God and Government
This blog goes out around our Independence Day, the fourth of July every year. It is a very special holiday to me. I have a lot of good memories celebrating America. I was visiting a friend who was a cadet at the US Air Force Academy, watching cadets coming and going all over their huge commons area. It is so big that four fighter jets sit in each corner. All of a sudden, all of them, every which direction, faced to the northeast corner and snapped to attention. Then I noticed the flag was being taken down for the day. That really meant a lot, deep down within me. I am patriotic, the only thing that stirs my souls loyalty more than my country, is my faith in Jesus Christ. So, in my life view, there is a question that goes back to the founding of our nation, what about God and government?
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This is a big deal; no other nation has individual rights protected to this extent. Our free exercise of faith is the first thing mentioned. Congress cannot specify that we follow any one established national church, nor can our government prohibit our right to exercise our religion as we believe it should be practiced.
Few people we’d run into on the street could tell us what the First Amendment says, but there is a phrase they do know, and will declare to you is in the Constitution. Trouble is, it is not. That phrase is “separation of church and state.” Where that comes from is an interpretation of the First Amendment religion clause by Thomas Jefferson. It was written by him in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut and published in a Massachusetts newspaper. What it has come to mean in this culture to many people is that churches and religious people have no voice unless they leave any consideration of their faith out of it. I don’t think that is what the founding fathers had in mind.
A lot of the people who came to the new world from Europe in particular were fleeing the oppression of religion. Nations in Europe had state churches, England still does, King Charles III is the titular head of the Anglican church. England no longer makes membership mandatory, but the issues surrounding that state church in particular led to violence back in history. In the new world, they were free to believe and practice what each person believed. And with the rest of the freedoms of the First Amendment, everyone had a voice, the right to write and publish what they wanted and to meet and discuss things freely. How great is that? So, I would have a problem with those who would say, everyone except religious people.
Let’s consider God and government. Scripture does address it. “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore, it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:1-7).
So, we get several principles in what God had in mind for government. For one thing, the authorities of a government are established by God. You might say “you gotta be kidding”.
But one thing to remember, when Paul wrote this, Emperor Nero was ruling in Rome, and he was purely evil. We read in the Old Testament that sometimes rulers came to power to chasten Israel for their evil behavior, usually idolatry. We are supposed to obey the laws and keep a clear conscience. What does it say government is for, in God’s plan? If the powers that be are interested, basically to reward good and punish evil. I cannot but wonder what it would be if Washington DC would consider this?
Is there a time to say that we will not obey the law? Yes there is, if it means I will be violating something in God’s law, His is the higher law. I think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in the book of Daniel, who refused to bow down to the golden idol. The punishment was to be thrown into a furnace. For them it was not even a question. “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king” (Daniel 3:16,17). God did deliver them, but many over the centuries gave their lives choosing to obey God rather than men.
We live in an odd culture in the history of the world, we live under the Constitution which gives us the rights and the means to change things that are not right in our land, many things have been changed, like abolition of slavery and giving women the right to vote. People forget that with things like the Civil Rights Act, if Christian people had stayed silent, it would never have gotten passed.
I am pastor of a local church. I do not use my pulpit to campaign for anything, that is not why I am there, but rather to teach the Word of God, and to change lives for Christ. But I am also a citizen and a patriot, with a voice and a life, and I am not ashamed to say that my voice as a citizen is influenced by my faith in Jesus Christ. And that’s a good idea.
