May-June 1999
"One Nation Under God"
A Plain Truth Interview by Jennifer Ferranti
Ogilvie's most prestigious position came in 1995, at the age of 65, when he was named the 61st chaplain of the United States Senate -- spiritual advisor to the men and women who comprise the most powerful political body in the nation, if not the world.
"I didn't feel worthy of this position," Ogilvie humbly admits, "so there was no sense of pride in it... just an immense gratitude that God would trust me with these leaders."
Ogilvie describes his job as Senate chaplain as one of "reminding the leaders of this nation that this is one nation under God." In addition to opening the Senate in prayer each day, he is responsible for counseling and providing spiritual care not only for the 100 senators, but also their families, staffs and the Capitol police -- a combined constituency of 6,000 people.
"The chaplain should be influential in the spiritual lives of the senators as they seek to know and do God's will in the monumental responsibilities entrusted to them," Ogilvie suggests.
And those responsibilities have never been more monumental than in this 106th Congress, as Ogilvie sat down and talked with Plain Truth about the spiritual condition of the senate and the nation.
Jennifer Ferranti: As chaplain of the United States Senate, you describe yourself as nonpolitical, nonpartisan and nonsectarian. How do you minister to such a spiritually diverse group of men and women?
Lloyd Ogilvie: Every one of the 100 senators is actively involved in some religious group or denomination, exercising and expressing their faith. So whether they are Christians or Jews, it is more a challenge of helping them to know God more personally, to practice their faith with greater freedom and joy and to discover how to pray about how to lead this nation.
It's helping people who have a level of spiritual growth to continue to grow and discover the limitless power of God for their work.
My motto is, "Without God, we can't -- and without us, he won't." Without God, we can't do what we are supposed to do. We are totally dependent upon him. And that comes down to a recognition that when a leader comes to the government, what he or she really needs is supernatural power.
That's the hardest thing for a leader to recognize -- that education and erudition, experience, talents and all the background that has led a person to this high position of senator is wonderful -- and God will use these. But the essential thing is the supernatural power of the spiritual gifts that God gives -- wisdom, knowledge, discernment, prophetic vision -- to be able to discern what it is that God wants for our nation and to develop legislation to move us forward to that.
So, in our Bible studies, we talk a great deal about how to commit your life to God. Many of the senators have found this to be a liberating experience -- to make an unreserved commitment of their life and then to be supportive of each other and to pray for each other. In fact, there is a written covenant that some of the senators have together (see A Caring Covenant).
It's a very meaningful thing -- the way they care for each other and uphold each other. That happens in our times together, and it's wonderful to see how they become supportive and encouraging of each other.
What do you think are the issues that most trouble our leaders today? And what issues are most difficult for them to deal with?
Many of the most spiritual senators are deeply concerned about the spiritual condition of our nation, and they are concerned about the need for a spiritual awakening in America. We talk about this at the Bible studies a great deal, and we pray for that -- pray to be leaders of that spiritual awakening and to exemplify what God can do with people who are open to him.
They're also deeply concerned about the moral condition of our nation. Many of the senators are concerned about the relativism that has impacted our culture for the last 50 to 60 years, with the end result that we have lost our grasp on absolutes. Everything is so relative that the absolutes are less a part of American life, and they are very concerned about that.
Added to that, there's a grave concern for the racial tensions that exist in our nation. There's an almost universal concern among the senators for the problems of poverty and the great diversity between the rich and the poor. Some are more outspoken than others, and they have different plans as to how these problems should be handled -- differences between big government and state-focused government, individual responsibility as opposed to governmental aid -- there are lots of different opinions as to how we're going to go about that. But there is an almost universal concern for the economic conditions in our country that have a denigrating effect on many people who are caught in the continuous cycle of poverty.
There's also a great concern about the educational needs of our nation. Here again, there are different solutions presented. There's a continuing concern for crime and the ineffectiveness of the prison system. Then there are key hot-button issues that constantly reemerge with lots of different opinions. The thing we try not to do in the chaplaincy program is to present a litmus test for the spirituality of the senators -- saying, "If you really are a person of God, you will vote thus and thus and thus on the following key hot-button issues in America." That's been done so much by religious leaders in America that senators often become leery of religious people because they are promoting a point of view and enlisting senators in forwarding their program -- often with judgmentalism if they don't.
How has your job as chaplain been affected by the White House scandal?
I have sought to be of help to the senators who are grappling with their response to it and what they should do. My pastoral counseling ministry has increased during this time of crisis.
What can we, as citizens, do to help set our nation on course, to the spiritual fabric that's so important to our country?
Without appearing simplistic, every issue has to start with ourselves. Each person must ask, "Am I the citizen in the United States who would exemplify the kind of citizens who would make this a great nation?" In other words, if all of the people lived out my faith, my character, my commitment to patriotism, my love of the nation, my responsibility and integrity, what kind of nation would we have? It's a good question to ask. So the place to begin is with ourselves.
And what role does prayer play in all of this?
I think we have a tremendous untapped power in the power of prayer. Because we are so involved in judgmentalism today, we reserve the power of prayer for people with whom we agree or who meet our standards. Often the people who need prayer most are people who fail or people who do things we don't approve of -- and that's the time we need to be praying for them. Affirmation of a person does not mean advocacy for his or her political point of view. To pray for the leaders of our nation -- local leaders, state leaders and people here in national government -- what a difference it makes when the power of prayer is unleashed through responsible people, the intercessors of God in the nation. That, in addition to all the other things I suggested, is a great thing. To dare to pray, "Lord, change America -- beginning with me."
Dr. Ogilvie's latest book, Fearless, which offers 12 practical prescriptions for living without fear, was released this spring by Servant Publications.
Jennifer Ferranti writes from the United States capital.
A CARING COVENANTThis is the spiritual covenant that many U.S. Senators have chosen to sign. 1. Begin each day with an unreserved commitment of our lives to Christ. 2. Invite Christ to fill us with his Spirit: our minds to think his thoughts, our emotions to express his love, and our wills to discern and do his will. 3. Focus on the specific opportunities and challenges in our relationships and responsibilities in the days ahead. Surrender each of these to Christ and ask for supernatural power, wisdom and guidance for our leadership. 4. We promise to pray for each other by name, picturing each other and asking for Christ's special empowering. During the day, as we are brought to each other's minds or learn of special needs, we will accept these as nudges to intercede for each other. 5. End the day with a time of reflection on how the Lord blessed and empowered us so that gratitude and praise will conclude each day. |
The Road to WashingtonDr. Lloyd John Ogilvie began his journey to Washington, D.C., when he was just 13 years old. The depression of the 1930s hit Kenosha, Wisconsin, as harshly as every other city and town in America. Ogilvie's father, an automobile salesman, sometimes brought home as little as $5 a week. So his young son found a job after school to help make ends meet. "I can still remember it," Ogilvie says. "I was working at a drug store and had my head down in the ice cream well." Then John Davies, the renowned speech teacher, walked in with golf clubs on his back. "What flavor, sir?" the skinny lad behind the counter asked when Davies ordered a cone. "Never mind the flavor," Davies said as soon as he heard Ogilvie's voice, so deep and resonant even at this early age. "Where are you going to school, son?" Ogilvie explained he was getting ready to quit school, having just lined up a job at the Quaker Stretcher Foundry. "Oh no, you're not!" Davies exclaimed. Within one month, Davies had taken Ogilvie under his wing, taught him how to memorize and deliver a three-page speech about patriotism and entered him in an oratory contest -- which Ogilvie won. "Davies then poured his life into me for the next four years of high school," Ogilvie recalls. And with a speech titled, "Wake Up, America!", the gifted protégé won a four-year college scholarship. He chose to major in competitive oratory at Lake Forest (Illinois) College. Entering into Faith The proctor of the dormitory to which Ogilvie was assigned was Bruce Larson, today a well-known Christian author. It wasn't long before Larson and a friend invited the 18-year-old freshman to join them for daily Bible study. Ogilvie considered himself a Christian. "My mother had a deep, deep experience of Christ. Her faith was rock solid." And while his father was more involved in eking out a living than attending church at that time, he eventually renewed his commitment to Christ. So Ogilvie accepted the upperclassmen's invitation. "But after a year of watching these dynamic young men," he says, "I realized they had something I did not have and wanted to have." Exactly what that was Ogilvie discovered one night as he and his two Bible study partners stayed up talking until four o'clock in the morning. "You have to make a decision. You've got to commit your life to Christ," his friends finally urged him. "So I went back to my room, got on my knees and turned my life over to Christ," Ogilvie warmly remembers. "That was the beginning -- and it's been a very exciting adventure all through the years." Until that time, Ogilvie had hoped his oratory training would take him to Hollywood to become an actor. "But when I became a Christian, I had a burning passion to communicate with other people what I had found," he explains. So with new aspirations, Ogilvie finished college and went on to Northwestern University's Garret Theological Seminary, followed by the School of Divinity of New College at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Little did Ogilvie imagine when he was ordained in 1956 that over the second half of this century, he would serve as pastor to some of the nation's most prominent business, entertainment and political leaders. Entering into Ministry Ogilvie's ministry began at Winnetka (Illinois) Presbyterian Church where a 60-member congregation grew into 600, including many of Chicago's captains of industry. Six years later, in 1962, he accepted the position of senior minister at First Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he pastored leaders of the steel industry and their families. Ten years later, he finally reached Hollywood -- not as an actor, but as pastor of the historic, 5,000-member First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, where he served leaders in the entertainment and business community for 23 years. Simultaneously, he ministered to a million-strong audience for 15 years via his nationally-syndicated radio and television program, "Let God Love You." Thus, it was no wonder when Ogilvie was named one of the "Twelve Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World" in an international survey conducted by Baylor University in 1996. Ironically, Ogilvie believes that listening, not preaching is the key to effective communication of the Gospel. He says, "I try to listen to people's hopes and hurts -- and then to God for his answers in the Bible." |