Constitutional Adherence

“God created man in his own image …”  ~Genesis 1:27

Every human on the planet bears God’s image; we each carry inherent value. And regardless of how individuals respond to the God who gave them life, he deals with them on a personal level and desires an eternal one-on-one relationship. Because the God of our unfathomably gigantic universe cares so deeply about each individual life he creates, any decent society will as well.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence reflects this universal truth in a single sentence that has helped free countless people and hold back the floods of oppression for centuries around the globe: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The U.S. Constitution was written to ensure and protect those rights for individuals (not the collective), placing the ultimate power in America with its people rather than its government (which merely represents the people). The Founders understood that we live in a fallen world and that granting politicians too much power would ultimately lead to the oppression of individuals under their authority. So the Founders wrote a Constitution that severely limited governmental power, spreading it across three branches, the states, and the people. This should be of the utmost importance to Christians, as God’s stance on oppression is clear:

• “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the chords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”  ~Isaiah 58:6
• “O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it.’”  ~Jeremiah 21:12

The system of government the Founders designed is the best hope of preventing our people—who are created in God’s image—from eventually becoming subjects of a corrupt, power-hungry, and oppressive government. Adhering to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, while changing it through the amendment process where appropriate, will allow our people to remain free so that we can live and work according to our consciences, as God directs us.