Why We Get Evil Leaders

During his ministry in ancient Israel 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ often used agricultural examples to explain spiritual principles.

For example, Christ explained that bad trees always produce bad fruit while good trees always produce good fruit. (Matthew 7:15-20) That example teaches us that folks who are righteous will do good deeds while those who are evil will commit evil deeds regardless of whatever they profess to be.

If you've been in the Christian church for as long as I have, then you understand Christ's analogy. There are those who profess to be Christians who don't act like Christians. Rather, they act like unrepentant sinners. And some of these folks are pastors and ministers.

Christ also used the example of hard, dry ground to explain the rebellious hearts of wicked people who refuse to repent of their sins and follow God. (Matthew 13)

Christ's analogies also apply to nations. The prophet Isaiah, who lived during the 8th century B.C., revealed that the nation of Israel that the Jewish Messiah would be born into would resemble a spiritual desert: "Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground." (Isaiah 53:1-2)

When Christ appeared in Israel over 700 years after Isaiah recorded that prophecy, the Jewish nation had an abundance of religion but very little faith. That was evident in the unbelief of the Jews who refused to accept Christ as their messiah despite the incredible miracles He performed throughout the land.

The Jews not only rejected Christ, they crucified Him even though he fulfilled the writings of their ancient prophets concerning the identity, life, ministry, death and resurrection of their Messiah.

As a result, the Jews brought judgment upon themselves and their nation, beginning in 70 A.D. when the Romans invaded Jerusalem and ransacked that city. And that judgment has continued to this day.

What agricultural example would Christ likely use to describe a modern nation such as the United States? I believe that he would use the analogy of a bad tree that produces rotten fruit. Why? Because America has turned her back on God and has spurned His laws and commandments.

As a result, America has become a wicked nation that produces wicked people. While that sounds harsh and unpatriotic, consider that America is a nation that has slaughtered 55 million unborn babies since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973.

That's a moral catastrophe. And consider that America increasingly celebrates sexual immorality and depravity (same-sex marriage) while persecuting those who oppose those sins. Also, consider that Christians are increasingly persecuted in a nation that was once considered the most Christian nation on earth. But not anymore.

As such, America's leaders are now a reflection of the people they have come from--corrupt, arrogant, mendacious, immoral, mean-spirited and even murderous. Barack Obama isn't an anachronism--he's the product of an evil generation that has turned its back on God.

Certainly, America isn't the only nation on earth with wicked rulers. Russia's Vladimir Putin is an evil despot who destroys his enemies and rules with an iron fist. And there are many others.

Shortly before He was condemned to crucifixion, Christ revealed to Pontius Pilate that earthly rulers are given their power from heaven above. (John 19:11) Why then, does God allow wicked rulers to assume power?

Because wicked people choose wicked leaders after their own hearts. In the case of Barack Obama, America has gotten a leader who's a mirror reflection of the people he came from. And that's a tragedy.