Christians often justify their political passivity by claiming
that Jesus did not criticize his government nor otherwise involve
himself in politics. It is true that He did not seek empire or any
worldly power, nor did He farm or herd sheep or fix computers. That was
not His purpose. But He frequently and vocally rebuked civil leaders of
his time, some of whom were likely members of the Sanhedrin1.
If Rome had been a representative democracy the Sanhedrin would have
been similar to a provincial judiciary or advisory body. It was “…the
city council…employing a staff of clerks and scribes…The Jerusalem
Sanhedrin was responsible for the returns of the Roman taxes…an
organized body which appears to have combined the functions of High
Court of Justice and administrative council.”2
And Jesus was certainly not the only man of God to criticize his government. Nathan accused King David of despising the word of God (2 Samuel 12). Stephen’s strong words against the Sanhedrin are familiar to most Christians: “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him–you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it” (Acts 6). John, Peter, and Paul, among others, also pointed out their errors.
Paul pointed out that government can be a great tool for good, but it can also be a great tool for evil. When the Israelites wanted a king “such as all the other nations have” Samuel told them what a king would be like. The Bible says these were not Samuel’s thoughts, but the words of God. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.” (1 Samuel 8)And the kings to which America has subjected herself are a hundred times worse than the king Samuel described.
Not only have our kings taken our sons and daughters and made them to fight their wars, they have poisoned them, abandoned them on the battlefield, murdered them to cover over their own filth, and even sold them into slavery to foreign kings. They have not taken our daughters to be perfumers, but have raped them instead. They don’t just take a tenth of our grain, they take more than half of it. In the name of the poor our leaders enact minimum wages and price controls that drive the poorest out of work and the price of shelter out of reach.
Should Christians criticize their government? Should Christians involve themselves in government at all? Absolutely! In America, abstention is involvement. It is impossible for an American citizen to not be involved in the government. If you don’t go to the ballot box, you are still voting. And voting is not the only way a Christian could be legitimately involved. God has, does, and will call men to serve Him through government. By discouraging people from voting or activism or seeking office, you may cause someone to spurn a direct command from God.
Do you think that God would never tell one of His children to associate with unbelievers? You may not think that God would ever tell a man to send a woman and her child, alone and on foot, into the dessert where they would almost certainly die, but that is what He did! But He provided for Hagar and made Ishmael into a great nation. Do what is right and God will provide for your needs.
Do you think that God would never tell one of His children to rule a nation? Didn’t God say to King David, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.”
If you are a Christian it is time for you to take a stand. We in America have prostituted ourselves on the altar of government, trusting in the power of guns to enforce righteousness instead of trusting in God. I am not telling you to defy your government. I do not advocate anarchy. I am telling you to defy evil.
America is not meant to be a nation ruled by kings and an aristocracy, but that is what we have made it into. America is meant to be a nation ruled by law. The men and women who occupy the offices created by the law are just cogs in the machine. If they begin to operate outside the law, they cause the machine to cease functioning, and they are the ones in rebellion against their government. Not libertarian Christians who refuse to use violence to force their political or religious ideals onto others.
Don’t make the mistake that so many others have and hide the spiritual incompetence of 99% of Christians behind the government. Laws will not save this country. Only Jesus can. And He will work through you and me, not the DEA, for even if we were to succeed in banishing drugs from America, the only thing we would have really done would be to have create an illusion based on sinful violence and greed. We will have exchanged one form of sin for another. The war on drugs is a distraction from our true mission. It is a destructive tangent invented by nominal Christians who are too cowardly to make a true stand for Jesus. They think that if they force the world to act righteously then they will really be righteous. Nothing could be further from the truth. They bury the true message of Jesus under rules and regulations that God never intended and then pretend that they are doing His will.
Criticize the government? Certainly! Shine a light on evil wherever it hides. But we must also be careful to keep the role of government in perspective. The best that government can ever do is to provide an environment in which the Gospel can be preached freely–without interference. The majority of our civil leaders are corrupt and immoral, but ultimately our problems are of our own making. The drug war is a tool for corrupt politicians to consolidate power in their own hands, but the drug problem in America is not just the fault of sinful law enforcement, but of a sinful Church. The Church has so far failed in its calling and so seeks to put the blame on someone else. Is it the sinner’s fault that he remains in sin? Yes, but it is also your and my fault for not being an effective witness. Use government to strike fear into the hearts of those who would hurt others. But do not use it to force others to conform to your own ideals. You might turn a sinner into a saint, but you will certainly turn yourself, if saint you ever were, into a sinner.
1 Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary, http://700club.org/bibleresources/theology/easton/bibledictionary/easton-b1-3180.asp
2 The Jewish World in the Time of Jesus, by Charles Guignebert, University Books, New York, 1959
And Jesus was certainly not the only man of God to criticize his government. Nathan accused King David of despising the word of God (2 Samuel 12). Stephen’s strong words against the Sanhedrin are familiar to most Christians: “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him–you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it” (Acts 6). John, Peter, and Paul, among others, also pointed out their errors.
Paul pointed out that government can be a great tool for good, but it can also be a great tool for evil. When the Israelites wanted a king “such as all the other nations have” Samuel told them what a king would be like. The Bible says these were not Samuel’s thoughts, but the words of God. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.” (1 Samuel 8)And the kings to which America has subjected herself are a hundred times worse than the king Samuel described.
Not only have our kings taken our sons and daughters and made them to fight their wars, they have poisoned them, abandoned them on the battlefield, murdered them to cover over their own filth, and even sold them into slavery to foreign kings. They have not taken our daughters to be perfumers, but have raped them instead. They don’t just take a tenth of our grain, they take more than half of it. In the name of the poor our leaders enact minimum wages and price controls that drive the poorest out of work and the price of shelter out of reach.
Should Christians criticize their government? Should Christians involve themselves in government at all? Absolutely! In America, abstention is involvement. It is impossible for an American citizen to not be involved in the government. If you don’t go to the ballot box, you are still voting. And voting is not the only way a Christian could be legitimately involved. God has, does, and will call men to serve Him through government. By discouraging people from voting or activism or seeking office, you may cause someone to spurn a direct command from God.
Do you think that God would never tell one of His children to associate with unbelievers? You may not think that God would ever tell a man to send a woman and her child, alone and on foot, into the dessert where they would almost certainly die, but that is what He did! But He provided for Hagar and made Ishmael into a great nation. Do what is right and God will provide for your needs.
Do you think that God would never tell one of His children to rule a nation? Didn’t God say to King David, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.”
If you are a Christian it is time for you to take a stand. We in America have prostituted ourselves on the altar of government, trusting in the power of guns to enforce righteousness instead of trusting in God. I am not telling you to defy your government. I do not advocate anarchy. I am telling you to defy evil.
America is not meant to be a nation ruled by kings and an aristocracy, but that is what we have made it into. America is meant to be a nation ruled by law. The men and women who occupy the offices created by the law are just cogs in the machine. If they begin to operate outside the law, they cause the machine to cease functioning, and they are the ones in rebellion against their government. Not libertarian Christians who refuse to use violence to force their political or religious ideals onto others.
Don’t make the mistake that so many others have and hide the spiritual incompetence of 99% of Christians behind the government. Laws will not save this country. Only Jesus can. And He will work through you and me, not the DEA, for even if we were to succeed in banishing drugs from America, the only thing we would have really done would be to have create an illusion based on sinful violence and greed. We will have exchanged one form of sin for another. The war on drugs is a distraction from our true mission. It is a destructive tangent invented by nominal Christians who are too cowardly to make a true stand for Jesus. They think that if they force the world to act righteously then they will really be righteous. Nothing could be further from the truth. They bury the true message of Jesus under rules and regulations that God never intended and then pretend that they are doing His will.
Criticize the government? Certainly! Shine a light on evil wherever it hides. But we must also be careful to keep the role of government in perspective. The best that government can ever do is to provide an environment in which the Gospel can be preached freely–without interference. The majority of our civil leaders are corrupt and immoral, but ultimately our problems are of our own making. The drug war is a tool for corrupt politicians to consolidate power in their own hands, but the drug problem in America is not just the fault of sinful law enforcement, but of a sinful Church. The Church has so far failed in its calling and so seeks to put the blame on someone else. Is it the sinner’s fault that he remains in sin? Yes, but it is also your and my fault for not being an effective witness. Use government to strike fear into the hearts of those who would hurt others. But do not use it to force others to conform to your own ideals. You might turn a sinner into a saint, but you will certainly turn yourself, if saint you ever were, into a sinner.
1 Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary, http://700club.org/bibleresources/theology/easton/bibledictionary/easton-b1-3180.asp
2 The Jewish World in the Time of Jesus, by Charles Guignebert, University Books, New York, 1959
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