Complaining About Government

It is a good old-fashioned American tradition to complain about the government. If you can not complain about the government, who can you complain about? Also, Christians have generally not been pleased with certain things our government has been doing in the United States. But Scripture says we are to submit to and pray for those in government (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 13-17; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). Now it does not help here to talk about how bad our government is. The man in charge when these passages were written was a man by the name of Nero. No one in our government is even close to him. Now there is a point where we must serve God rather than man (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29; Daniel 3:16-18). But it is not a conclusion to be reached early or lightly. How should we approach this issue?

The only perfect government will be when Jesus Christ comes to rule and reign on earth (Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:1-10; Revelation 21:1-7). But the problem with our being part of a perfect kingdom is that we are sinners (Romans 3:23; Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 64:6). Jesus Christ is God, who became man (John 1:1-18; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 2:9-18) to pay the price for our sins (1 Peter 2:24,25; Colossians 2:13,14; 2 Corinthians 5:21). He then validated this by rising from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Romans 1:4; 4:25) and will come again to reign as King (John 14:1-3; Titus 2:13; Revelation 19:11-16).  Now we can become part of that future kingdom by putting our faith in Christ and Him alone for salvation (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 4:4,5; Philippians 3:9). 

This results in Christians being citizens of a higher kingdom and being pilgrims and foreigners in this world (Colossians 1:13; Philippians 3:20,21; 1 Peter 2:11,12). Further, God is at work in our lives to transform us (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:29) and will ultimately make us people who belong in that perfect kingdom (1 John 3:2; Romans 8:29,30; Colossians 3:10). Therefore, we cannot allow ourselves to be conformed to this current world system (1 John 2:15-17; Romans 12:1,2; James 4:4). 

This puts the believer in a complicated and delicate situation in relation to the current civil government. We are required to be subject to these authorities. But we cannot give them our absolute and unquestioning allegiance. There is a place to rebuke the behavior of rulers (2 Samuel  12:1-15; 1 Kings 21:17-29; Matthew 14:3,4). Christians need to carefully decide what response to make in various situations. We cannot simply go along with everything the government does. But neither can we rebel over anything we may not happen to like. But most of all, we need to put things in perspective. There  will be no perfect government until Christ Himself comes to reign. This does not mean we should not try to do something against clear injustice in the world. But we need to pick our fights.

The Religious Businessman

Sometimes we can be too “spiritual” for our own good. We can feel that as long as we perform certain religious duties, we can do what we want with the rest of our lives. The Pharisees were prime examples of this. They were very punctilious about their religious duties and tithed even the herbs that grew in their gardens (Matthew 23:23). But they were willing to foreclose on the houses of widows (Mark 12:40) and made hairsplitting distinctions about what oaths were valid (Matthew 23:16-22). They also were portrayed in general as lovers of money (Luke 16:14). The people described in the epistle of James seem have carried on the same types of practices. They showed partiality toward the rich (James 2:1-7) and refused to help those in need (James 2:15,16). Also, they were refusing to pay their laborers and condemning to death those who opposed them, so they could live in luxury (James 5:1-6). Not a pretty picture.   

God, you see, is very practical. He is not so much concerned with our religious respectability and outward reputation as with who we really are. He is looking for our inner character (Galatians 5:22,23; 1 Corinthians 13:1-7; Romans 12:9-21), but He wants to see that displayed practically in how we act toward other people (James 1:27; Matthew 25:31-46; Isaiah 58:2-10). This gets down into the nitty-gritty of how we conduct our business dealings and other practical, day-by-day issues. In these issues we are called to be honest in our dealings and not attempt to cheat people (Proverbs 11:1; Amos 8:4,5; Micah 6:11). We should do a decent day’s work for a decent day’s pay (Ephesians 4:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:10; Proverbs 6:6-11). We should be willing to give to help those in need (1 John 3:17; Galatians 2:10; Proverbs 14:31). But ultimately, we must avoid making money the central focus of our lives (Matthew 6:19-24; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Colossians 3:5).

Now this is not always easy to do. We live in a world where we do need money to live, and it is always easy to get it out of proportion. And it is often difficult in the business world to know what is and what is not just dealing. But if we do not consider where the boundaries are and make a deliberate attempt to avoid passing over them, there is a good chance we will drift over them without noticing. And if we go too far down that road, God will not be impressed by our external religious observances.

Now salvation is by grace and is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 4:4.5; Philippians 3:9). But this great love of God for us should result in a response of love for Him (1 John 4:19; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 12:1,2). And this should result in a transformation of our lives (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Corinthians 3:18). A transformation that reaches into all aspects of our lives, not just the religious ones.

Dogmatism vs Pragmatism

C. S. Lewis said that there are two things that go into deciding political issues. The first is the question of what goals are right and what means to achieve those goals are lawful. The second is which of those lawful means are practical. He also contends that it is on the first matter that Christianity clearly speaks, but not the second. I would agree with him. But having stated that, we are faced with two dangers. We can take what seems to us to be the best way to a good goal and equate it with that goal and make that way itself into a Christian obligation. Or we can look at things so much in terms of what is practical that we become so pragmatic we never get around to actively advocating what we think is right. How do we avoid these extremes?     

We need to be clear on what Scripture requires and the conclusions we draw from it. I am convinced that Scripture teaches all human life is valuable, including life in the womb, and it is wrong to take innocent human life (Psalms 139:13-16; 51:5; Exodus 20:13). But there can be differences about what methods to use and what steps to take to change our society’s current disregard of this. Now this one is fairly straightforward, but it can get more complicated. Scripture also teaches it is our duty to help those in need (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Proverbs 14:21). But there are all sorts of questions on what is the best way to carry this out. And we have to ask, is the government the best agent to do this? Therefore, we need to be careful to think through what things are clearly required of us and not confuse our opinions with the commands of God.

However, we must be careful not to lapse into pragmatism on the other extreme, advocating only what is popular or what would appear to work. God does call for government to reflect genuine justice (Romans 13:1-4; Proverbs 14:34; 1 Peter 2:13,14). But it is easy to fall into this mode, particularly in our current society. The emphasis is frequently on what is in it for me, what will meet my selfish needs. Even if we hold to ideals, it is easy to put to them on the sidelines and look only at what seems to work. But there is a place where we must stand up for what we believe is right, even if it means offending people. And for that, we need a clear idea of what is right and wrong, not a fuzzy one that encourages us to look simply to our own interests rather than what is right. We need to make our way between political dogmatism and political pragmatism to find what God commands.