That's Not the Solution

Last November Jamie Foxx caused an uproar when he told the audience at the BET Soul Train Awards, "Give an honor to God and our Lord and Savior Barack Obama." Of course, it was not well received by the Christian world. On the other hand, it wasn't completely outrageous given the near god-like view that many of his supporters have of him. There are those who are quite sure that Barack Obama is the answer to our problems. Given enough time (and power) and he can fix our country like no one else could.

This sounds crazy, I know, especially to those who are quite sure that he's actually much closer to "the god of this world", Satan himself. But as crazy as it sounds to them, I believe that there is an equally large number of people who believed prior to the November elections that Mitt Romney was our guy. Just as Obama was the face of evil, they were relatively confident that when Romney got elected he'd solve our problems as well. He was smarter, more conservative. He knew business. He could fix what ailed us.

I hate to tell you this (if you don't already know it), but 'tain't necessarily so. Indeed, I'm absolutely certain that one man -- the one that got elected or the one that did not -- does not have the capability to fix the serious problems that face our nation today. And that's too bad, isn't it? I mean, it would be nice to think that one man could do it. Simple. Put the right guy in office and we're headed toward prosperity and good times. Easy! But I can say without any doubt that one man in the office of President is not the solution.

Okay, then, perhaps the answer is in Congress. You know, if we (whether we're liberal or conservative, Democrats or Republicans or any other stripe) could just get in our folks in Congress, surely that would be the solution. No, it's not as easy as one right person, but it's doable. It's reasonable. We can make it happen. A left or right or even center Congress can move America in the right direction, can make us well again. And I have to tell you it isn't going to happen. You see, in a representative government, the Congress represents its people. Thus, if the people want the government to provide for their needs and give them what they want and take money from the rich to give to the poor and ... whatever the people want that is causing the problem ... then neither the president (one man) nor Congress (a small group of representatives) is going to solve the problem.

What, then, is the problem? The problem is that too many Americans are demanding too much money from the government. We are supporting the elderly and the young, the needy and the poor, the unemployed and underemployed, the healthy and the sick. If a congressman were to vote to cut spending, that congressman could count on not getting reelected because cutting Social Security or Medicare or Welfare or just about any sort of big-ticket spending package the government currently carries will not fly with his or her constituents. That person will have to go. The problem, then, is not that the president is failing to do his job or that Congress is failing to do their jobs. The problem is that the American people have their hearts set on being cared for, to some degree or another, by their government. "Cut what you will from their funds, but don't touch mine" whatever "mine" entails. We are not a moral country anymore. We are certainly not a Christian country anymore. And we are absolutely not a self-sacrificing country anymore. We are a nation of self-centered, self-serving people whose government accurately reflects its people.

The solution then? The solution is changed hearts for the masses. So, while a "one-man solution" sounded nice but was no solution and "a select-few solution" was possibly doable but is no solution, the answer is, in all honesty, not something we can accomplish. It isn't something we can vote in. It isn't a person, a group of people, a political perspective or party. It is changed hearts. Sorry, folks, but that's the only solution to our current political and economic problems.

The good news? There is One who can accomplish this. For a large part of America and even a large part of Christendom, this may come as a surprise, but God is able to change hearts. Most seem to think that God is limited to Man's Free Will, but a biblical, Sovereign God is not. He can call effectively, can work within hearts, can change minds. The solution to our problem, as it turns out, is a God who can do it instead of a man who cannot or a governing body who cannot. That's good news! Of course, I can't tell you if God's plan to change America includes a vast change of American hearts or starts with judgment of America. I can't promise you that things will be just peachy. But I can assure you that God will do what is best. So there is every reason to hope ... as long as your hope is in the Lord and not in your country or your comfort. If your hope is in God and His goodness, then I can say without possibility of error that God works all things together for good to those who love God. That is a solid reason for hope.