Interview: Robison and Jackson on the Need for the Church to Step Up and Speak Up
Part two of a discussion on the state of the nation and the role of God's Kingdom representatives.
Robison: I donβt endorse candidates or parties. I endorse principles to all candidates and all parties. As a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, thatβs what Iβm going to proclaim to the end of the ages. I feel like your heart beats in harmony with mine on that.
Jackson: Amen. When we stand before God, He is certainly not going to ask us whether we were black or white, or whether we were Republican or Democrat. He is going to ask were we true to His Word? Were we true to His Son? Have we been washed in the blood of the Lamb? Have we been born again, filled with the Spirit? He will know that, but thatβs really the test. If we believe all of that, then our actions even in the voting booth and who we choose to support as candidates ought to reflect that.
Robison: If we stand together for truth as Kingdom representatives, we can literally in an instant correct the course of this Titanic ship of state and immediately avoid the iceberg. If we put wise people among the crew, we can then head to safe harbor. I donβt think we have a challenge that people created in the image of God canβt meet. I think thatβs the real key. We want to miss the catastrophic consequences of a rotten course, a course that says take God off our coins and currency and out of the pledge, but get God out of American life.
I listened to the Presidentβs speech at the memorial service for the Dallas police officers. It was amazing to me that the party who has assaulted marriage, family, gender and has cast aside the reliable standard of the Word of God, the minute he was through speaking, the whole crowd began to sing about the Lord and about Godβs truth marching on and going from one song to another about God. They seem to have no problem with the public saying, βGet God out of everythingβ and yet there they are up there singing about God and at every ballgame they sing, βGod Bless America.β Christians standing together could put a stop to the nonsense ASAP.
Jackson: There are millions like you, James. They donβt have the platform you have, but there are millions like you and me across this country and thatβs what gives me hope that we wonβt be silent. We wonβt back down or quit. Weβre going to continue to hold up the blood stained banner and I believe God sees and hears, and I believe out of His mercy He will turn this country around and give us the revival weβre looking for.
Robison: I want to make one other point. Youβve said the church must assume many of the responsibilities that government has ineffectively tried to take over. I have said you never have real help for the needy without a compassion connection. You donβt just throw money at it. The church can do some things so much better than government.
Dr. Tony Evans has made this so clear with the Urban Alternative and school mentoring program where you give them an image of a father figure to try to help the students. He says, βPut mentors in and leave metal detectors out of our schools.β I agree.
Think about this, right after Ronald Reagan was elected and I saw a positive move toward basic morality and responsibility, I said, I believe all the churches should be the ones establishing daycare for the children and putting them in a spiritual environment. People thought it was a great idea. Why didnβt it happen? Very few churches ever did it. I also said that I believed the churches should establish the greatest assisted living homes for the elderly.
Adrian Rogers, Belleview, and a few others went ahead and tried to provide these services. But here was the feedback. Once they began to try to do it, the government regulations were so ridiculous, audacious and unreasonable that churches were afraid if they got involved they would lose the ability to even proclaim the gospel because it would be under the thumb of the federal government.
There is the government infringing not only on free speech and freedom of religion, they were eliminating the greatest potential caregivers for children and the greatest oversight of elders on the planet because of excessive government regulation. Do you see what Iβm talking about?
Jackson: Absolutely. Letβs face it. Churches, hospitals and universities β all the institutions that arose as this country grew were done by Christians who cared about people enough to invest their time, energy and their money into building these institutions. Government came along and got jealous and decided it didnβt want people depending on the church. It wanted people depending upon government. Unfortunately all too many were willing to do that. As a result, we now have got government trying to be God and the more it tries to be God, the worse it fails because government can never do what God and His people can do. We do need to come back.
Iβll just mention one thing for example. We need boarding schools for some of these children because their family situations are horrible. Putting them in some kind of foster care doesnβt make anything any better. They need to be in a godly, loving environment where there is discipline, hope and vision for their future if we want them to make something of themselves because their present circumstances donβt allow that.
Robison: Iβm sorry to tell you, but you are a relic of the past. We do not have God involved in this country anymore. I just want to make sure you understand that. You donβt know what youβre talking about. [Of course, I made those statements sarcastically just to point out the foolishness of that mindset.]
Jackson: Iβve heard that and even worse about what I think. We are sellouts. Weβre Uncle Toms. The reality is, we are the intellectual and spiritual heirs of our founding fathers who were Judeo-Christian based in their thinking as opposed to a Marxist, communist, socialist worldview. Weβve got to come back to the principles that made America the greatest nation on earth.
Robison: Let me just go on record and say: if the church will behave like the church and function as salt and light and stand together to be an incredible city set on a hill, I declare I believe Donald Trump will be profoundly impacted by it.
He says heβs going to make America great again. I told him forcefully, βYou canβt make America great, only God and βwe the peopleβ can make America great, but you can motivate us and inspire us to believe for that. Thatβs what Iβm hoping for.β
We need to go back and look at Alexis de Tocquevilleβs Democracy in America. He said America was good not because of the blessings and superior resources we have, but it was great because the pulpits were aflame with righteousness. He said, βAmerica is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.β If we can get back to that, America can in fact be great again.
Jackson: Thatβs what we are all working on and asking pastors to step up and be the prophetic voices God has called you to be. Cry aloud and spare not. Teach your people and they will follow you as opposed to being afraid they might get offended because you take a stand for what the Bible teaches.
Iβve seen pastors all over the country awaken to their responsibility and realize. I heard one pastor say theyβve built a thousand churches in California while the state went down because they told their people, βWe donβt get involved in public policy issues.β They said they are now changing that. Praise God for the awakening of pastors and churches across the country.
Robison: I sure do love you with all my heart. Will you pray for our country?
Jackson: Heavenly Father, thank You for raising up people like James Robison and so many others like him who may not have the platform but they have the same heart. Oh, God, have mercy on the United States of America. We love this country, Lord, because we believe itβs a gift from you. Would you please preserve its freedom and opportunity? Most importantly, restore its commitment to you, to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Weβre believing you to do it Lord because we know that in and of our self we canβt, but we know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. In Christ Jesusβ Name we pray. Amen.
Click here to read the first part of this discussion: “James Robison and Bishop E.W. Jackson Talk Trump and the Power of Truth.”