Astronomy and Politics Through the Lens of Epistemology
How do We Know What We Know?
What is Our Method of Evaluating Truth?
Christian Epistemology
(Continued) Christian Involvement in Government or Politics
A History and Bible Study
by Bill Anderson
Why Christians should participate in government or the emotionally dreaded word politics!
Now, the first hit of a command to this effect is in Mathew 5:13 which we will cover in more detail later. "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Being salt means impacting the world around us, but the context of Christ’s words in his culture meant that salt was a preservative. Therefore, preserving society as it is, cannot possibly be interpreted as bringing about God’s kingdom on earth. Interestingly enough, the social gospelers also cite that verse for inspiration, yet salt can only preserve and can never build anew. This is yet another reason why being salt can never be properly used to take our priority off the Great Commission of converting souls to Christ because that conversion does build both a new creation and a new nature. Therefore, being salt by definition, must be overwhelmingly subordinate in priority to the great commission (Mathew 28:16-20).
Now, it may seem obvious to many, like myself, that being salt through our government is the best way to be salt versus just being a witness in our personal sphere of influence. But just because something may seem obvious to an individual like myself, does not make it a Biblical proof. So how can I assert that being salt in our individual governments is a Biblical interpretation of this verse on salt? I can say this because of the study of hermeneutics, which I mentioned before. That study is the concept that one never interprets the Bible from a single passage, but looks to the “whole of the Word of God” for answers to any Biblical subject. Therefore we are going to look to the rest of the Bible for whether this interpretation of mine on being salt in the world around us is correct.
Of course, scripture never says to vote or try to impact the Legislative or Executive branches of the Roman government in Paul’s day because those rights, responsibilities and governmental divisions did not exist at that time! However, the judicial branch of the Roman government did exist, albeit in a crude form, but it was there. So, note in that regard, when the Apostle Paul was falsely accused of a crime in Acts 22, he appealed to the earthly government of which he was a citizen when he responded to the Roman centurion “And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, ‘Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?’ ” (Ac 22:25 nKJV). From then on to the end of the book of Acts is a story of the events of Paul defending his rights and faith as a Roman citizen, up through every layer of Roman government. He begins with this centurion, up to his commander, higher officials in the Roman government, eventually including kings subordinate to the Roman emperor and finally to Caesar himself. In addition to preaching the Gospel, Paul did set out to impact his government to the point of death!
WHY SHOULD WE NOT BE DOING THAT TODAY?
What is all this I hear from evangelicals teachers and preachers that government or politics are not our primary calling. Of course, the Great Commission is our undisputed TOP priority. But does Christian political involvement mean that they are compromising or diluting the Gospel? Paul certainly did not see it that way! Do Christians who INSIST on abstaining from government involvement think Paul sinned in this regard, OR that we should only influence our government through the courts only? Think about it! Our government gives us the task TODAY of choosing our representatives in the Legislative and Executive branches of our government, who then in turn choose our judges in the courts. Will these advocates of political abstinence openly rebel against Paul’s example above and his admonition to, “Imitate me, just as I also [imitate] Christ“ 1Cor 11:1, (see also 2 Thes. 3:7-9, 1 Cor 4:16 nKJV).
For this reason among others, Christian involvement in government is totally consistent with the governmental subjection Paul cited in Romans. Paul said, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves”. (Rom 13:1, 2 nKJV). In this country, we are given the authority to choose our leaders, that is - if we are subject to our laws and constitution.
The most common theological objection to this biblical reasoning is the fear that some might falsely conclude that government involvement is just as important or even more important than the Great Commission. Is it possible for some to confuse their calling to the Great Commission with their responsibility to impact their government? Absolutely, and some will make such a mistake. Of course, if we fail to teach scripture because someone might misunderstand, we should not preach ANYTHING because of the same reason.
The Failure to Recognize Our Calling To Be Salt
The failure by most preachers of “political abstinence” is the failure to consider “the whole of the Word of God” on this subject.” One cannot place the Great Commission in a vacuum absent of other related and critical admonitions of the Messiah. "Do you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? (2 Ch 13:5 nKJV). In this example, salt is used to symbolize a “preservative” for the everlasting covenant with David. Whereas, purification by salt is the purpose in this passage: “Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.'"2 Ki 2:21 (nKJV).
Yet both the salt of “purifying” evil and “preserving” that which is good are both advanced by Paul as a responsibility of the government.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.(Rom 13:3-4 nKJV).
But notice that the government is never cited as in any way promoting the Gospel or the Great Commission. Yet acting as an agent of salt to preserving good and purifying that which is evil is something we should encourage in our government since Paul cites it as having that purpose. After all we have the salty responsibility of choosing the men who make, enforce and judge our people assuming we are in subjection to the laws of our government. If Paul had this perspective when it was illegal, why shouldn’t we when it is openly legal to do so?
Now from the above Biblical discussion on being salt, one might ask, “how Paul’s Gospel preaching was in anyway separate and distinctive from being salt?” The answer is that Paul was doing two things simultaneously. His first action, after preaching to the crowd that then falsely accused him, was to demand his rights as a Roman citizen when he said to the centurion, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" That was clearly not a reference to the Gospel or the Great Commission. Rather, he was being salt by directly asserting his rights (respectfully) as a Roman citizen to defend and preserve that, which is good (the freedom to preach the Gospel). In this case, he used his rights as a Roman citizen to enable him to preach the Gospel to government officials of progressively higher rank. The act of being salt, by demanding his rights, cannot be separated from preaching the Gospel because one was used to support the other. Yet both had to be employed simultaneously to be effective.
More importantly, Paul’s actions WERE NOT just to secure his rights to preach the Gospel in that particular and personal circumstance. He could have secured his rights to continue his preaching and been released right there on the spot. This was directly confirmed by King Agrippa when he said, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." (Ac 26:32). I believe that Paul appealing to Caesar was a deliberate act to expose the head of his government to the Gospel and its accompanying salt so that Rome would eventually preserve that which is good and purify that which is evil. That is one reason why the standard Evangelical Gospel without salty involvement has so summarily failed in our culture and whose success has continued to decline in this country.
Have you ever noticed, when you read the book of Acts, that when Paul is going through his various appeals to Rome, that the story suddenly ends just before he is to appeal to Caesar in Rome? That is no accident. Paul likely lost his life there at some point after his subsequent trials in Rome. So do advocates of political abstinence think Paul died in an attempt to bring the Gospel message and its salt to his government? What universe are these preachers from? What, pray tell, Bible are they reading?
Yet, if we fail to be salt as Jesus commands, we will certainly retain our salvation, but we will surely be trampled under the foot of this society!
Christians Trusting in the Government or the Constitution
A final assault by the political abstinence preachers is that if anyone were to preach a sermon on Biblical principles for voting (without endorsing candidates), they would be encouraging their congregation to trust in or even worship the Constitution or their government for salvation. This is yet another case where the failure to teach people Biblically can lead to their making such a mistake. We cannot fail to teach scripture because of the fear for such an error! After all, was the Apostle Paul trusting in Roman law when he appealed his case to Caesar? Just because it is possible for people to trust these elements of our government, does not mean that this is the only possible motive on their part. Their trust should be in submission to God’s Word. On the other hand, we dare not make the mistake of cowering in our church pews in fear of the political boogeyman!
However, I will acknowledge that either trusting in government or trusting in “our” efforts to change it is a danger of such involvement, especially when our efforts become intense. This is one of the main reason I wrote “Dealing with Voter Fears.” This article really concentrates general fear in the average Christian walk. On a secondary level it addresses various afflictions of the average Christian walk like recovering from the death of a loved one or a failed marriage.
Yet, for the Christian, the Great Commission is still by far and away the top priority for Christian activity. Again, what Paul was doing in his appeal to the Roman government, besides preaching the Gospel, was being SALT in the Roman culture. By my calculations, the salty impact Paul had on the Roman Government (besides the salvations) came roughly 255 years after Paul’s words were penned and after many Christians had repeated the same actions. That was when The Edict of Milan was enacted by Rome in 313 AD, which guaranteed Roman Christian citizens the right to practice their faith without persecutions or molestation of any kind! Paul’s action to preach the Gospel while being salt had then scored a victory for Christianity from then on.
Therefore because of the example of Paul preaching the Gospel and being salt in his government we should follow his example as in these passages:
1Cor. 4:6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us...
1Cor. 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Phillip. 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (All nKJV)
Other Government Issues in the Bible
Yet another reason people do not see Christians being involved in politics is that evangelical leader have utterly and willfully failed to connect the dots between the Bible and government issues and policies before us. All you have to do is read the Bible and the pay attention to what is going on in government. For example:
Did you know that the Bible disfavors kings, despots, dictators and any form of one man rule in the absence of God’s Law? Check out my blog, Biblical Issues with Authoritarian Rulers.
Did you know that one of God’s highest priorities in the Old Testament (Tanakh) is God’s concern over political freedom, which we see clearly in Hebrew law and in the storyline of the Hebrews? That Biblical principle is not on my site yet because it is the largest Bible study I have ever embarked on in my entire life!!! It will be on this site eventually, so stay tuned.
There are many other such issues in God’s Word.
