Government: what are we to do with it?
January
2002
Given to us by God - but fallen - a ccfwebsite.com briefing on
the state
Briefing largely based on an earlier article by
Revd Antony Rees, then Vicar of Christ Church, Cockfosters
· Government
is a God-created institution.
· Accordingly, Christians should not ignore
politics, or consider themselves above the political process.
· If
Christians want just laws, pleasing to God, we must become involved.
·
Regardless of our political beliefs or activity, we should pray for and support
politicians, and in particular Christian
politicians.
*****
'They are all as bad as each
other!'
As I write at the end of December 1998 - following the
Mandelson and Robinson resignations and the incessant - the stock of politicians
generally is at an all time low. After the "sleaze" of the last years of the
Conservatives, it seems to many that politicians are "all the same"; all
corrupted by the temptations of office. Christians up and down the country will
no doubt be among the most disillusioned. Many will determine to have nothing to
do with the "dirty" world of politics and be highly sceptical of the motives and
ambitions of any Christians involved in, or contemplating, active political
involvement. Are they right to feel this way? What does the Bible have to say
about the position and role of government in God's scheme of
things?
Government is God-created
The fact that some
politicians fall short of Godly standards of behaviour should not divert us from
the Bible's teachings about political authority. The Bible tells us that God
created three institutions:
First, He created the church, as the
means by which mankind should know about Him and Jesus Christ.
Second,
He created marriage and the family as the way in which a man and a woman should
live together and bring up children.
Third, He created government as the
fallen means for bringing order, to encourage good and punish evil, in a world
that tends naturally to sin and disorder.
The Bible talks about the
role of government in several places in both Old and New Testament. One of the
clearest of these of these is Romans 13:1-7. Paul makes clear in this passage
that civil government is an institution ordained by God. This is a divine
revelation for Christians in all ages. God is the sovereign ruler of all the
nations. He establishes all rulers and His authority lies behind all earthly
power. Every Christian has a duty to recognise the state and to obey lawful
authority so far as such obedience does not conflict with God's laws or Jesus'
authority.
Obedience to government
Paul describes those in
authority as "God's servants". Christians should be obedient to the judicial
system of the state, because in God's hand, its business is to conserve good
order and to punish evil. Only evildoers need tremble before the judges of the
earth who are God's servants.
The origins of our legal system reflect
these verses from Romans. In the great hall of the Central Criminal Court, in
London's Old Bailey are inscribed the words: "Moses gave unto the people the
laws of God". On top of the famous dome the figure of justice bears her sword as
"the one in authority" does in Romans.
Finally there is an injunction to
pay taxes to the state as the authorities are yet again referred to as "God's
servants" who are to give their full time to governing, under the authority of
God himself.
Obedience to God in an ungodly state
These
injunctions to obey the state are all very well in a liberal democracy with an
independent judiciary, but what of Christians in Nazi Germany or Saddam's Iraq?
Are they too urged to obey these odious regimes? Other passages need to be
studied. It is clear from other passages in the Bible that Romans 13:1-7 is
describing the proper and ideal functioning of government as a steward of God's
righteous authority. In Acts 4:19, when the rulers, elders and teachers of the
law commanded Peter and John not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, they
replied that in this case it was right to obey God rather than the
authorities.
Martin Luther King Jnr is perhaps the most celebrated
example of a Christian conscientiously resisting the racism of illegitimate
government policy.
Prayerful support of Government
In 1
Timothy 2:1-2, Paul begins his instructions on worship by urging Christians to
pray for kings and all in authority so that believers may live peaceful and
quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Most church services in Britain today
begin their corporate prayers by praying for the Queen and the government as
these verses urge. Given that the message of Romans and 1 Timothy is that
government is a high and holy calling, it would make sense for churches to be
supportive of those of their members seeking to become involved in politics.
The reason that so many believers are disillusioned with politics and
have lost faith with politicians, is that, with some notable exceptions, the
Christians have pulled out. Being a Christian involved in politics does not
undermine the integrity of God. Whilst individuals may feel called to a
particular political party, God should not be identified with any one party
political persuasion.
The Importance of the State
We
cannot take the Bible seriously without taking the State seriously. Examine
Romans 13.1-7.
Granted that the Christian is a citizen of heaven
(Philippians 3.20) yet he is also a citizen of an earthly kingdom and we cannot
contract out of this latter responsibility in the name of a false piety. So far,
so good, now let's turn to a needful corollary to this truth....
The
limited Role of the State
A high doctrine must be balanced by a
limited doctrine. We must carefully distinguish between what the State can and
cannot do. Politicians can, by the promulgation of just laws, make good
attractive and evil unattractive. They can legislate in such a way as to go
along with the grain of good. Legislation can and should resist evil and further
good. There is much within Scripture about rulers' responsibility to the poor
and powerless (eg Isaiah 10:1-3). This is well within the brief of Parliament.
But what politicians cannot do is to abolish evil, change man himself
inwardly and alter the whole drift of human nature. They cannot reverse our
sinful tendency so as to bring in nothing less than the kingdom of God.
Unfortunately we cannot have the kingdom without the King - King Jesus.
In the light of this there are two opposite dangers. The first is the
danger of politicising the Gospel, identifying the Gospel of the Bible with a
political manifesto. This would be blasphemous were it not ridiculous! The
second peril is the opposite - the danger of spiritualising the Gospel as though
it had nothing to say to the State, as though it had no political, economic or
social implications.
So then the prime duty of the Christian Church is
to proclaim this Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, not to be the Tory party
at prayer nor the Labour Party at protest either for that matter!
Much
confusion still remains but I present this briefing not as a brilliant flash of
lightning illuminating the whole horizon but as the ray of a mellow torch
shining some light in a dark alley.
Postscript
Do click on
the link below about political involvement with Government - this is a vital
component of the Christian calling to 'love our neighbour'.
QUOTES AND
SCRIPTURES
Romans 13: 1-7
1 Timothy 2: 1-2
"Christians
have been blaming the meat of society for going rotten when the preserving salt
has been taken out of it, and the house for getting darker when the light has
been removed. It is time for Christians to recognise their responsibility to be
salt and light in society." Revd John R W Stott
"It is in the arena of
public opinion that this battle has to be fought. Nothing can achieve the change
of policies which our very salvation demands but a profound reorientation of
public opinion." John Taylor, former Bishop of Winchester.
"It is not
only that the churches in Britain are not yet part of the solution; they are
very much part of the problem, having absorbed the statist mindset so thoroughly
that they often merely replicate the moral equivocations of secular society. The
Church of England in particular has succumbed to much of the relativist agenda
and the culture of excuses that lie behind the erosion of moral norms and the
collapse of education standards." Melanie Phillips' 'Americas Social
Revolution' (CIVITAS, 2001)
"If, as the gospel song reminds us, this is
our Father's world, then we cannot afford the luxury of thinking that its
running can safely be left exclusively to those who do not recognise this
Fatherhood." Sir Brian Mawhinney MP (Conservatism, Autumn
2001)
"Political life neither provides our final end nor contains the
happiness that we seek for ourselves. The purpose of temporal tranquility, which
well ordered politics establish and maintain is to give opportunities for
contemplating truth." St. Thomas Aquinas.
FURTHER
READING
In the Firing Line, by Sir Brian Mawhinney (Harper
Collins)
How Now Shall We Live?, Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey
(Marshall Pickering)
The Naked Public Square, Richard John Neuhaus
(Eerdmans)