Phil Robertson - Jesus Politics: How to Win Back the Soul of America

Jesus Politics

2020 by Phil Robertson

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ISBN 978-1-4002-1018-3 (audiobook)

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Epub Edition May 2020 9781400210077

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936457

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CONTENTS

On a November morning in 1976, my son Al and I were driving up Highway 165 toward Ouachita Christian High School. From the river basin, we made our way north, past the cotton fields of north Monroe, past the moss-covered cypress trees of Bayou Desiard, past the prehistoric banks of Black Bayou. Radio on, some DJ in middle Monroe played our favorites: Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top. And as we pulled into the school parking lot, he interrupted one of our favorites, the Charlie Daniels Band classic The Souths Gonna Do It Again, to announce that Jimmy Carter, the governor from Georgia, had beaten Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford. Carter would be the next president of the United States.

Truth be told, I wasnt all that politically aware. I knew Uncle Sam had led the troops to war in Vietnam, a war in which our countrys armed forces had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I knew that in the wake of the war, President Richard Nixon had resigned after authorizing the break-in at the Watergate hotel, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. I was vaguely aware that a group of Middle Eastern kings had turned on an oil shortage in 1973 and that oil shortage was driving up gas prices. The country was disenfranchised. I knew that much. And maybe a southern boy from Georgia could turn it around.

Things are looking up, Al, I said. The old southerner made it through.

Maybe so, Dad. Al said.

And that was the extent of our political conversation about the presidential election of 1976. In fact, thatd be the only political conversation Id have with anyone until sometime in 1978.

I was a new Christian in those days, just a year or so removed from my lawless living (and just a few years since being an outright fugitive, a story I shared in The Theft of Americas Soul). Id been saved by the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, raised from the waters of baptism and into a new life in Jesus. I was living a life of obedience, one committed to prayer, and studying Gods Word. Id been teaching at Ouachita Christian High School and had transformed into a productive member of society. But busy as I was amending my lawless ways, I hadnt spent an ounce of energy on politics.

Politics wasnt a topic we discussed much growing up. In fact, I only recall one political conversation in my childhood. My father had fallen off a drilling rig while on the job in south Louisiana, and hed busted himself up pretty good. Thered been some discussion about whether he should apply for government assistance, but Dad shot the idea down as soon as itd taken flight.

Nah, he said, well manage without the government, and we did.

The community rallied around our dirt-poor family. Church members brought us food. Our neighbors helped us tend to the chores around the house while Dad regained his strength. The months passed, and we managed to make it through none the worse. Dad made it back to the rig, and though he never said it, I received the message loud and clear: river rats needed a government safety net as much as we needed a hole in our hoop nets.

Months passed after the election of 1976, and still I was politically unmotivated. But as I continued to walk into my new life, an odd thing happened. My spiritual epiphany led to a political awakening. And it all started with the Word of God.

ALL THE SCRIPTURES POINT TO A KING

As I studied the Bible, I began to notice something curious. From Genesis to Revelation, I saw a theme threading through. It was a political theme, though it wasnt a democratic one. Time and time again, the Scriptures spoke of God the Almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He was the sovereign ruler, and he made no bones about it.

I noticed the kingly thread in Exodus. There, Moses led the Israelites away from the tyrant king of Egypt and toward the promised land. As they marched from Egypt and toward the land God would give them, they worshipped and sang, The LORD reigns for ever and ever (15:18). On that long journey to the promised land, the Almighty called to Moses from a mountaintop. There, he told Moses he was establishing a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (19:6). Who reigned over that kingdom? The Lord, the one who was leading them home. Only one chapter later, the Almighty laid down the law of that kingdom, giving Moses the Ten Commandments.

In Deuteronomy, the sovereign theme appeared again. There, Moses reminded the people of the laws handed down from the mountain. He called the people to live by those laws of God, the God whom Moses called the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes (10:17). Lord. What is that if not a term of kingship?

In Daniel, an earthly king fell on his face and recognized that his sovereignty was no match for that of the Almighty. The evil ruler Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the king whod persecuted Gods chosen people, fell before the Almightys prophet and declared, Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings (2:47). Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king of his age, recognized that there was an authority greater than his own.