Where is Moral Decay Found: Government or Business?

"In this growing -- we fear it must be said rapid -- decay of virtue and integrity in legislative halls, in some quarters even in courts of justice, and in leading financial circles, the most portentous evils are opening before us. Can they be arrested? The answer to this question depends upon another. Have we vital Christianity enough among us to check the progress of moral decay? Is there that fear of God and love of truth and right among our countrymen, which will insist on honesty and integrity in the administration of public affairs and in the conduct of financial corporations and commercial enterprises?"

- William Henry Green, Conflict and Triumph: The Argument of the Book of Job Unfolded (1999, Banner of Truth Trust), p. 17. William Henry Green (1825-1900), a linguist and Old Testament scholar, and was the chair of Biblical and Oriental Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1851 to 1900.

I like in this quote because Dr. Green applies the need to have virtue and integrity in both government ("the administration of public affairs") and business ("the conduct of financial corporations and commercial enterprises"). It has been rightly said before that politics is downstream from culture, and Dr. Green notes the need for vital Christianity in our culture.

Too often, contemporary politics distorts the Christian message, such that conservatives decry big government and liberals decry big business. Each is a biased view. Dr. Green properly applies the standards of honesty and integrity to both government and business, and notes that all individuals need the eternal foundation of authentic faith in Christ.

The Church's Destructive Power

"God has put into his church, when he is in it, a most wonderful, destructive power as against spiritual wickedness. A healthy church kills error, and tears in pieces evil. Not so very long ago our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philanthropists endeavored to 
destroy slavery; but when was it utterly abolished? It was when Wilberforce roused the church of God, and when the church of God addressed herself to the conflict, then she tore the evil thing to pieces. I have been amused with what Wilberforce said the day after they passed the Act of Emancipation. He merrily said to a friend when it was all done, “Is there not something else we can abolish?” That was said playfully, but it shows the spirit of the church of God. She lives in conflict and victory; her mission is to destroy everything that is bad in the land."

- Charles Spurgeon, "The Best War Cry."