May 17, 2007

The death of Jerry Falwell on Tuesday removes from the scene one of the more articulate voices of our generation. I knew him well for five years as vice president of moral majority.

Even Jerry, in the end, realized that political action alone, or even mainly, cannot reverse cultural problems that are more moral and spiritual than political.  He told me so in an interview for my 1999 book, “Blinded by Might.” 

Scripture teaches we should have no expectation that the unredeemed will think and behave as the redeemed. A political contest for control of this world is not what the Bible calls us to do. We are to exemplify the attitude and behavior of Jesus Christ and to disciple those whom god has brought to himself through salvation.

The world does what the world does and while there are times when the influence of the church intersects with the state, they are like cars meeting at an intersection; headed in opposition directions and for different destinations.

That’s a difficult truth to swallow for some, but it is one Christians must acknowledge.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.