From Our Nation’s Founding
Scottish Presbyterian minister and 26-year president of what would later become Princeton University, John Witherspoon was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. Never heard of him? Me, neither, until I recently visited America’s Founding Fathers Exhibit in Rapid City, South Dakota.
“As possibly the best-known clergyman in America at the time, he did much to set the moral and spiritual tone for the new nation, emphasizing that religious liberty does not mean America should be religion-free, and that piety and morality are essential to the stability and strength of the nation.” 1
“Under his tutelage would be formed twelve future Continental Congress members, forty-nine U.S. representatives, twenty-eight senators, three Supreme Court justices, and a secretary of state.” 2 He literally shaped the men who shaped America.
Apparently, Witherspoon was highly criticized by other clergymen for his involvement in politics, which included serving on more than 100 committees and spending five years in the Continental Congress. 3 Witherspoon believed political and religious freedom were inseparable.
“There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire,” he warned. “If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.”4
In that sense, then, Witherspoon believed ministers had a moral obligation to influence public life through their influence on the republic.
Fast forward to today
For the past several years, Dr. Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline [Wesleyan] Church in San Diego for 23 years, has sought to publicly influence culture through the political sphere. He has spearheaded ministries to the United Nations and to members of Congress in Washington, D.C. He has taken a moral stand at a time when many pastors and churches are capitulating to the moral decline applauded by many liberals. He has sought to leverage politics to influence the culture, much as Witherspoon also did, recognizing that an immoral republic will never survive.
Dr. Garlow has been criticized continually for his support of biblical principles in the public square and conservative voices, even by other pastors (some within his own denomination). Naysayers notwithstanding, he has stepped out to make a difference at a time when America is in dire need of a clarion call to repentance and renewed reliance on (and obedience to) the God of our Founding Fathers.
It should come as no surprise that God has now called Dr. Garlow to full-time ministry to government leaders in Washington and at the United Nations. He is in the process of transitioning from his pastoral leadership of Skyline to a ministry with a decidedly national and international focus. He will be more intentionally fulfilling the Great Commission by reaching entire nations with the urgency and transformative power of the Gospel. You see, the Great Commission at its core isn’t about evangelism; it’s about the discipleship of nations. Because each embassy or mission around the United Nations is a sovereign territory of that nation, Dr.Garlow’s summer intern at the UN was able to be in 70 different nations without ever getting in a car or on an airplane. Nowhere else in the world and at no other time in history has this ever been possible. The opportunities for changing the world are unprecedented.
Dr. Garlow will be taking up the mantle of the prophet Daniel, who became a leader in the court of Persia, and of John Witherspoon, who influenced the founding of our great nation according to the principles of Christian morality. Already, Nikki Haley, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, has expressed her support of the Hammarskjold Society, a ministry of Skyline Church operating within the United Nations. Bible studies have also been approved for the House of Representatives and among our senators and three departments and/or agencies.
You can read more about Dr. Garlow’s journey and calling at Charisma News.
What Can You Do?
I highly recommend Dr. Garlow’s newest book, co-written with historian David Barton, that was released earlier this month. This Precarious Moment: Six Urgent Steps That Will Save You, Your Family, and Our Country is an excellent treatise on the moral issues facing our country, how our Founding Fathers would have viewed them, and how we should approach them from a biblical standpoint. Every pastor – every American Christian — should read this book. The website ThisPrecariousMoment.com offers free small group Bible studies, videos, and discussion questions to help you put the principles of the book into practice. It has the potential to change America’s course:
“There are six serious problems – racial strife, a massive immigration disaster, failure to understand Israel’s role in the world, millennial thinking, misunderstanding of the nature of government, and a church that has capitulated to culture – that are screaming for solutions. And the good news is: there are steps we can take. In this book, Pastor James Garlow and evangelical political activist David Barton present fellow Christians with six steps America needs to take to prevent chaos at this precarious moment in history.” [Ad copy]
The bottom line is that Dr. Garlow is not going away. His influence will continue to grow and to be a force for God’s work in the world. Keep him in your prayers. I believe he will be the new John Witherspoon to provide a moral compass for America and to revitalize the church. If you’ve been shocked or concerned because of the decline of the church in America, hold onto your hats. There is a reason for hope. God is raising up godly leaders like Dr. Garlow (as He did in the time of the Judges) to save us from our enemies. God has heard our cry for help. And Dr. Garlow is answering His call to be an agent of grace and transformation.
The Wesleyan Resistance is committed to providing updates on Dr. Garlow’s ministry, so check back often or follow us on Facebook.
END NOTES
- See Framer of the Framers by John Eidsmoe at The New American, January 8, 2009
- See John Witherspoon at The Witherspoon Institute
- See Minister to Freedom by Joseph Loconte at The Heritage Foundation, July 1, 2001
- Ibid.
We are “The Wesleyan Resistance” – not a resistance TO Wesleyans, but a resistance OF Wesleyans to the moral and theological compromise we see in today’s culture and in the church in general. We want to stand firm together and resist the downward spiral of culture into gross immorality. We believe if we resist the devil, he will flee from us” (James 4:7). In a day when our society is rising up and resisting traditional values, we want to be the resistance to the resistance. We won’t sit by quietly and let people take our country from us and silence our biblical beliefs. We want our uncompromising stand to be a witness to the world and a spark for revival in our land. That can only happen if we stand for truth and if we join hands together (young and old) as we move forward for the kingdom.
