Honesty... consistency... really?

Russel Kirk in the Conservative Mind made the following observation on the relative ineffectivity of John Quincy Adams' administration, and I find it true not only of conservatives then, but also now.

"During his later years, John Quincy Adams suffered agonizing doubts concerning the Deity. That God willed the state, the conviction of Hooker and Burke, always had been a tremendously energizing principle of conservatism: now, influenced against their instinct by what Glanville calls the "climate of opinion," conservatives were losing their certitude: and with it went their immunity against French and Benthamite rationalism. Conservatism had become uncertain how to reply to sophisters and calculators." (emphasis mine)

Unshakable belief in an all powerful, all sovereign Creator from whom all power and authority is derived, and unshakable belief that He interacts with man in space and time, and that He has given all authority in heaven and on Earth to the Person of His Son Jesus Christ who is the Ruler of the Nations, is indeed a "tremendously energizing principle". It is a principle capable of toppling all "the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". It is a principle that liberates men to pursue righteousness without fear, without compromise, without inconsistencies.

If our confidence in the Sovereignty of God, in His rule over the nations, and in His eternal purpose were lived out in in the political arena, then we would undoubtedly possess the gates of our enemies. The nations would shake in fear at the people whose God is the Lord. They would kiss the Son lest He become angry and they perish in the way. They would be in fear of the King and know themselves to be but men. But we are afraid, we tremble before the face of man, and loose our certitude, becoming unable to reply. We demand "traditional values", yet deny the foundation from which they are derived. Justly, we are accused of an irrational faith because we demand that culture conform to our standards, yet mumble and sputter and when asked why we think we can impose them on the world. We are terrified by the consistent, logical conclusions of the godless, so then why do we shirk from the first premises of our own faith?

The catch is this. Before we can reject this dichotomy at a political level, we must first be willing to kiss the Son ourselves at a personal level. Followers of the Way, the Truth, and the Life must first bow our hearts, our bodies, and minds to the Sovereign. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. We are not free to self, but slaves to Christ. Before we can rule with Him, we first must be crucified. Before we can seek the Kingdom, we first must bow beneath His yoke. We must present our bodies, not just our mouths, as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service. Only then do we dare to assail the gates of our enemies, and proclaim Christ as Lord of the nations.