American history is replete with examples of godly ministers who stood for righteousness when the nation was in crisis.
When the Declaration of Independence was penned, it was a Presbyterian minister, Rev. John Witherspoon, who convinced members of the Continental Congress to sign it. At first they hesitated. According to one historian, "The destiny of a nation was suspended upon one hour of agonizing suspense." [6] Then Witherspoon rose to speak and uttered with great emotion:
"To hesitate at this moment is to consent to our own slavery. That notable instrument upon your table should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He that will not respond to its accent and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions is unworthy of the name of freeman. Whatever I have of property, of reputation, is staked on the issue of this contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather that they descend hither by the hand of an executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country." [7]
One evening while Reverend Jonas Clark of Lexington was dining with John Hancock and Samuel Adams, Paul Revere warned the British were about to attack. Asked whether the men of Lexington would fight, Clark didn't waffle or hesitate with cowardly excuses about mixing politics with religion. Instead he replied he had personally trained them for that very hour and if need be, he said they would die "under the shadow of the house of God." The very next day it was Clark's parishioners who gave the first blood of the revolution. [8]
Other great men of God who had a profound effect on Western culture, in general, could be mentioned also. Ministers like John Wesley, who preached concerning the most controversial issues of his day: "indentured servitude, slavery, rampant drunkenness, the poor health of the peasant class, prison abuse and lack of education for the exploited poor." [9] William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army preached to raise the age of sexual consent for women in England to 16 and succeeded in getting it done. [10] In America, clergy like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and Charles Finney had an unprecedented influence on the nation's social and political landscape.
Although New Jersey's Senate President Richard Cody has banned Fields from ever offering another invocation before that body again, one can be sure the good Reverend has found favor with God and will be named among His hall of famers. It's the other preachers -- that vast host of them in this nation -- who are sitting Lot-like in the gates of Sodom and will not raise their voices for righteousness in America's hour of crisis who should be ashamed. Deserters and hirelings they are!
The hope of the nation depends on clergy like Rev. Vincent Fields. And may God show us mercy and send us a multitude like him.
Rev. Mark H. Creech (calact@aol.com) is the executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
[1] http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/dec/06121403.html
[2] Ibid
[3] http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/202006d.asp
[4] Luke 13:32; Matthew 12:34
[5] Matthew 22:21
[6] Christianity and the American Commonwealth, Bishop Charles B. Galloway, D.D., LL.D., Lecture delivered in the Chapel at Emory College, Oxford, Ga., March 1898, American Vision 2005, pg. 100
[7] Ibid
[8] www.famousamericans.net/jonasclark
[9] Why You Can't Stay Silent: A Biblical Mandate to Shape our Culture, Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family 2001, pg. 29
[10] Ibid
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