“Christians and Government”
Introduction:
On a talk show someone commented on the fact that both candidates for president have made their faith a paramount issue in their political debates. That commentator remarked, “What a person believes really shouldn’t matter because religion and politics don’t mix.”
I understand that in a group of people we will have varying political opinions, but I do not think that it is accurate to say that religion and politics do not mix. In fact the Bible addresses many political issues doesn’t it? Government was an issue that Biblical writers addressed. The Scriptures talk about the role of government, how we should respond to the government and in fact much of our laws are taken from the Book of Deuteronomy. I think it is fair to say that Christians should be concerned about politics and that God is concerned about politics. I Peter 2:13 tells us that we are to submit to the governing authorities and I Timothy 2:1 urges us to pray for those who lead. Saying that religion and politics do not mix is usually just an excuse so people do not have to talk about the two as they relate. It’s funny that we are quick to sing patriotic hymns in church and politics and religion can mix on that realm, but they cannot mix when we talk about elections and the issues. The Bible though is not silent on politics.
I believe that it is important that Christians be involved in the process, we should be concerned about this election and all elections. We should be concerned about who is leading us because they decide what freedoms we have and don’t have and what rights we have and don’t have. But, just how do we as Christians interact with the government? What does the Bible say about issues that relate to this? I believe that in a critical time in the history of our country it is important to be informed and to see what our Biblical responsibility is with the government and not to simply withdraw and avoid.
I am not here to promote a particular candidate for the elections. We have been given freedom to vote, we have been given freedom to voice our opinion. We all have political onions and political debates can be some of the most heated debates there are. I do not come to tell you what stance to take on the war, or Social Security or other factors that must be considered when voting. We all are going to be driven to vote the way that we do for different reasons, but I hope that you do not have the mindset that politics, voting and religion do not mix. I hope that your faith does come into play in your decision making while voting and in any other decision that we make. Sometimes we are so quick to want to separate every issue in life, but we cannot do that.
I want to first of all make it clear that God, His Word and His Son Jesus Christ are foundational parts of our government and that should never be forgotten. There’s a good reason that In God We Trust is on our currency… and a good reason our Pledge of Allegiance contains the phrase “One nation Under God”…and there is a good reason that The Declaration of Independence speaks of the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God and the certain unalienable Rights endowed on them by their Creator. We hear a lot today about the separation of Church and state, but no matter what laws are passed to keep the church away from the government you cannot truly separate the church from the government. In a few days the 2004 elections will be over and the people will have chosen their leaders of national, state and local levels. The campaign ads will be over, the commercials will stop airing and the decision will have been made. Again, I think it is important for us to take time and look into the Scriptures and see first of all what does the Bible say is the purpose in a government, secondly to see what the Bible says is our responsibility as Christians, and thirdly how does the church Biblically interact with government.
Text: Romans 13:1-7
I. Rights of the Government
I believe that we live in the best country in the world. Sometimes I believe that we take for granted the freedoms, the rights and the privileges that we have as Americans. We can talk a lot about how we disagree with certain aspects of the government, and how we don’t always like how things are done, how we don’t like the politics of it all. The truth of the matter is we are blessed to have the government in place that we do. Paul made it very clear in Romans that government is a God appointed institution. In fact the government is one of only three God given institutions. The family and the church being the other two. The Scriptures also make it clear that the government has a very specific roles. There are some people today who do not like any form of government, but without a government we would have chaos. The government was established for a reason. The passage, which we read, gives us a few of those reasons.
a. Punish the Guilty
One right the government has that God has granted them is the right and the authority to punish the guilty. God has set it so that the government sets the laws in place, which the people are to follow. Some people say that you cannot legislate morals. I agree that no amount of laws will change a person’s heart, but where do you draw the line? God established and set up government for the purpose of putting laws into place. One reason that we have government in place is so that the government can punish those who are guilty of breaking the laws that are in place. This would include the right of a government to practice and enforce Capital Punishment. God is not anti-capital punishment. Although God is a God of love he is also a God that loves justice. They have been given that authority from God to do that. Paul said, that the government is an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
b. Reward the Innocent
Another function of the government that the Scripture tells us is that the government is to reward the innocent. Romans 13 say, that the government is God’s servant to do you good. I understand and know that there is corruption in politics and not all the time is the innocent rewarded, but one Biblical function of government is to reward the good. The government should work for and reward those who do no break the law.
I do not believe that Christians should have an anti-government mindset because God has established the governments that exist. God had a reason for appointing government. One reason was to establish a written moral code by which people are to follow. Another reason is to punish those who break that law. The Scriptures speak of what the government is to do.
II. Responsibility of Christians
What most people want to know are what their responsibilities are to the government. What do we have to do? God has given us certain commands that we as Christians are to obey as it relates to the government. These responsibilities mean that we do not have the choice in the matter. Whenever there is a command in Scripture to follow we should obey it and in fact we do not have the choice in the matter. We as Christians have been commanded to….
a. Obedience to the Government
As I said before the government established laws and we have been commanded to be obedient to those laws in which they set. When we break the laws of the land that have been established by our governing authorities we are breaking a command of God and sinning against God as well. We are told not only to obey, but to submit to their authority. We do not like it when people have authority over us. We do not like it when people give us instructions or tell us we have to do something. We don’t like the idea of submitting to anyone. God though tells us to submit the authority of the government.
I Peter 2:13-17
There are three reasons why we should submit to the laws of the land…
1. For the Lord’s Sake
Peter said, “submit yourself for the Lord’s sake to every authority…” I guess one reason why we should submit is because it is what God wants us to do in relation to the government and the laws they establish. Many people have a rebellious attitude and feel that they do not have to obey the laws that have been established, but like it or not we must submit to the Laws of the land because God says so. Even Jesus emphasized this with the idea of paying taxes, which we are to pay what we owe. We may not like it, but we still have to obey because God said so.
2. For Our Sake
We should also submit for our sake because if we do not we will be punished anyways. This may be a super practical point, but one reason why we submit to the governing authorities is because the government has authority and power to punish us if we do not.
3. For Others Sake
Peter said, that through us doing good and obeying the laws we will silent the talk of foolish people, or non-Christian people. I believe a big reason we as Christians should obey the government is because it is not a good witness to unbelievers if we do not submit and obey.
Of course we are to obey the laws of the land, but there is a higher authority than the government. You may ask what happens when the laws the government establish conflict with God’s Laws and commands. The obvious answer is we obey God. Peter and John were arrested and they were commanded by those who had God-given authority to no longer speak in the name of Jesus. If they had obeyed that command they would have disobeyed a command of God to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. They said, “judge for yourselves whether it is right to obey God rather than man, but we cannot help, but to speak about what we have seen and heard.” They disobeyed the law. Remember a law went out during Daniel’s time that forbid anyone from praying, but that was one place Daniel could not compromise and one law he could not obey. We are to obey the government so as long as it does not violate God’s Word, which has higher authority than any government.
b. Prayer
I Timothy 2:1-3
We should make it a priority to pray for those who lead our nation. We have actually been commanded to do that. We need to pray for them to have wisdom in the decisions that they make because those decisions affect our lives. We need to be praying for morality and issues that are near our heart. Prayer changes things and whether we agree of disagree with someone’s political agenda we have a command to pray for them. I believe we need to have times when we pray for our nation and its leaders, we have no right to grumble and complain if we don’t pray for the people who lead. Christians do have responsibilities to the government
III. Interacting Together
Thirdly, the question arises of how do we interact together? And how involved should Christians be in the governmental process.
a. Separation of Church and State
There is a lot of talk in the world today about the idea of separation of Church and state. We see this issue is hotly debated. Courts are voting to remove the Ten Commandments from courthouses and public places, while people like Judge Roy Moore try to take a stand on principle. Courts have removed public prayer from schools, there had been talk about removing the word “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, and there has been talk about removing the phrase “In God We Trust” from all currency. This is all done under the idea of keeping church and state separate. Honestly, I am all for a separation of Church and State. The reason that idea came about was to protect the church though from the state imposing on it, not a fear of the church hurting the state. These moves though that we see are just evidence of a nation who is more and more moving away from God and Christian principles. The best thing that we can do in regard to this is affect the state, not by violent protests, or lobbying for our opinions, but by changing people hearts through the message of the gospel. If we can affect individuals one by one laws will change one by one. I believe one reasons why the Commandments are not tolerated and God is not a word we can promote, is because the church has not done it’s job as the Salt and the Light. The primary responsibility we have to our nation and our government is to show Christ and through that change laws may change.
b. Voting
I believe it is also very important for Christians to vote to have a say. We often sit around and complain about the issues, but if we don’t act we cannot complain. I even would go as far to say that I believe God would want us to be involved in the election process to choose men or women who support His values.
Leviticus 5:1
Voter apathy among Christians is alarmingly high. In the 2000 presidential election, more than 2 out of every 5 Christians failed to exercise their privilege to cast a ballot.
I don’t want to sit back while unborn children are murdered for convenience sake and not have a say. I don’t want to sit back while the sins of sodomy and homosexuality become the norm and not have a say. I don’t want to sit back while evolution is taught to children in schools and Christianity becomes oppressed and not have a say. I don’t want to sit back while God’s name is removed from every aspect of culture and have no say.
I believe that when we vote though we as Christians have the duty to not be ignorant. We have the obligation not to vote for someone just because they are affiliated with a party or because that is the way we have always voted. I would not have you be ignorant brethren. We need to take seriously who we vote for because our leaders have an impact on our society. James Dobson said, “The laws of a nation have a significant influence on the nation’s moral climate, for good or for ill. This is because laws can either restrain evil or encourage it, and because laws also have a teaching function as they inform people about what a government thinks to be right and wrong conduct.”
In 1883 in Allentown, New Jersey, a wooden Indian—the kind that was seen in front of cigar stores—was placed on the ballot for Justice of the Peace. The candidate was registered under the fictitious name of Abner Robbins. When the ballots were counted, Abner won over incumbent Sam Davis by 7 votes.
A similar thing happened in 1938. The name Boston Curtis appeared on the ballot for Republican Committeeman from Wilton, Washington. Actually, Boston Curtis was a mule. The town’s mayor sponsored the animal to demonstrate that people know very little about the candidates. He proved his point. The mule won!
Many issues that are presented I cannot present a Biblical basis for or against. We all have opinions about things like Foreign Policy, how Social Security will be handled, economics, immigrations, and gun control. Those issues come down to opinion, but there are some issues, which are very political which the Bible tells us our position.
1. Marriage/Homosexuality
I am sorry to say that we do not have the right to have a political opinion about marriage and it’s sanctity and homosexuality. These are hot topics I understand, but on this issue God has spoken. Perhaps some people have forgotten two little cities names Sodom and Gomorrah and the reasoning for God’s judgment on those cities. Homosexuality is a sin even if society and politicians say it is not. They were not born that way and they are not just acting out whom they are. Homosexuality is a sin. God made man and woman to live together. He made it so it was one man and one woman for life. Marriage is a gift of God, but people now are perverting that gift.
Romans 1:24-27
Homosexuality is sin just like any other, but we need to stand up and show that we value the sanctity of marriage. God has spoken on this issue.
In Canada, right now, it is conceivable for a preacher to go to prison for using the Bible to support a position against homosexuality, because portions of the Bible are viewed by the Canadian government as hate speech.
This is a political issue that the candidates have opinions on and their opinions may affect our life and our freedoms as Christians.
2. Abortion
There are some politicians who would have you believe that life is not valuable until it is born. They would tell you that as long as a baby is in its mother’s womb it is just a fetus or an embryo, but God’s word teaches us that life is precious and we do not have the right to give or take life.
Psalm 13913-14
Life is precious to God at creation. Abortion is an easy way out. I am pro-choice too, I believe a woman has the right to choose abstinence. I believe a woman has the right to choose birth control. I do not believe a woman has the right to choose execution of an innocent life. Abortion is the most crude and wicked practice taking place in this nation, and you do not have the freedom to have an opinion on an issue where God has spoken. God’s judgment will come on this nation unless she repents. We have the right and the privilege though to make an impact. When we vote many issues may be on your mind, but don’t forget there are some areas you cannot compromise.
We live in the best nation on this Earth, but the reason for that is because it was founded on the value of human life and on Christian principles. We are blessed to be a part of a much greater Kingdom, the Church, where Christ is the head. We have the promise of a home one-day if we are in Christ free from the cares of the world. Until then though we must live in the world, and hopefully make an impact for Christ in this world. We cannot remove ourselves from these issues, they are real and running from them won’t solve it.
We as Christians have a responsibility of obedience to the government, but more than that we have a responsibility of allegiance to Christ. Let God’s Word be your guide in the things that you do. Remember we are Christians first and Americans second.
