Citizenship: Christians in the Public Square
This is not all my own sermon, I want to give credit where it is due, H.B. London, and other known names but I ran across this and thought it is proper with election coming up this week, What God says about Government.
Many Christian people want nothing to do with public life because it seems corrupt and dirty. Yet, is it possible that political life has degenerated because people with strong moral standards have shunned it?
Ro 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God
Ro 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Ro 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Ro 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Ro 13:5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Ro 13:6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Ro 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Paul moves from stressing what our individuals responsibilities in chapter twelve to reminding us how we are to respond to the government.
Guy McGraw - For Paul the question is no can you be a Christian and involved in government but can you be a Christian and not be involved in government. We have been called out of this world but still live in it. Being citizens of heaven does not minimize our responsibilities here on earth but actually the Christian citizen out to be the best citizen.
But what if a government is bad? Paul was writing this statement under a new edict that made Christianity illegal, a new Caesar named Nero in power. Jesus had been crucified by this same government. Homosexuality was rampant among Rome¡¦s leaders.
I. Government and God’s View
A. God has established the civil authorities (Romans 13:1-7).
Thomas Jefferson -- Thomas Jefferson, 1781, third U.S. president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever." (This quote contradicts those historical revisionists who contend that Jefferson wanted a "wall of separation" to protect the government from people of faith.) Cited in Saul K. Padover, ed., The Complete Jefferson, Query XVII (New York: Tudor Publishing, 943), p. 677.
Harold Berman "Politics and law are not a path to grace and faith. But are not grace and faith a path to right politics and right law?"-- Harold Berman, professor emeritus, Harvard University Law School.
1. To execute justice (Psalm 106:3; Isaiah 1:17).
a. Psalm 106:3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
b. Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow
2. To establish order in society.
Benjamin Franklin "I’ve lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ’except the Lord build the house they labor in vain who build it.’ I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."-- Benjamin Franklin, 1787. Cited in Gallard Hart and James Brown Scott, ed., The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Which Framed the Constitution of the United States, reported by James Madison (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1970), p. 81.
3. To provide for the common good. (See "Social Service and Social Action" and quotes from Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln on the Fact Sheet.)
Horace Greeley "It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people." -- Horace Greeley, 1852. Cited in Tyron Edwards, D.D., ed., The New Dictionary of Thoughts: A Cyclopedia of Quotations (Garden City, N.Y.: Hanover House, 1852; The Standard Book Company, 1963), p. 48.
Abraham Lincoln "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own...It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." -- Abraham Lincoln, 1863. Cited in Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in the United States (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950), vol. 3, p. 186.
II. Government and Our Responsibility
A. Because they are ordained by God, we must honor the authorities.
1. We should pray for them (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
2. We should pay what we owe (Mark 12:17).
Mr 12:17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.
3. We should live in obedience (1 Peter 2:13-17).
1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1Pe 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
B. We owe obedience, but not blind obedience.
1. Paul used his citizenship to object to injustice (Acts 16:35-39; 22:24-29).
2. The apostles understood Christians sometimes should disobey civil authorities when their mandates contradict the laws of God (Acts 5:29).
Ac 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
C. We are to participate in and influence the government. (See the quote from John Stott on the Fact Sheet.)
John R. W. Stott "What, then, is the biblical basis for social concern? Why should Christians get involved? In the end there are only two possible attitudes which Christians can adopt towards the world: Escape and Engagement...’Escape’ means turning our backs on the world in rejection, washing our hands of it...and steeling our hearts against its agonized cries for help. In contrast, ’engagement’ means turning our faces towards the world in compassion, getting our hands dirty, sore and worn in its service, and feeling deep within us the stirring of the love of which cannot be contained. ...
If we truly love our neighbors, and because of their worth desire to serve them, we shall be concerned for their total welfare, the well-being of their soul, their body and their community. And our concern will lead to practical programs." -- John R. W. Stott, Decisive Issues Facing Christians Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 1995), pp. 14, 19.
1. Consider the biblical examples of Joseph (Genesis 41) Joseph became 2nd in command to Pharoah, Daniel (Daniel 6) Daniel was over the princes and presidents.
2. Our society is based on God-given freedoms and responsibilities. (See the quote from David Brewer on the Fact Sheet.)
David Brewer "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian...this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making the affirmation...We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth...These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation." -- Justice David Brewer, 1892, writing for the majority in the case of the Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States (143 i.s. 457 (1892).)
3. Christians are to be salt and light in the world, including the government (Matthew 5:13-14) Mt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Mt 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
. (See the quotes from John Jay, Theodore Roosevelt and John Adams on the Fact Sheet.)
John Jay "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty...of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." -- John Jay, 1816, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, previously governor of New York. Cited in Henry P. Johnston, ed., The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay (New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1893, vol. 4), p. 393.
Theodore Roosevelt "In this actual world, a churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at, or ignored their Christian duties, is a community on the rapid down-grade." -- Theodore Roosevelt, quoted in Ladies Home Journal, October 1917, p. 12. Cited in Albert Bushnell Hart and Herbert Ronald Ferlerger, ed., Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia (New York: Roosevelt Memorial Association, 1941), p. 77.
John Adams "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridles by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a m oral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -- John Adams, 1798, first U.S. vice-president and second U.S. president. Cited in Charles Frances Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States (Little, Brown and Co., 1954), IX, p. 229.
III. Government and How Christians Can Make an Impact
A. Pray for civil authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
B. Understand how politics and government operates.
1. As part of a fallen world, political institutions are imperfect, but we must remember God ordained them.
2. Societies can, and do, "legislate morality." The question is not whether morality will be legislated, but whose morality will be legislated.
3. The church must never be politicized. Rather, the church send out people equipped to stand firm for justice, motivated by love and compassion.
C. Get involved in the political process (Matthew 5:13-14). (Refer to "Christian Citizens" on the Fact Sheet.)
Christian Citizens In 1996, the Barna Research Group performed extensive polling on the American public to determine the influence of "born-again Christians" and "evangelicals" in the public square.
"Born-again Christian" refers not to people who call themselves born again, but to individuals who say that they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life, and who say they will go to heaven after they die because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Overall, 38 percent of the adult population meet these criteria; 43 percent of registered voters fit this definition. -- From the press release "Dole May Be More Conservative Than Clinton, But He Does Not Pick Up the Born-again Vote," Barna Research Group, Aug. 13, 1996.
1. Write letters to editors, office holders, etc.
2. Join organizations, movements and campaigns you can support as a Christian.
3. Vote. (See "The Importance of Voting" on the Fact Sheet.)
The Importance of Voting The power of a single vote can be substantial. Consider, for example, that by only one vote per precinct:
„P Averill Harriman was elected governor of New York in 1954;
„P George McGovern was elected to the U.S. Senate from South Dakota in 1960;
„P John Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate from Virginia in 1978.
Here are other examples of the power of a vote:
„P Woodrow Wilson won California by less than one vote per precinct, giving him the electoral votes necessary to become president in 1916.
„P Harry Truman carried California and Ohio by one vote per precinct in 1948, giving him the winning margin.
„P A Texas Democratic party convention chose Lyndon Johnson in a contested Senate election by just one vote in 1948, launching his political career.
„P In 1960, John F. Kennedy won the presidency by an average of only one-half vote per precinct.
„P In 1984, Ronald Reagan lost Minnesota, his rival’s home state, by less than one vote per precinct. (Source: Citizen magazine, September 1988, p. 2.)
„P At the time of the 1998 election, approximately 200,927,000 people in the United States were 18 years and older (U.S. Census Bureau).
„P In the 1996 election, 193,700,000 people were eligible to vote; 127,648,300 (65.9 percent of those eligible) reported they were registered to vote; and 104,985,400 (54.2 percent) reported they voted (U.S. Census Bureau).
4. Run for public office or support Christians with whom you can agree on pertinent issues who do run for office.
Conclusion
Some Christians have a difficult time determining whether, and when, to let their voices be heard on the great moral issues of the day. More than 400 years ago Martin Luther put it well, when he said:
"If I profess with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved."
God and the National Anthem
The words to the "Star-Spangled Banner," the national anthem of the United States, were written by Francis Scott Key, a deeply religious attorney. He had boarded a British warship during the War of 1812 to negotiate the release of an American prisoner. He was barred from leaving the ship because the British were preparing to attack Fort McHenry, which protected Baltimore. He watched the rocket assault from the enemy deck.
At dawn, Key saw the American flag still flying over the fort: the assault had failed. Gratitude to God welled up within him, and it was that sentiment which inspired his famous lyrics. As Sam Myer wrote, "Commentators and political orators rightly refer to the ’Star-Spangled Banner’ as a hymn; Key intended it to be. Unlike national airs that exalt rulers or, like ’La Marseillaise,’ call soldiers to arms, Key’s lyric -- besides being a paean of praise -- was a prayer of thanksgiving to God for having saved the City of Baltimore from the damage the British has wreaked on Washington only three weeks earlier. Francis Scott-Key argued that his great-grandfather’s verse breathed a pure religious sentiment" (Paradoxes of Fame: The Francis Scott Key Story, Eastwind Publishing, 1995, p. 13).
Most Americans know by heart the first stanza of the national anthem, but it is the last stanza that expresses Key’s belief that if was God who protected Baltimore:
O! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation;
Blessed with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust!"
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
"The more profoundly one is concerned about heaven, the more deeply one cares about God’s will being done on earth."
-- J.I. Packer
"Moral habits...cannot safely be trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits."
-- Daniel Webster, 1820. Cited in The Works of Daniel Webster (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1853), p. 44.
"Let me live according to those holy rules which Thou hast this day prescribed in Thy holy word...Direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life. Bless, O Lord, all the people of this land."
-- George Washington, 1752. Cited in W. Herbert Burk, ed., Washington’s Papers (Norristown, Penn.: published for the benefit of the Washington Memorial Chapel, 1907), pp. 87-95).
"We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."
-- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 at 313 (1952).)
Contributors:
H.B. London Jr., Vice President, Ministry Outreach Division
Tom Minnery, Vice President, Public Policy Division
Jim Dahlman, Editor at Large, Periodicals Division
Travis Pardo, Social Research Analyst, Public Policy Division
Social Service and Social Action
In 1982, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism and the World Evangelism Fellowship sponsored a conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., to draft a report bringing social action and evangelism into biblical balance. The following table distinguishes between "social service" and "social action."
Social Service Social Action
1. Relieving human need 1. Removing the cause of human need
2. Philanthropic activity 2. Political/economic activity
3. Seeking to minister to individuals and families 3. Seeking to transform the structures of society
4. Works of mercy 4. The quest for justice
Other Quotes About Christianity and Citizenship
"I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses...Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia...or to the Charter of New England...or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay...or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut...the same objective is present...a Christian land governed by Christian principles. I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people...I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country."
-- Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, 1954. Quoted in "Breakfast at Washington," Time, Feb. 14, 1954, p. 49.
"The frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance, freedom and open-mindedness. Question: Isn’t the real truth that they are intolerant of religion? They refuse to tolerate its importance in our lives."
-- Ronald Reagan, 1984. Quoted in "Remarks by President at Prayer Breakfast," The New York Times, Aug. 24, 1984, p. A11.
"We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained."
-- George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789, Cited in Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., 1987), vol. 1, p. 45.
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports...It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government...Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue?"
-- George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796. Cited in Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, vol. 1, pp. 1212-13.
Religion and Public Education
Never in our country’s founding period was there an official belief that education shouldn’t embody the teaching of God’s moral truths. This principle is most clearly shown by the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. At that time, the "Northwest" was the territory comprising what are today Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. Congress sought to tame that wilderness and encourage settlers to move into the region. Thus it provided for a series of land grants for schools and colleges to be built throughout the region. The Congress believed that by educating settlers, good order and decency would come to the territory because, in their view, education included not only academic subjects but also the teaching of godly values.
The Northwest Ordinance states, "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education, shall forever be encouraged." A plaque with these words is still at the main gate of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, one of the early land-grant colleges and still a state-supported institution.
