Canada.com’s headline ran, “Firebrand, Rev. Jerry Falwell of Moral Majority, dies at 73.” For many Christians, both north and south of the 49th parallel, Falwell’s death was considered a tragedy. His passion for preserving and protecting the Christian and moral heritage of his nation was an example to many of us.
He was a man of great conviction. At times, his emotion caused him to say things he would later regret, but he loved people and cared about the future of America. He was renown for asking three key questions concerning every social, legislative or judicial issue: “Is it ethically correct? Is it Biblically correct? Is it morally correct?”
Falwell understood something about culture. He knew that once a law was invoked as law by the legislative and judicial branches of government, that law created a sense of moral rightness in the people of a nation. That belief in moral rightness sooner or later created a social sense of conscience, making a belief or behavior normal. In other words, what was seen as legal became moral, and what was accepted as moral became a social norm.
Anyone standing up against a law and pronouncing it unbiblical [ie. against the moral law of God as defined by the Bible] invites great criticism. As a matter of fact, to describe the turning of the tables on Christian activists, once the law was intact, opposition to it would be considered illegal, immoral and abnormal. Go figure!
Falwell was a man who was unafraid of the public challenge, and became a voice of reason in a sea of compromise and indifference. I applaud his efforts, and many Christians feel a deep sense of loss over his passing. He will be missed.
Ron Godwin, Liberty University’s executive vice-president stated that Falwell had a “history of heart challenges.” I say this respectfully when I state that these “heart challenges” were not just physical: they were emotional, moral and spiritual. Falwell felt deeply about the wayward direction his country was going and desperately desired America to return to its Christian roots.
Canada, as does America, has an unquestioned spiritual heritage and Christian root system. Few would call Canada a Christian nation today, but that does not undermine the historical reality of the Christian story line. Canada was birthed, from its earliest inception, in a belief in the Christian God and a commitment to the principles of Bible law. Though little is written about that fact, and few textbooks or teachers in our schools allude to that, it is indeed the truth.
Our history is filled with heroes of the Christian faith who forged our mighty rivers, climbed our highest mountains, found ways to travel our land from east to west, and persevered through many difficult circumstances. They believed. They prayed. They dedicated land. They sacrificed their lives to see God’s laws become the law of the land. They prophesied into this great nation’s future. Did you know that?
Faytene C. Kryskow, a young woman with a passion for our nation, wrote a book entitled Stand on Guard. It is a must read for anyone who loves and prays for our nation. In it she reveals the results of her investigation into Canada’s “righteous history” and uncovers its “Biblical foundations.” Much of her research emerged from books covered in the dust of apathy right in the bastion of our national library.
Did you know, for example, that the earliest European settlers who planted their roots in this land were commissioned by the King of France to establish a Christian colony that would bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the First Nations? Some, like missionaries Jean de Brebeuf, gave their lives in martyrdom to establish a Biblical belief system in early Canada.
Did you know that the Fathers of Confederation clearly gave Jesus Christ access to the affairs of government? They chose the “Dominion of Canada” as this nation’s name directly from time spent in prayer and in the Bible, referring to Psalm 72:8 where David writes, “He (meaning God) will have dominion also from sea to sea.” Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, writing to the Queen of England explained that “the name was a tribute to the principles they earnestly desired to uphold.”
There are people alive today in Canada who believe that our nation has to be called back to its original, divine intention, the purpose for which it came into being as a nation. The early fathers of confederation had a godly dream for this nation, one that should be honored and respected from generation to generation.
Disrespect this spiritual and moral legacy, and Canada will suffer horrendous consequences for doing so. Reject God’s dominion, and this country will run the risk of dealing with its corporate rebellion. The degree to which Canada is reconciled to Canada’s original godly intention, the quicker Canadian society will be healed and its righteous foundations restored.
Maybe, just maybe, we need more Canadian men and women, youth and children, who carry a passion to see our nation become a righteous nation like Jerry Falwell carried for his. Unfortunately, and contrary to post-modern Canadian history, bringing faith into government today has become a politically incorrect act.
I know we cannot go back but we must choose carefully how we go forward!