ORLANDO (FBW)—With an election year just around the corner, David Zanotti urged a crowd gathered for a 90-minute townhall meeting Nov. 29 at First Baptist Church in Orlando to get involved in the political goings-on in America.

Zanotti, president and CEO of The American Policy Roundtable, an organization dedicated to restoring Judeo-Christian principles to American public policy, used an event from his past to emphasize his point.

"When I was in college, a friend told me to give up politics," Zanotti recounted. "My friend said to me, 'You know, David, if you just stick to preaching the Gospel, God will bless you immensely. Why don't you just give up this stupid politics stuff and stick to the God stuff, because that's what really matters to Jesus?'"

According to Zanotti, too many American Christians share the view of his college friend and have abandoned their participation in the democratic system.

"God wants us to be missionaries to America," he said. "Do you know that when skeptics challenge us on things like the 'separation of church and state,' there are answers? And that makes me mad, because for at least two generations we have stopped telling our children the real answers."

Zanotti went on to say that Americans—especially Christians—have flat-out forgotten many of the basic truths about America.

"This wall of separation—which is an historical myth, a theological illusion—that God and government don't mix, is pounded into our heads and we believe it."

To refute the myth, Zanotti turned to Matthew 22, where the Pharisees and Herodians tried to ensnare Jesus by asking Him: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" (vs. 17). In response, Jesus requests a denarius bearing Caesar's image and says: "... [R]ender to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (vs. 21).

Too often, Zanotti said, this is misunderstood.

"Some Christians translate this verse as Jesus actually dividing the universe between heaven and hell with only the 'real' stuff going on in heaven," he explained. "They think the world is divided between God's stuff and everything else. Let me ask you this, if Jesus wasn't political, then why was He killed. The truth is, Jesus was killed as a political prisoner—for treason."

He then went on to explain the point of the denarius episode.

"The Psalmist said, 'The earth is the Lord's and everything in it' (24:1). At His resurrection, Jesus said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me' (Matthew 28:18). It's God's earth, everything belongs to Him. The Pharisees and Herodians should have asked Jesus, 'What is Caesar's and what is God's?' If they would have, Jesus would have told them that it is all God's. So what is Caesar's? The Bible teaches that God gave the rulership of this earth to human beings. He delegated authority to man. Therefore, that which belongs to Caesar is only that which we give to him, realizing that God gave it to us first."

Therefore, Zanotti made clear there is no separation between the things of earth and the things of God—the government included. He used the Declaration of Independence to prove his point.

"The Declaration of Independence is the rationale to explain why the Founding Fathers were starting a new country. They began with these words: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...'"

To Zanotti, these few words speak volumes.

"That revolutionary statement answers the question, 'What is God's and what is Caesar's?' in a way that has never been given before or after in the history of humanity," he said. "The Founders believed there was such a thing as absolute truth. They believed that all men were 'created,' which means they believed in a Creator. In other words, there is a God who is real, who is personal, and has placed in every life certain unalienable rights. These rights are absolute and untouchable."

To Zanotti, this should be a clear blueprint for all politicians.

"It is the job of the government to secure these rights," he said. "They are not to change them or take them away, but secure them. Where did the Founding Fathers get this idea?"

He then held up his Bible.

"Right here in this Book. The Founders trusted this Book and built this nation on its principles. Therefore, the Declaration of Independence is what this nation is all about because it is based on the Word of God."

Additionally, Zanotti added, modern-day thinkers and skeptics have completely corrupted the original intent of the Founding Fathers regarding the separation of church and state.

"They [the Fathers] recognized that civil government and the Church were completely different institutions; that neither should attempt to usurp the leadership of the government. They were not trying to create a divine state, a church-controlled nation. Nor were they trying to create a government that would never be touched by the church. The term 'wall of separation' didn't even exist when this document was created."

That came later, and, Zanotti said, the more and more we distance ourselves from the original intent of the Founding Fathers, the further astray we drift as a nation.

"The Founders got it right. They solved the problem. When Jesus held that coin in His hand, it said 'Tiberius Caesar - Augustus son of the Divine.' But what do American coins say? 'In God We Trust.' You don't see the name Caesar. This government is not instituted on the divine right of kings or on Caesar worship. This government is instituted on 'In God We Trust.' Our job is to bring this Truth back to the issues of today."

For more information about The American Policy Roundtable and David Zanotti, visit www.aproundtable.org.

David Ettinger is the writer/editor for First Baptist Church in Orlando.