not take long before we realize that in the face of major difficulty, we are quickly undone. Only the person who has not yet faced major trouble remains deluded as to his own ability to cope with Life.

As the cancer reports have come to me over the past 2 ½ years, I have consciously reminded myself, “This is reality. But it is only part of reality.”

The other part of reality is the character of God. Though the cancer reports change, God does not change. As He was to me before the new report, so He will be to me after the report. How can I know the character, the nature, of God?  Only by knowing the Scriptures. There are so many, many passages that talk of who our God is. For example, read the last half of Matthew 6…what does that say about God’s commitment to care for His own?  Or read the last half of Romans 8….what does that say about God’s ability to love us? He has revealed Himself. He does not hide Himself from us like other gods.  He is a communicator. He desires relationship with us. He is open about Himself to us. It’s all there…in the Scriptures.

So side by side with that data in the bottom drawer are the facts of who God is. And together, they form complete reality.

Now, let’s talk about “real” vs. “imagined” perceptions of reality. It is very important that we not make up our own realities, based upon our feelings, our interpretations, our mood, our history. It is easy for us to have selective hearing when it comes to bad news on the financial, health, family front….we don’t want to hear that which is threatening our security. On the other hand, it is sometimes easy for us to exaggerate a burden…this exaggeration facilitates the sympathy and support of others. Dollars flow in our direction, attention comes to us, others jump into the situation to help. We need to guard ourselves against imagining a reality that does not exist, and we need to guard ourselves against exaggerating a reality for our own purposes.

What does it boil down to?  Disciplined thinking, disciplined emotions, humility….all of which requires the Spirit of God to work in our lives day by day and moment by moment.  I am always asking the Lord, “Keep me connected to reality…both seen and unseen…and keep my thinking/emotions/spirit level-headed.”  The Evil One loves to trip us up in our thinking, but the Spirit of God is able to settle our minds and emotions, so that we can operate according to full reality. It takes work. It takes humility. But it is possible.

March 15, 2012

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On Being a Missionary

 David Alan Black  

Most of you know that Becky and I are fulltime missionaries to Ethiopia, even though we do not actually live in that country. One of the hardest things about being a missionary is spending time on “home assignment.” But I’ve got to remember that all ministry, whether of word or deed, whether there or here, is equally acceptable and pleasing to God as long as it is motivated by love.

How, then, can I stay focused on missions?

Speaking about missions is a good start, whether in my classes or when I am invited to be a guest speaker in a church somewhere. No one better than a missionary can inspire people to a life of sacrifice for Jesus. Hearing “live missionaries” while growing up in Hawaii was always a special blessing to me, especially when the report was about God’s work rather than a boring, factual itinerary. Our Ethiopia team members do an exceptional job of presenting missions in churches, clubs, and even public schools. Some are mechanics, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, but they each have a dramatic story to tell. None of us is a “professional,” but that hasn’t intimated us in the least! We tell it like it is, good and bad, though we emphasize the positive simply because there is so much positive to report.

Being on “home assignment” is also an excellent opportunity for assessment — taking stock of what has happened in the past and what lies ahead. Setting goals and objectives is an on-going process. Has there been a “return on investment”? (The investor, of course, is God.) Have the results been God-honoring? What concerns need to be dealt with? Is the fruit “remaining”? Success in each of these areas can be measured. But however we answer these questions, the bottom line is that “success” for a missionary is measured primarily by obedience to God’s leading every day, whether one is in Ethiopia or Virginia. I’ve never met anyone who has served Jesus as a missionary say that he or she regrets the experience. The missional life is a life that makes a difference. It’s the greatest adventure and challenge in the world. It is the book of Acts being lived out in Technicolor.

Peter Wagner once said, “Once you ask Jesus Christ to take control of your life, involvement in world missions is no longer optional.” As I understand missions, the greatest need today is not to do the work of church planting. There are already churches in China, in Egypt, in Iraq, in Iran even. We make the greatest difference, I think, by coming alongside our Christian brothers and sisters and partnering with them with our prayers, our pocketbooks, and, when possible, our presence.

“Wait a minute, Dave,” you say. “I thought you were a Greek professor, not a missionary!” In a sense you’re right. But we must not neglect the one for the other. Teaching Greek may be my job, but the Great Commission is my business. Fulltime. The call to be a disciple-maker is our chief calling as Christians, whatever our specific employment night be. We are all called to “go and bear fruit — fruit that will last” (John 15:16).

“If you love me,” said Jesus, “you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). And that is the heart of the matter. Our God is a sending God. “As the Father sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Every Christian is sent, just as Jesus was sent. If you are a genuine Christian, you are a missionary. (I could have entitled this essay “On Being a Christian.”) We are called to go even if it is only to the next block.

So the question is: Are you and I going?

February 12, 2011

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On and Off Christians

 David Alan Black 

The first converts to Christianity were not “on and off” Christians. This is clear from the language of Acts 2:42-47. The Greek verbs indicate continuing or repeated action. These believers “kept on” or “continued” in everything they did. They kept on devoting themselves to doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. They kept on being filled with awe. They kept on sharing everything in common. They kept on selling their possessions and giving them according to individual need. They kept on breaking bread together in their homes. They kept on eating their food with gladness and sincere hearts. And the Lord kept on adding to their fellowship those who were being saved.

These early Christians knew they could not remain static. They were always going forward and their activity was always purposeful. Christian character is not grown at pleasure resorts. We do not become saints in our sleep. Great soldiers are not developed in the academy but on the battlefield.

Our biggest problem in the church today is lack of commitment. The professing church has become cluttered with hosts of superficial “believers” who have never sold out. We put one hand to the plow while the other hand remains behind our back, with fingers crossed. Self-satisfied complacency and false contentment in the midst of a needy world does not offend us in the least.

What made the early Christians different from most of us was that they were genuine. Programmed activities were never substituted for Christian living. They cared nothing for religious fads that work up mere positive thinking. They had no Easters or Christmases or Good Fridays or 40 Days of Purpose. They actually preferred outright opposition to the frivolous endorsement of men. Their one desire was to know Christ better, to experience increasingly the power of His resurrection, to enter more and more into the fellowship of His sufferings. They had arrived yet they kept on arriving!

Have you checked your spiritual pulse lately? God expects His people to be good stewards, and it is required of stewards that they be found faithfully doing what their Master requires of them. The early church did not dodge its responsibilities but met everything as it arose, and evil gave way before it.

Our Lord is rallying in the church today His faithful few, His Gideon’s band, men and women who mean to do business for God wholeheartedly. May you, and may I, “keep on.”

April 15, 2006

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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On an Iraqi (-Irani, -Pakistani, etc.) War

 David Alan Black

I’m asked from time to time to state my views on what is now an almost inevitable (some would say unavoidable) war with Iraq. Well, in case you haven’t gotten my gist from reading this website, I’m happy to put my cards on the table.

I am not convinced the administration has made its case.

If the United States Congress is really persuaded that America is justified in attacking Iraq, let it obey the Constitution and issue a declaration of war (see Article 1, Section 8). This is precisely what Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) asked his colleagues to do recently—and the War Party promptly sounded retreat.

Believing with Jefferson that the government which governs best governs least, on this issue I side squarely with my libertarian friends, who have been among the staunchest allies of the old right in forging a foreign policy that keeps America out of wars where the vital interests of the Republic are not threatened. When it comes to foreign affairs I believe the best thing America can do is to follow the sage advice of our first president, George Washington: “The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connections as possible.” Today we are seeing the very opposite taking place in our foreign policy. Indeed, if American interventionism continues at the current pace and we invade Iraq, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the conflict will rapidly degenerate into a two-continent war from Algeria to Afghanistan, with the United States and Israel left to fight alone against a half-dozen Arab and Muslim states.

Is it just me, or has any one else noticed that the president seems habitually annoyed, irritated, and angry? And do you notice how many times he uses the first person pronoun “I” when referring to your future? “I’m running out of patience,” “I’m getting sick and tired,” etc. Well, I don’t like it. It’s almost as if the Constitution doesn’t exist any more, not to mention the sweet reasonableness of our (putative) European allies, many of whom are vociferously calling for restraint, to no apparent avail.

The question I have is this: Why would Iraq launch a suicidal strike against the United States or any of our allies? It has no air force, no navy, no defense against U.S. air power, and a weakened economy. As George Bush Senior might have said, “Nope, dudn’t make sense.” In 1812, Great Britain didn’t want war with America. We gave them one anyway. In 1861, the Confederate States of America were desperate to avoid a conflict if a way could be found to do so with honor. Lincoln had other plans. After the sinking of the Lusitania, German Kaiser Wilhelm curtailed submarine warfare for two years to avoid bringing America into World War I. We came in anyway. As for World War II, why did Japan, with one tenth of our industrial power, launch a sneak attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor and draw America into a war to the death? Were the Japanese insane? Hardly. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor only when our oil embargo left them no other way to avert an economic disaster at home. Finally, after our Cold War triumph, when we had a chance to beef up our defenses and reduce our international commitments, we did the opposite, expanding our obligations to Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Gulf, and Central Asia, all the while reducing our armed forces by fifty percent.

Before we commit billions of dollars and God knows how many American lives in yet another foreign adventure, we had better be sure that the threat is both real and imminent. I am open to considering any additional evidence the president might put forward to prove a threat to American national security. Meanwhile, there’s enough to keep us busy trying to guard our porous borders. And let’s not forget one other bothersome detail. It’s unconstitutional (i.e., illegal) to go to war, even a “preemptive war,” without a congressional declaration. On this issue, as on so many others, Pat Buchanan is spot on: “Keep America the greatest power on earth, first on land, sea, in the air and space. Strike hard any enemy that strikes us. Hold high the torch of liberty, republicanism. But keep the bravest of America’s young out of wars where no vital interest is at risk, and do not send our wealth abroad in foreign aid to balance the budgets of foreign regimes when we cannot even balance our own.”

Meanwhile, I will pray for a regime change—not one in Iraq necessarily, but one right here at home. I will pray that Americans will have enough courage and sense to elect a President and Congress who will fulfill their solemn oaths of office and adhere strictly to the principles spelled out in the United States Constitution. And I will pray for George Washington’s vision of friendly commerce with all and entangling alliances with none.

Appendix: America First Party’s Resolution on War with Iraq

Resolution of the National Convention To Condemn any Unlawful and Improper War with Iraq

(Adopted by overwhelming vote of the National Convention of the America First Party on August 10, 2002)

Whereas, the United States Constitution vests the power to make war exclusively in the United States Congress; and

Whereas, the making of war by the United States of America may only be justified when the safety and security of our people and our homeland are imperiled; and

Whereas, our nation has experienced the bitter fruit of adventurous and undeclared wars that have sullied the rightness of our cause, damaged our reputation abroad, imperiled our brave fighting men and women, and shed innocent blood;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE NATIONAL CONVENTION:

That it is not the business of the United States to solve the world’s problems, babysit bickering factions abroad, or defend the interests and safety of any nation other than our own; and

That this nation has no cause for war with Iraq, her people, or their leaders, unless they seek to harm our people or this beloved land; and

That unless and until the nation of Iraq lifts its hand against our people, our homes, or our countryland, there can be no just, moral, legal, or practical cause for armed conflict between us; and

That we deplore the growing efforts to foment hatred and fear of the nation of Iraq solely for the purpose of fanning the flames of war hysteria; and

That calls for armed attack against Iraq are at present unjustified; and

That the President’s plan to launch an unjustified war against Iraq without the mandatory Congressional Declaration of War is repugnant to our Constitution, to the principles and ideals of our nation, to basic principles of morality and justice, and to the peace and security of the United States; and

That should the President institute unlawful and improper use of the armed forces of the United States, the America First Party shall call for his immediate impeachment and removal from office.

February 10, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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