RADIO MESSAGE
Is the Moral Majority the answer to the problems we face? In recent years the Moral Majority has become a powerful political influence in our nation. It has spoken but very plainly about many evils in our day. The Moral Majority has spoken out against abortion, homosexuality, pornography, inflation, a weak national defense, and communism, and rightly so. These evils need to be corrected. But is the Moral Majority the answer? Now this is but the opinion of one man. I speak as a conservative pastor, as the servant of God. I have often been approached by other ministers seeking my support for the Moral Majority. But conscientiously, I have to refuse my support for this reason - The Moral Majority philosophy has, in my opinion, many dangers, which must be identified and avoided.
First, there is the danger of CONFUSING CONSERVATISM WITH CHRISTIANITY. There are thousands of conservatives who know nothing of the grace of God in Christ. Next, there is the danger of LOOKING TO A MAN FOR DELIVERANCE. All men, including presidents and senators, are born with a totally depraved heart and nature. They have no ability except that which God gives them. It is the Lord God who raises up rulers and puts down rulers. And all the rulers of the world are governed by God. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Pro. 21:1). God alone is our Help and our Deliverer. Yet another danger in the Moral Majority is that IT TENDS TOWARD ECUMENISM. It calls for Jews, pagans, and Christians of all denominations to lay aside their doctrinal principles and unite in a political effort. This was the experience of the people at the tower of Babel. That should be enough to warn us. There is also the danger of THE CHURCH - STATE. Anytime in history that a religious organization has held absolute political power in a nation, persecution and tyranny has been the result. Of all people in the world, Baptists should be aware of this danger. Again there is grave danger in THE IDEA THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS CAN BE LEGISLATED. Sin is not a matter that can be done away with by laws. It is a problem of the heart, which God alone can cure by the redeeming blood and saving grace of Christ. The Moral Majority also leads inevitably to the danger of SUBSTITUTING MORALITY FOR CHRISTIANITY A true believer, a true follower of Christ, will be a moral person. His heart has been renewed by grace. He lives by the principles of godliness. He does not need laws to make him moral. And an unsaved person, though he may be forced by law to live morally, is immoral at heart. The Pharisees were viciously moral, but they certainly were not Christians. Morality is not Christianity. These are a few of the dangers of the Moral Majority.
If the Moral Majority had the power to accomplish its best goals, it would only produce A TEMPORARY COSMETIC CURE for the evils which besets us. We must not be deceived by these modern reformers who, unlike the Puritans of old, have left their pulpits and taken to the streets, appealing to men only on a moral level. The problem with man is not his actions, but his heart; not what he does, but what he is.
True and lasting change for good will only come from the hand of God, if in his great plan and purpose he has decreed to send REAL REVIVAL to our land. If God is pleased to send US some men, anointed by his Spirit, with the message of Christ's redeeming grace and saving power burning in their hearts and flowing from their lips, it may be that we will see permanent changes for good in our midst, but not till then. For these reasons, I cannot join with the Moral Majority. I am not a politician. I am a preacher. I am sent from God to preach the gospel of his grace in Christ. I will go on preaching the message of the cross and pray that God will be pleased to make it effectual. Will you who know the Lord join me in this prayer? "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down" (Isa. 64:1). We need the Lord himself!