October 29, 2006 Washington Assembly of God
God and Caesar - Two Loyalties
Next Tuesday, November 7, Americans will be presented with an awesome privilege- the right to choose their own leaders at the ballot box. Sadly, only about half of those who can vote, will actually do so. I’m not naive and I, like a good many of you here, will hold my nose next Tuesday while casting my vote. There is much in our present political environment to dislike.
Much of what passes for political debate is schoolyard stuff - name calling, exaggerated claims of wrong-doing, personal attacks about things that have little to do with the candidates fitness to hold office.
The division’s in government are so bitter, many of us wonder if there are any statesmen left to lead us.
Corruption is wide and deep! At every level of government, unbelievable amounts of money are wasted on pet projects, political rewards, and stupendously inefficient provision of public services.
Because of the low levels of debate, the bitter partisanship, and the corruption; I must confess that I was seriously considering sitting out an election for the first time in 25 years! The whole mess was so disgusting to me that I didn’t want to be a participant. From what I’m hearing I’m not the only one to feel that way.
HOWEVER - I’ve had to reconsider that for I believe the Lord dealt with me about it. And from that wrestling, I want to bring this message and challenge. My goal is not to speak to political issues or to advance either party, but rather to ask you to join me in thoughtful consideration of the place of the Christian in the American political process. This is important all of the time, but here in the election season, it is particularly appropriate to talk about citizenship.
PRAYER
Some religious leaders came to Jesus one day attempting to trick him into saying something that could be used against him. “Tell us, is it right for a good Jew to pay taxes to the Romans, or not?” If he said they should pay taxes, some would accuse him of being too friendly to the oppressing occupation force. If he said they should not pay their taxes, he would be subject to arrest.
The question still comes up - sometimes sincerely, sometimes not - but ever a source of concern. What is the proper relationship of a Christian to his government?
With the rise of democracy, the question becomes even more important, for we have far more opportunity to participate in government.
∙ Should a Christian be politically active? Should we vote?
∙ Or is the arena of politics too dirty, too corrupt for Christians to take part?
∙ Or, since we are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of God, are the political entities of this world simply beneath us?
∙ Or, again, are we obligated to influence the world in which we live by being involved citizens?
Jesus’ answer to those who came to question him, albeit without sincerity, is a starting place for us in forming an answer. What did He say?
Mark 12 tells us that He told them: “Give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God.” (Mark 12:17, NLT) What they saw as an either/or issue, Jesus said is a both/and issue.
Most basically, he affirms that godly people are citizens of two realms with obligations to both!
In another conversation, Jesus showed us the function of the Christian who is also a citizen in this world saying that we should be the “salt of the earth and the light of the world!” - Matthew 5 That famous passage reads like this in The Message -
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.”
We cannot separate ourselves entirely from being involved with the world and her systems. Applying the principle to the topic of our citizenship, Jesus is telling us that if we abandon the political process, no matter how distasteful, we fail in our God-given mission to exert influence upon the world.
Here’s a word of CAUTION -
we cannot aspire to control it all either. We are to influence, not control!
Chuck Colson, a man who has a unique perspective because of once being a White House insider as a special counselor to President Richard Nixon, and now a committed Christian leader, writes this:
“If Christians have learned anything in recent decades, it is that we should not roll out heavy-handed political movements that recklessly toss around ‘God and country’ cliches.... our goal is not to grab power and impose our views. Instead, we should act through principled persuasion and responsible participation.” - How Now Shall We Live? Tyndale, 1999
It tragic if Christians allow themselves to become just another special interest group in the political process using every power lever possible to protect their perceived rights and to advance a couple of public policy issues.
But that is exactly what is happening all over America to Christians. Voting as a Christian, to many people, means finding the candidate with the right stand on abortion and gay marriage and giving him our support!
I don’t mean to imply that either abortion on demand or redefining the covenant of marriage are issues of no concern to Christians. They are! But so are issues about economic opportunity and poverty, availability of health care, justice for all, and foreign policy that is shaped primarily around concerns of keeping America First - in her privileged economic position in the world!
Jim Wallis, who wrote a fascinating book that presented a new view of Christian citizenship called, God’s Politics, spoke in Minneapolis at Bethel University this past Tuesday, (10/24.2006) and said,
“This generation (of Christians) won't accept the narrowing of Scripture to only two hot-button social issues. They have found those 2,000 verses in the Bible that speak of God's concern for the poor and vulnerable. For them, environmental concern is "creation care." And they want a "consistent ethic of life" that addresses all the places where human life and dignity is threatened - not just one.
That doesn't mean that their votes, which conservative Republicans have taken for granted, will now automatically go to liberal Democrats. Instead, they are eager to challenge the selective moralities of both left and right, and respond to a moral agenda for politics that will hold both sides accountable.” - Sojourners Email Report, 10/25/2006
Yes, Believer, God wants you and me to be good citizens! Under the system which we live, that includes using the power of the ballot to influence government policies.
We can also influence the politics of America by entering into a dialogue with others about the values that shape our government’s policies. That’s tough at this present time since what passes for dialogue about values is too often two talking heads talking loudly at the same time on some cable news station!
What I’d love to see is the kind of dialogue that Americans got when Lincoln debated Douglas about the issue of slavery! Sure, they used rhetoric and dirty political tricks, but they also made detailed reasoned statements. Their debates draw huge crowds who listened to these two men speak for hours, weaving history, economics, world view, and even Scripture into their debate!
Never-the-less, you and I have the opportunity to have conversations with our friends and our family. And we need to be informed, to be capable of speaking in more than sound bites to the complex issues of our time!
Our reasons for support of certain policy decisions and candidates must be rooted in a thoroughly Christian
world view! Many of us need to learn to think again as Christians! The simplistic “I believe the Bible” line carries little weight. What we need is to learn the Scripture and how the Bible’s truth is applied to life in a consistent and truthful way. Then we can begin to be the kind of influence that is really needed.
Let me illustrate by talking about two ideas that effective our public policy and our government, ideas that are not Christian, yet which are espoused, often in ignorance, by those who are Believers.
First is utilitarianism.
Too many of us are just as secular, just as utilitarian, in our minds as our neighbors.
A utilitarian makes decisions based on what he thinks will produce the kind of life he wants to live. He does not ask what is ‘true,’ but rather ‘what works.’
Let me illustrate this with a current issue that has been much in the news this week.
Actor Michael J. Fox has a terrible disease called Parkinson’s. It is a neurological disease that gradually takes away a person’s mobility, speech, and ability to be active in the world. It is hard to watch a person with the characteristic twitches and spasms of Parkinsons. Some believe that there is a cure for Parkinsons Disease to be found in research done with stem cells taken from embryos that are created in the process of in vitro fertilization which is widely used by couples that are having difficulty with conception. Two world views are in direct collision over this issue.
Most Christians agree that the Bible leads us to the conclusion that life belongs to God, that it begins at the moment of conception. For that reason, they are opposed to using embryos for research which will destroy them.
On the other hand, there are people like Michael J. Fox, who appeared in campaign ads this week that showed him suffering the terrible ravages of Parkinsons, who argue that their needs are pressing and that the possibility of making sick people well outweighs any concerns about the sacredness of life in embryonic stages. Because they do not accept that there is a God-given truth principle about life, they advocate a policy and/or procedure which they believe will produce a good outcome for a majority of people.
Biblical Christians accept that laws and morality are rooted in God’s revelation of Truth. To avoid hypocrisy we must be prepared to examine our own lives and conform even to those principles that we find inconvenient or difficult.
Another modern idea is radical individualism.
“I have a right to do what pleases me!” is the way it is shaped. The fruit of that kind of thinking is everywhere, even in the Church! But it is not a Biblical view. The Bible teaches us that we are our brother’s keeper! We are taught that we live in community, that we give up our rights, and we seek the good of others.
But the appeal of individualism is so strong that most Believers insist that they have almost unlimited personal rights.
Our politicians respond to our radical love of self by giving us what we want instead of what is best or even right. Many members of Congress know that bringing $millions back to their Districts for projects of questionable merit is not in the national interest, but they run headlong into the selfishness of the people who will vote, who say, “Give us jobs, money, projects - or we will send someone to Washington who will.”
As Christians we need to live selflessly first, and then argue that individuals must restrain their own behaviors and appetites for the common good, submitting their own interests to that which profits all people. The paradox of a society that practices radical individualism is the growth of the police and laws. As people set aside self restraint, the need for policing their behavior increases!
Ultimately, the truth of God, as revealed in the Bible, will produce the best life possible. But, it’s hard for Christians to make that argument if live a radically individualistic lifestyle that is selective about which parts of the Bible are allowed to direct their own choices.
As a Christian, do you think carefully and Biblically so that you are able to contribute to the dialogue over public policy in a way that produces an influence for good - like salt and light?
As my final point today, I want to underscore that in addition to being a ‘salt and light’ influence on our government, we have an obligation as Christians to respect the institutions of government.
In 1 Peter 2:12-17 - we find this directive:
"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those ho do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." (NIV)
Before you start to object on the basis of what is good government, and about the limits of a Believer’s obligation to show respect, let me remind you that Peter wrote that passage to Christians who were living under authorities that we often openly hostile to them. The Roman emperor demanded to be honored as a god. Local magistrates often persecuted Christians for no lawful reason.
What does Peter tell us to do?
1. “Submit yourselves to every authority.”
We are called to civil obedience. We need not worship government, and under our system, we may even work to change the law and those who enforce it. But we are not to scoff at the law nor should we attempt to live outside of it. There are exceptional times when the law of God overrides the law of human authority and in those rare occasions a Christian may resist. But if he does, he should be prepared to bear the consequences without complaint for the glory of God!
For the sake of bringing honor to the Lord, the Bible says that Christians should obey the government, paying taxes, observing laws, and generally being supportive of authority. It is inappropriate for those of us who love God, to express contempt for those who govern. We may disagree with their policies, but the Bible requires us to show proper honor to those who hold office. That can be very difficult! I speak as one who has not always followed this principle well with regard to authority!
2. Understand that authority is instituted- which means established - by God Himself.
Scripture does not teach us that each and every person in authority is good or that he or she is in her place of authority by His decree. But we are clearly told that authority derives authority from God Himself, as the One who created authority for the good of humanity.
God a problem with those who rule? Are evil people in power?
Then, pray mightily for God to move - either to change their minds, as we see Him doing again and again in the Bible, OR to remove them from power so that good and godly people can rise to positions of power and authority.
3. Live as free men, submitted first to Christ, then to human authorities.
What Peter is telling us is that we should be good citizens, not because we are coerced by power, but because we choose, for God’s sake, to live in that manner! Jesus urged the same. He told people who heard Him teach, “if you’re compelled to go one mile, then go with them two miles.” He was speaking to a hated practice of the Romans. They could select an able bodied man on the street to carry their packs for a single mile under Roman law. Knowing the limits of the law, many Jews did the absolute minimum. Jesus said that a person shows a greater freedom by choosing to go beyond what the law requires!
When Paul was thrown into prison many times for preaching the Gospel, he gave thanks for the opportunity to suffer with Christ! On one occasion, after being unjustly beaten, then jailed, Silas and Paul sang well into the night. Their willing submission to injustice, allowed God to take up their cause and they were freed by a miraculous earthquake. Their Christ-honoring actions led to the conversion of the jailer there in the city of Philippi as we learn in the 16th chapter of Acts.
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Believer, we are citizens of two realms - subjects first of Christ, the King; and then citizens of the nations of this world. We are called to walk worthy as ambassadors of our Heavenly King, embracing the responsibilities of our national citizenship with a willing heart and respectful attitude.
When those in power disappoint us, fail us, or become corrupt, we must not become angrily militant, for, as James wisely says, “the anger of man does not bring about the righteous that God desires!”
Instead, let’s ask the Spirit of God to give us the wisdom and endurance to be people who infuse our nation with godly behavior, like preservative salt, and quiet righteousness, shining as lights.
In this, we will turn the nation to the Lord, and cause them to consider the Truth and Beauty of our King.
Amen.
Jerry D. Scott, copyright 2006
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