Beyond Good Intentions

I honestly believe that many Christians who disagree with my political views have good hearts. They think they are doing God’s will. I’ve noticed that one of the motives for those who support liberal politicians is their desire to help the poor. They have faith, so to speak, in the government programs that aim to bring people out of poverty. This is a grave mistake.

It’s one thing to have good intentions—God will look at the heart and realize that these people mean well. However, we must go beyond good intentions and scrutinize whether the policies we support actually accomplish the goal. With the best of intentions, we can help destroy a nation.

LBJ’s War on Poverty began in 1964. Since that time, trillions of dollars have been funneled into the government to eliminate poverty. It has not gone away. In this war, I submit that we should wave the white flag of surrender.

What have we reaped instead? Dependency on government, loss of initiative, a selfish entitlement attitude, and the destruction of marriage in the attempt to qualify for the aid. Money that flows into the government usually is absorbed by the bureaucracy itself. The waste is incredible.

When we reap those kinds of consequences, we need to reconsider our approach to the problem. While God does honor good intentions, He also expects us to learn from the results of those intentions. After a while, if we remain blind to the evils that inevitably follow from such policies, He will no longer honor our intentions. He will look deeply into our hearts and do His best by His Spirit to convict us of our stubbornness. We need to remain teachable and continue to learn how to apply His truths.

I repeat: we must get beyond good intentions.