Evangelism and Discipleship Produces Righteous Leaders for State
Personal righteousness in a population — in citizens and especially in public servants — is the single most important commodity that any country can possess. The very success of a nation’s future depends upon the righteousness of its people, and especially its leaders.
King Solomon writes in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
Throughout the Old Testament and the New, the Bible places a high priority on reaching the affinity sphere of political leaders with the Word of God because characteristics of righteousness are necessary to the dispatch of good civil government.
And the only way to produce these virtues in leaders is through the evangelism and discipleship efforts of the Church.
The State reflects the collective righteousness of its people, much more than it is the cause of it. The heralders of God’s truth are critically important to the success of the public servant and the future of the country; the expositor/instructor of God’s precepts is the seminal incubator of a country’s present and future culture.
As the discipleship priorities, responsibilities, and manifestations of the Church go, so goes the State.
In Hosea 4:6, God said to his Bible teachers of the time: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
This Old Testament passage serves to reveal the God-intended relationship between the church and the state today.
For the church to fail to teach God’s precepts to the leaders of the state is a sore subject in the eyes of God. It is incumbent on the church to teach God’s precepts and manufacture righteous leaders in and for the state. The state itself is dependent on the church to do this for her.
It is indeed sad today, how many pastors in our nation sacrifice their call to evangelism and discipleship on the altar of societal change. It is much more effective in the long run if the pastor is pre-political, building men and women in Christ who then go and lead in the state. That is God’s design.
The truth of this principle has inspired and propelled Capitol Ministries to found discipleship Bible studies for political leaders since 1996. It’s a calling we take very seriously. CapMin has established ministries to legislators and constitutional officers in 43 states, created four studies to national leaders in Washington, D.C., and planted ministries in 24 foreign nations.
Additionally, CapMin is continuing to establish ministries to local public servants in the U.S. and in foreign nations.
For more information about this topic, click here to access the CapMin Bible study, “Five Definitive Characteristics of Righteous Leadership.”