Dear Trekker,
As recently as 1956, our national motto was changed to “in God we trust.” It wasn’t because “e pluribus Unum” was no longer valid… “out of many, one.” We as a nation were still escaping from the horrible throes of World War II. The hopes, dreams and expectations then of free people had come crashing down. Only in God could we trust! Leadership then from men (and women) was not a reliable guide to peace, prosperity and perpetual production of the sustenance of a nation. God, and faith in God alone, was our strength. So it must be today!
Yet, when I entered the Pentagon as a young military officer a scant 17 years later, I discovered trust and loyalty in men were the name of the game in our nation’s capitol and throughout the bureaucratic structure. Watergate had occurred in June the year before while I was serving inVietnam. The Nixon administration had circled wagons to protect the Presidency, and the over-arching protocol of much inWashington was to trust one’s leaders and remain loyal, i.e. keep your mouth shut. Whistle blowers… not wanted.
During this period, Chuck Colson, the president’s “hatchet man”, experienced a dramatic “new birth” in Christ, which changed his life forever, despite ridicule and cynicism from the Washington Post that said it wouldn’t last. Colson belied the trust and loyalty syndrome, trusting in God alone, and told the truth publicly and privately, going to prison in the process. Last month he died, faithful to his God to the end, faithful to his conscience and higher calling, one of the true giants of the faith in the last 100 years. He was genuinely “born again”. (Trekker, if you’ve never read his book by the same name, you would be wise to do so.)
Yes… upon arrival at the Pentagon in late January 1973, it was obvious I was expected to trust my seniors (notably General officers) beyond all else, to serve them implicitly, pay any price, bear any burden, etc. And for such service and loyalty they would take care of me, ergo, my career. I smile in wry remembrance of the Chief of Staff of the Army telling my two-star boss one day, “Meredith is a good man, Bill. We must take care of him.” That was the game inWashington,D.C.in the 70’s… trust and loyalty.
No doubt little has changed. Every day inside the Beltway, senior politicians and underlings alike, virtually sell their souls, sometimes even consciously, to the political drumbeat of the day. The name of the game, “prepare and trust the boss!” Cooperate and graduate! Play the game! Heady stuff… or is it?
What is the end of all of this? Some feel as if the backbone of our nation, our national character, is eroding away at a rapid pace. Leaders flip-flop on moral issues, playing to every interest group to stay in office, exercising the political whim versus the character anchor. Old values are passé.
Has it always been this way, more or less? I would suggest it has, not only in my country, but down through recorded history. The Israelites ceased trusting God and his surrogates and demanded a king as other nations had. Kings can only function on the basis of citizen loyalty. Such misplaced hope and expectations of mere mortals crucified Christ, as the masses derisively chanted, “We have no King but Caesar.”
Little wonder then that when Jesus Christ came on the scene, the litmus test was always, “Who do you think or say that I am?” He could have said, “Don’t you see that I am not like other leaders!” Repeatedly Jesus confronted His followers with this challenge, another form of, “You can trust me!” Yet, He himself trusted no man, because He knew what was in a man. (Note John’s gospel, Chpt 2:23, 24.)
To trust ultimately no man, yet not be unduly suspicious and never bitter, and serve faithfully God and country, is the litmus test of true patriotism and citizenship in any age. When we trust God first, we can also trust what God’s grace can do in any man. Ergo, the life of our departed brother, Chuck Colson.
If I put my trust in the goodness and efficiency of human beings, I will become disillusioned, despairing and disappointed in virtually everyone. No man can, in his fallen condition, ever get it right… i.e. lead with unwavering moral conviction, or execute duties in perfect justice. Only in God can we trust, for He alone is perfection… yesterday, today and forever.
As I write this morning, our President has just announced his personal approval or acquiescence to “same sex marriage”. Many across the land are disappointed. When in disappointment or outright fear, God’s people must pray, but God has surely a right to expect an understanding confidence in Him alone, not in men. Are we so confident in Him that we automatically trust Him? Often we trust Him in theory, but when calamity or disbelief occurs, panic prayers set in. Is the Lord asleep? Do something, Lord! Save us!
The ultimate savior of any nation is never the government, the leader of the country, or the country’s might. He who watches overIsraelslumbers not nor sleeps. He who will not give up one inch of His world, watches over theUnited States of America! Will we as a nation trust God, respond to Him and His calling?
We can only do that as individual citizens, not as an amorphous, ever-expanding government, for He “saves” nations through people. Nations come and go throughout history; people live forever, with or without Him, in heaven or hell. Trekker, if we say we trust in God, it is in crisis that we reveal quickly in whom we do trust. We can go to the breaking point and not break, if our confidence is in Him alone. Only in Him, not in men, can we truly trust. Let’s remain loyal to Him, knowing it is darkest right before the dawn of a new day.
A trekker trusting in Him alone,
Jim Meredith
