U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy calls students to put their beliefs into action

U.S. Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) challenged Liberty University students to take action in order to make a difference in their world during Friday’s Convocation.

Last May, Gowdy, South Carolina’s 4th District representative, was named chairman of the House Select Committee on the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi. He also serves on the House committees on ethics, oversight and government reform, and judiciary (where he serves as chairman of the subcommittee on immigration and border security). Gowdy also worked for six years as a federal prosecutor.

Gowdy’s longtime friend, Dr. Michael Hamlet, senior pastor of First Baptist North Spartanburg (S.C.) introduced him. Hamlet called Liberty an “electric university,” telling students that they have a responsibility to pray for the leaders they have the privilege of hearing from on a weekly basis.

Gowdy asked the crowd to consider whether the church or the government has more influence on our nation. In his view, Gowdy said, the government’s influence is rising while the church’s is diminishing.

Citing 2 Chronicles 7:14, Gowdy explained that for our nation to prosper, its people need to humble themselves, seek God’s face, pray, and reform. This begins with believers.

He told students that if they want a better future than the current state of the nation, they need to decide what they believe and learn how to defend their views, so that others will be more receptive to their beliefs.

Gowdy cautioned students that if they want people to believe what they believe, they should not insult others’ belief systems or act like a hypocrite.

“Insulting people does not work if your objective is to persuade them,” he said. “When a person is insulted, they become even more dogmatic in holding their incorrect belief. If you are going to say that the Lord called you to go into politics, then you need to act like it. If you are not going to act like it, then you need to take His name out of the equation.”

He closed by telling students that if they think that someone else is going to come in and save what is ailing our country, schools, and churches, they are wrong.

“You are the messenger that is going to change your world. I am not asking you to be like Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln. I am asking you to live a quiet life of conviction and virtue and actually live out what you profess to believe,” he said. “If you can do that, you will be a leader, you will be persuasive, and your generation will be the one that gets our country back on the right path.”

Gowdy’s speech garnered a standing ovation.