abstract: A king has the right and responsibility to commission his servants with specific tasks and duties. The problem is that most elected officials view themselves as being in the position of king. While they will never say that the people serve them, they certainly act like it in a multitude of ways.

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by Mike McHugh

What is a statesman and how can you recognize one? That is the subject of this article.

A statesman has no qualms about signing agreements that make him accountable in measurable and definable terms (Amos 3:3). A politician is loath to do so.

If a political leader signs an agreement that commits him to certain measurable actions, it is a sign of statesmanship and can have an electrifying effect on men. It also can be used as "political cover" with party leadership to explain why a legislator is calling for a recorded vote against the will of the leadership.

Explaining that this action fulfills a signed campaign promise won't make the leadership less angry, but it provides credible justification for the leadership not to take the action personally. This is important in a system where many new legislators are personally beholden to party leadership for their election.

When Bonnie Prince Charlie, the ex-patriot son of the rightful heir to the British crown landed in Scotland in 1745, he did just that. The young prince had come to reclaim the crown of his father, James the III of Scotland and the VIII of England. He signed the National Covenant. It was one of the reasons that the Scottish Highlanders came running to the roar of the battle. His campaign almost succeeded. The betrayal of many of his captains for land and gold is a story for another day.

However, the lesson of the story is the utility of a "lost cause." As T.S. Elliot said, "There is no such thing as a lost cause, because there is no such thing as a gained cause. We fight for lost causes knowing that our defeat or disaster may be the preface to our successor's victory--though that victory itself will be temporary. We fight rather to keep something alive".

Bonnie Prince Charlie went to his grave signing his name Charles the III, even though he never sat on the throne. However, it was the sons and grandsons of Prince Charlie's army, defeated on the plains of Culloden in 1746, who surrounded and defeated Cornwallis at Yorktown a generation later. Three-fourths of Washington's officers were Scottish.

This inspiring record of duty and courage is the story of the willingness of a servant of God to covenant with his people.

It is also the story of another seemingly lost cause. It is the cause of Christian statesmanship. It is my cause.

Unlike almost any politician you can name today, Bonnie Prince Charlie won and deserved the undying loyalty of his men. He was willing to put his commitments and promises in writing by signing the National Covenant. Doing so inspired his men and became a link in the chain of events leading to the founding of the American Republic. These men had either fought at Culloden or their fathers and grandfathers had fought there.

As Reverend John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence and mentor of hundreds of founding fathers, said, "There is a plot of ground in my native home of Edinburgh that is the true birthplace of America." He was referring to the concept of men signing a public covenant and committing themselves to the reformation of a nation. The first National Covenant was signed in Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1637.

I am finished "bleeding and dying" to help so-called Christian politicians get elected, who are unwilling to think and act biblically. We have plenty of politicians today, but I cannot name more than a handful of potential statesmen in state and federal levels of government. In fact, in recent history there have been precious few statesmen. George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Patrick Henry, Theodore Roosevelt, William Wilberforce, and Winston Churchill were rare examples of true statesmen.

Having spent almost 20 years working in the legislative and electoral process I have come to a conclusion: the great need in our gates today is for statesmen!

The following three areas are marks of statesmanship that center on the idea of covenant.

• A statesman thinks covenantally and is willing to enter into covenantal relationships (1 Sam. 20:16; 2 Kings 23:3). A politician thinks individualistically.
• A statesman serves the king because he understands himself to be a civil servant sent by the king to serve the king (1 Peter 2:14). A politician serves himself or his party.
• A statesman fears God and understands, first and foremost, that his duty is to God (Ex.18:21; Deut. 1:17; Rom. 13:1-4). A politician only fears the possibility that he will not be re-elected.

A Statesman Thinks Covenantally

To covenant means to enter into an agreement, with stipulations and sanctions for breaking the covenant. That is why elected officials are to take an oath of office. They agree to protect and defend the Constitution. To most politicians it has become a meaningless ritual. They either don't understand what they promise to protect or have no intention of risking their political career to do so.

Our great need today is for men like Jonathan and David, who entered into a covenant on very specific terms. Policy statements about what a politician believes are meaningless and worthless. What a politician does--not what he says--is the key to character. Just as faith without works is dead, so too, policy statements without specific promised actions are worthless.

Just as Jonathan stood up to his father by entering into a covenantal agreement with David, so too, we must demand that our appointed servants in the legislature stand up to party leadership by entering into a covenantal agreement with us, the people, who are in a position similar to that of a king in our constitutional republic.

In reality, it is worse than worthless when Christian politicians get elected and act like every other run-of-the-mill politician. It sends the message that there is really no hope for change, and that the only way to speak in the gates is to do it on the terms set by the power brokers of the current system.

A politician's promise to sponsor a bill to lower taxes, expand school choice, repeal unconstitutional gun bans, limit the power of unions, or defend human life is meaningless unless the politician is willing to commit in writing to specific strategies to fight for the passage of those bills.

Unlike the sons of the world, who are wiser than the children of light (Luke 16:8), most would-be Christian statesmen have no real clue how to make a serious difference. They get elected and quickly conform to the world's system (Rom. 12:2).

Instead of using the concept of covenant for righteous purposes, many so-called Christian politicians refuse to even enter into covenant with those who appoint them.

By entering into a specific promise with specific plans for implementation of the covenant, a politician creates accountability for himself in measurable terms. The newly elected official either did or did not sponsor the bill to repeal this or that law. He either did or did not use the parliamentary rules to force a recorded vote.

Recorded votes, even scheduled calculated losses, are the lifeblood of the legislative/election cycle. The record of a vote in a legislative season is used in the next election cycle to report a politician's behavior.

The reason it is so hard to get the so-called "good guys" to fight on covenantal terms is that the political class of power brokers within any party have an enormous array of rewards and punishments at their disposal to discipline newly elected officials. They are very skilled at bringing new legislators into line with the agenda of the party leadership. They can punish the independent minded legislator with undesirable committee assignments, kill his legislative proposals, work to defeat him, and cut off party financial support.

The leadership of any party is almost by definition morally compromised. The rule of thumb amongst knowledgeable Christian grassroots lobbyists is that "once one of our people become leadership, they are no longer one of our people." To be in party leadership requires getting elected a second time by other politicians. This means that the leadership is beholden to the liberals in the party.

No politician will last long in party leadership who works to get recorded votes on issues that hurt the re-election chances of liberal members of the party.

The excuses that politicians use to cover this fact up are predictable. The grassroots lobbyist often hears many of the following or variations on them:

• That is not the way it is done around here.
• You don't understand the system and how it works.
• You are doing your cause more harm than good.
• I cannot get the support of others in the caucus to help me.
• If I do what you want we will get something worse.
• If I do that it will not work.
• You need to go out and educate the public.
• We are only disagreeing over tactics.

Whenever a politician explains to you (frequently with anger) that he cannot do what is necessary to get a recorded vote on an issue, always ask yourself the following questions: "If I believe that, who am I helping? Am I helping the folks back in the district or the politician?"

When a Vermont Senator made a promise to get a recorded vote on the repeal of "homosexual marriage" for the specific purpose of putting pro-homosexual Republicans on the record, all hell broke lose. Party leadership threatened the Senator that they would not act on his other initiatives if he did such a thing. When the pro-family organization to whom the promise was made publicly held the Senator accountable, a series of ugly public condemnations were issued by Republican party leaders about the pastor leading the pro-family organization.

If the Senator had had the courage to look his party leadership in the eye and call their bluff, he would have found out that it was no worse than standing up to a bully on the playground. Once it was over, it would have been back to business as usual. The party leadership needs the Senator's vote just as much as he needs their support.

You see, controversial issues make people angry. A politician's worst nightmare is angry voters on two sides of the same issue. A statesman, on the other hand, understands that to seek reform, his success will largely be measured by how many within his own party are angry with him.

In part, politicians get re-elected by making controversial issues go away or making you believe that the problem is with some other politician or party. The following fact illustrates how skillful the politicians are at getting you to believe what they want you to believe. 70% of Americans think that Congress is corrupt. However, 70% also think that their congressman is okay. The American Christian electorate is incredibly naive.

Politicians are very skilled at shifting the blame. To use an analogy, they are like those who say the key to cleaning up the behavior of children in the schools is to complain about your neighbor's or your enemy's kids. My answer is that I must start with my own kids. If I don't discipline them to stand up to the problems, what can I possibly say to anyone else? Yet politicians constantly complain that we are beating up on the wrong guy when we expect them to act, address problems, and give us recorded votes.

The biggest lesson Christians must learn is to start with their legislator as the solution to the problem, and not to accept excuses. That means being willing to work for the defeat of so-called good guys on our side. The reality is that they are part of the problem.

The bottom line is that if a man will not commit in writing to specific bills and strategies of action, he is unworthy of your support. You might vote for him if he is the better of two typical politicians. However, don't waste your precious time and money working for him. Look for and work for another candidate next election.

Don't give money to a politician or support a politician who will not sign a candidate survey that will be made public.

A Statesman Serves the King

A king has the right and responsibility to commission his servants with specific tasks and duties. The problem is that most elected officials view themselves as being in the position of king. They have it backwards. While they will never say that the people serve them, they certainly act like it in a multitude of ways.

In our constitutional republic, the people, under the law and reign of King Jesus, are in a position like unto a king. Our legislators, then, are servants sent by the king, i.e., the people, to administer the rule of law.

A statesman understands this and gladly risks the wrath of party leadership to stand on principle for the reasons he was elected. He has no problem committing in writing to specific legislative proposals and initiatives with those who work to elect him.

In reality, it is not the fault of the politicians that they don't covenant to be accountable to specific deeds of political action. The fault is with the king. The buck stops with him.

If the king is lazy, ignorant, or naïve the results are rightly laid at the feet of the king. History is full of stories of kings whose ministers were more powerful than they due to the negligence and cowardice of the kings. The people of America for a host of reasons are no different. It takes courage to hold politicians accountable. Politicians are like unruly children. They are in the habit of being in control and don't like standards and accountability.

I remember a conversation with one of my former Operation Rescue attorneys after he was elected. I wanted to find out how helpful he would be on the repeal of "homosexual marriage." The answers I got told me not to even waste my time.

First, his observation of other legislators was that they needed to come under authority. By that he specifically meant following the leadership of the party. I wrote him a letter explaining that with a view like that he was a dangerous man, especially since he was a Christian. I informed him that the other legislators were accountable to the people that elected them under the rule and reign of King Jesus.

Second, he informed me of his strategy to get appointed to a chairmanship and eventually to become Speaker of the House. He also was ambitious to be appointed to a judgeship. I realized then that he was a lost cause. He not only was a lost cause, but he has become the enemy. He led the charge to give special privileges to homosexuals through a gimmick called "repeal and replace." Instead of fighting for the honest straightforward repeal of "homosexual marriage," the gimmick was to repeal "homosexual marriage" in name only and replace it with an identical concept--only with a different name.

In addition, when one of the members of his committee tried to stand up to the leadership, he led the charge to intimidate him out of it. Sigh!

Those who would question the wisdom of my point of view need only to ask themselves, "Do I like the direction my state and country is headed"? If so, then continue to support politics as usual. If not, by implication you agree that radical change is necessary. The radical change is needed in us, the people. We must expect and demand that our elected servants make themselves accountable to us.

A Statesman Fears God

John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States under the Constitution of 1789, was the only President to be elected to serve in Congress after his presidency. His primary motivation for this fourteen years of service was to fight slavery.

Unlike the modern politician who has any number of parliamentary moves available to him to move legislation forward, Adams had none on the issue of slavery. The U.S. House of Representatives had passed a rule that slavery could never be discussed.

For fourteen years, Adams would rise to challenge the House rule only to be unceremoniously dragged off the House floor by the Sergeant-at-Arms. Toward the end of his life, in 1848, he was asked, "Mr. President, don't you ever get tired of the dishonor of all this, sir?" He said, "Oh no, duty belongs to us, the results belong to God!"

A politician views his duty as to himself and his party, and the results are irrelevant as long as he and his party grow in power.

Little did Adams realize that twelve years later America would suffer the judgment of God in the form of a brutal and unnecessary war. Because America refused to listen to a statesman like Adams--unlike England who listened to William Wilberforce forty years earlier and ended slavery with the stroke of a pen--America's form of government was radically changed forever.

Conclusion

Restoring our original form of government will take a number of generations willing to pay the price of hard work. That is the subject of another paper. However, the point is that statesmen are like political prophets. They are a blessing when listened to, but seldom is that the case. The reason they are so rare is that few politicians are willing to suffer the cost of being a statesman.

May God give us men who are willing to run for office and act like statesmen. May God change the heart and understanding of the American people to embrace their duties under King Jesus in our constitutional republic.

Mike McHugh is a pastor with Reformed Baptist theology in the context of a network of house churches. He also works part time as a political consultant to conservative grassroots ogranizations and candidates. He can be contacted at pmmchugh@shentel.net, or at +1 540 635 9587.

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