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| Mike Huckabee |
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and until recently a Fox TV host is contemplating running for president. And I wish him all the luck in the world because he's going to need it.
Don't get me wrong. I like Mike Huckabee and I think he'd make a fabulous president. But then again, considering who's occupying the Oval Office, just about anyone would be better than the president we currently have.
Huckabee has a lot of supporters who'd like to see him elected as America's 45th president. They're tired of the relentless leftist agenda that's destroyed America's moral infrastructure like a giant wrecking ball. And certainly, American leftists have done considerable damage to traditional institutions such as marriage, education and the sanctity of life.
But the reason why they've committed such destruction on these and other institutions is because they've been allowed to. When the Christian church began to abandon its responsibility in the 19th century as a beacon to the world, that created a huge moral vacuum that humanists quickly filled.
Though it took about a century, the leftist agenda began to manifest itself in the counterculture and sexual revolutions of the 1960s, and in terrible Supreme Court decisions such as Roe v. Wade (1973) that legalized infanticide.
The leftist agenda has produced the colossal welfare state that's ruined personal incentive; dumbed down millions of people and created generational dependency on government.
Leftists have destroyed America's educational system that was once the best in the world. They've codified sexual immorality through the education and media industries, and they've anathematized personal responsibility by encouraging all sorts of destructive behavior and then making victims of those who are damaged by that behavior.
And so, many Christians are convinced that America's relentless moral slide can easily be fixed by electing a Christian president. They dream of another Ronald Reagan who would reverse the moral slide and turn America back around. And they believe that Mike Huckabee is that man.
However, if Mike Huckabee chooses to run, he's not going to be elected. He won't even win the Republican primary. Too many Americans--including those who claim to be Christians--don't want a man with a Christian worldview in the White House. And certainly, America's secular media will destroy anyone who espouses a Judeo-Christian worldview.
Though Huckabee has been careful to eschew controversial rhetoric when he discusses his Christian worldview, the secular media has already begun to paint him as a narrow-minded religious zealot. From the Associated Press (AP): "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday said being gay is akin to choosing to drink alcohol or use profanity - lifestyle choices he says are appealing to others but not to him."
Actually, Huckabee didn't make such a comparison, but the AP decided to do it for him. Here's what he actually said: "I don't chuck people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view. I don't drink alcohol, but, gosh, a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don't use profanity, but, believe me, I have got a lot of friends who do."
That's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. If Huckabee runs and starts building some momentum, you can be sure that the rhetoric will get much worse. He'll probably be compared to notorious mass murderers such as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Genghis Khan.
If Huckabee and his supporters truly want to reverse America's slide, then they can start by changing the culture from the ground up. They can make Christianity relevant once again to a godless world that views religion as an outdated institution. That's the way it's done--and the only way it's done.
But it won't be done by politics. Ballot box evangelism is a cheap and lazy way to transform a morally decrepit culture. And it never works.
If he was alive today, the apostle Paul would probably tell Mike Huckabee and his supporters this: "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this." (2 Timothy 2:3-7)
Indeed. If the culture is strong, it will produce men of sound character who will make good decisions. But if the culture is bad, it will produce wicked leaders who make terrible decisions. Thus, the church needs to transform the culture on the street rather than at the ballot box.
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