I have a confession to make: I am a closet libertarian. A pro-liberty, free-market, caveat emptor libertarian. It is not an easy position to maintain. Here in the U.S., politics have polarized into two factions represented by two political parties, neither of which consistently embrace libertarian principles. Consequently I find myself outside of the mainstream, politically, and until recently I frequently found myself frustrated, unhappy and sometimes downright angry at the actions of governments around the world, and particularly here in the U.S.

I tried to be a good democrat (not Democrat) by appealing to my elected representatives in the hope that if other like-minded individuals did the same we might influence policy for the better. This did not work – either in influencing our government or in relieving my angst. Fortunately, my efforts have had comical moments. My favorite is the response I received from U.S. Senator Durbin after sending him email explaining my opposition to the stimulus plan and the then-proposed bailouts of Chrysler and GM. In his pleasant response Senator Durbin thanked me for my support of his efforts to pass the stimulus bill and save Chrysler and GM. Sigh. Perhaps email is just not the right medium.

I mention all of this not to introduce a defense of libertarianism or even to complain about government policies (where would I start?). I mention it to draw attention to the fact that even in our "free" country grave injustices have been and are being committed by our elected representatives, in observance of the will of the majority. Years ago my mother introduced me to the term "the tyranny of the majority," and it wasn't until much later that I properly understood the evil that can be committed by "the majority." This is what I have been struggling with and the problem for which I thought the solution was political.

After a time of introspection and prayer, asking God to relieve me of this burden, I began to see the problem from a different point of view. I came to see that this problem is not due to defects in our implementations of government, or in the individuals that serve in those governments. I now see that it is due to defects in the moral character of the people of this country and this world. Oddly, this realization has set me free – because the problems of this world are not the result of the wrong policies, the wrong representatives or insufficient activism. They are the result of mass rebellion from God. Thus, the way to remedy these problems is not through poli-tics but through the church.

So I have given up my fretting and harrumphing (well, mostly) and have reduced my political email output to a mere trickle. I am now trying harder to understand God's will for me in the place where He has put me – chairman of Libertyville Covenant Church (LCC). Because of that responsibility I feel compelled to also seek to understand God's will for our church as a whole. And although I can't see everything that God sees, I have come to see LCC as one of God's beachheads into hostile enemy territory – not physical territory, but moral territory, spiritual territory.

This is the battle that we need to fight, not the battle of the ballot box or the email inbox. In that light I see that we are doing many things already. I see us using many of the weapons that Paul lists in his letter to the Ephesians: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the word of God and constant prayer. If we stay committed to these then we will be doing our part in God's great redemptive plan, which I believe is this: if we can win over hearts and minds (including our own) to the lordship of Christ, then the institutions of this world will eventually reflect the will of God, not just the will of the people.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." – Ephesians 6:12a