As Christians, we can transform our government, and we are doing it in Oklahoma, where now over half the counties in our state have adopted a model in which city elders work along-side government officials.
If you are like me, you have watched the downward slide in our nation against Judeo-Christian values and felt overwhelmed at what has taken place in our courts and schools. In the last 50-plus years, we have watched the following:
June 25, 1962 in a landmark case, Engel v. Vitale, the Supreme Court decided the sanctity of prayer and the Word of God were no longer necessary or welcome in the public education system of the United States.
January 22, 1973, that same Supreme Court decided in Roe v. Wade that a child would no longer be safe in the womb of its mother.
June 26, 2015, the same Supreme Court decided in another landmark ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges that the sanctity of marriage would be removed from our courts and our laws in the United States.
California Senate SB Bill 48 targeted the purity and innocence of our children with government- mandated public-education training of our children in the history and substance of the LGBTQ community. The Illinois Legislature passed House Bill 5596 which also targeted the purity and innocence of our children in primary school by requiring the schools to teach the history of the LGBTQ community to school children to create gender confusion.
What we are seeing is social engineering and secular humanism at its best. How has this happened? Because we believed the lie that as Christians we were not to be involved in government and that pastors and Christian leaders were not allowed to speak out about these important issues. We stepped back and went silent. And this has been the result.
We can no longer remain silent.
Separation of church and state is not in our Constitution, and it’s not in the Bible. Instead, within the pages of the Bible, we see example after example of religious leaders taking on the role to assist in the organization and development of governing the people or speaking into governmental leaders.
When the task of governing the Israelites became too burdensome, Moses called upon the Lord who said, “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone'” (Num. 11:16-17, NIV).
Daniel and Joseph of biblical days both served as advisers to government leaders.
And the apostle Paul, as a religious leader of his day, referred to government laws and interacted with government leaders (Acts 16:37, 22:25).
We need to return to the concept of city elders, who in biblical days guarded and governed at the city gates. It was the watchmen on the wall and the elders at the city gates who were the first line of defense against attacks, invasion or intrusion of any kind, and their responsibility was the protection of the inhabitants of the city, including their own families. This model positions Christian leaders/elders to work alongside government officials across our nation, side by side, city by city, county by county and state by state.
Who are city elders? They are proven Christian leaders from the sectors of the church, the business community and civil government, who when they convene, constitute the spiritual governing council of a city or community. They are local leaders whose personal lives are guided by biblical principles and governed by Judeo-Christian values who are committed to the exaltation of Jesus Christ and the practice of his lordship in every sphere of life.
We have already begun implementing this national network strategy in Oklahoma where it has been adopted by over 40 of our 77 counties. Can you imagine the transformation if this model were implemented in every state of our nation?
Our mission, as city elders, is to govern the gates of the city spiritually, politically and economically so that life is protected, liberty is defended, Christ is exalted and families can flourish.
We have already surrendered far too many civil liberties and religious freedoms. We have watched as our own government has been commandeered and weaponized against Christians. The public education system has been infiltrated and militarized against the family, Judeo-Christian values and biblical world view.
It’s time now for the people of God to arise and take their position in the gates of the cities across this nation as we move back into government rather than watch from the sidelines. {eoa}
Jesse Leon Rodgers is the founder and president of City Elders, a reformation model of city and state governance that trains up and empowers Christian elders how to govern the gates of the city spiritually, politically, and economically.
He is the chairman of the Oklahoma Watchmen on the Wall Network; the pastor’s network of the Family Research Council, Washington, D.C.
For additional information on the model of city elders, go to: https://cityelders.com/
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