Lesson 10.5 - Christians and Politics Discussion

Introduction
  1. Welcome back on Wednesday night to our discussion on politics and government.
  2. Thanks also for the surveys - lots of helpful ideas and suggestions.  Shelley and I have looked through all of them and are compiling them into a report, but really appreciate all the thoughts and ideas.
  3. So politics and government -boring stuff eh?
  4. Well, hopefully not too much.  We’re going to briefly cover what we talked about on Sunday, then I’ll talk about some of the duties government has, then we’ll go through what I hope will be entertaining current events.

Review from Sunday

  1. So Sunday, just to help us remember, we talked about the three institutions God created - family, civil government, and church.
    1. Each of these institutions governs a particular area of our life, called a jurisdiction (who has the ability to speak the law in a place).
    2. If we commit a crime, our family doesn’t punish us.  Well, they might, but primarily we end up in jail with the government.
    3. If we hit a baseball through our house’s window, that’s likely dealt with by a family, not the government or the church.
  2. God made each of these institutions, including government, and gave us responsibilities to them.
    1. So for our government, we talked about the following duties on Sunday (notes on the church website soon, I hope):
      1. Prayer for our leaders - we pray for them.
        1. And we pray good things, not “God please destroy them” kind of things.
        2. We learn their names, pray for the people, their families, etc.
      2. Obedience to Leaders
        1. We obey civil authorities unless they command us to do something contrary to Scripture.
      3. Respect for Leaders
        1. The tough one - we’re supposed to respect them regardless of who they are.  Paul and Peter talk about respecting leaders who were killing Christians, so our words, the titles we give them, everything about what we do should carry respect.
      4. Not to Speak Evil
        1. Along the lines of respect, we don’t curse or speak evil of those in authority over us.
        2. Paul would not speak evil of the high priest even though he had said something contrary to the legal standards.
      5. Paying Taxes
        1. Even though Rome had an oppressive tax system, there was still a Christian duty to pay taxes.
        2. This duty wasn’t just because you can be thrown in jail for not paying, but rather because it was the duty we owe to God.
  3. Those are our duties to government.  What then is government supposed to be doing?

Government’s Duty to God
  1. There are several things Scripturally that government leaders are required to do, which we want to talk about briefly.
  2. Then we’ll take a look at several different areas and see how they line up with Scriptural duties of government.
    1. First, government must Punish Evil
      1. The first duty of a government is to punish those who do evil. We see in verses 3-4 of Romans 13 that this is true.
      2. “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
      3. The word evil as used there essentially means worthless or injurious conduct—things that cause injury to someone else.
      4. We should have a healthy fear of the governmental authority, but be afraid if we do evil. The reference to bearing the sword does not mean that they are going to tickle you under the chin with it.
      5. The sword means that severe punishment is to be meted out, and the government is to execute wrath (violent punishment) on those who do evil.
      6. This is the fulfillment of God’s original design for government in Genesis 9—that it would “shed[] man's blood” in response to someone else shedding the blood of an individual.
      7. We can see here a separation between the jurisdictions of family and church versus the government.
      8. Family and church have no authority to enact physical harm on a person in response to an evil which is perpetuated on the society.
      9. If a child disobeys his or her parents, then he or she can be punished by the family within its proper function of discipline.
      10. If someone is disobedient in a church context, there are a variety of penalties, but the most a church can do is follow church discipline and remove that person from its midst.
      11. But if that same person robs a bank, then that individual has removed themselves from the jurisdiction of the family and placed themselves under the jurisdiction of the government. It is for the government to penalize that person, not the family.
      12. This is the primary role that we see for government – a negative force. Government has very little power or ability to proactively change things.
    2. Second thing government is to do is Reward Good
      1. Next we see the function of government is to reward those who do well. This is mentioned in passing in Romans 13, but is brought out more in I Peter 2:13-14.
      2. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”
      3. We also see again in these verses that governors and kings are sent by God for specific purposes.
      4. Part of the proper role of a government official is seeking to praise those who do what is right. This is often ignored by many in government but is part of God’s design. We so often see the negative that we fail to really accentuate the positive.
      5. Just as a side note, there are two words primarily translated “good” in the New Testament. The one used both in I Peter 2 and in Romans 13. The one used here is not in reference primarily to moral good, but rather to good quality things, whether physical or moral.
      6. Christians should seek to be good citizens, doing what is right.
      7. Those who do what is right generally have one type of praise—they aren’t punished.
      8. But these verses also speak to equity—those who do what is right are not punished, and those who do what is wrong are not rewarded. The proper role of government is to punish those who are doing evil and praise those who are doing what is good.
    3. Third thing is Enact and Enforce Just Laws
      1. In Genesis 9, God lays out the basics of laws for all people. Shedding blood in response to blood being shed was a just and right law.
      2. Later in Scripture, God references other duties when He discusses civil government. Enacting and enforcing laws that result in justice is key to the role of a civil government leader.
      3. Justice is a key concept and is one of God’s attributes. Justice has been defined as, “The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is his due; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings of men with each other; honesty; integrity in commerce or mutual intercourse.”
      4. We all as humans have a deep internal desire for justice—to see wrong dealt with and made right.
      5. God calls Himself, “A just God and a Savior” (Isaiah 45:21). Romans 2:2 says that “the judgment of God is according to truth.”
      6. Since he has delegated His authority to government officials, part of that delegation includes the justice inherent in His laws.
      7. Proverbs 29:4 is very clear—“The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.” A king is established by doing justice.
      8. The laws that government officials make should be just. They should not disproportionately favor one group over another. And they should not be inconsistent with one another.
      9. The laws should be understandable, not like some of the Romans who wrote the laws on high pillars so that people would not know what they were. But we will get into law more later.
      10. The key for us to understand now is that governments have a duty before God to enact and enforce just laws.
    4. Fourth, Government must Respect God’s Divine Authority
      1. Just because government leaders are appointed by God to their position does not give them carte blanche to do whatever they want to do in a given situation.
      2. Government leaders still owe a personal duty to obey God in their individual lives. That applies to every person whether in government or not.
      3. But they also owe a duty to God to respect His divine authority in the governmental sphere as well.
      4. Many of you are familiar with the story of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 where he refused to acknowledge God’s rule over his kingdom, and believed it was all about him, and all the glory of his kingdom was due to his creation.
      5. (Interestingly enough, Daniel warned him of this, but not violently—he pleaded with him in a merciful way, and then did not try to actively change the king’s mind after that.)
      6. God severely judged the king by making him wander around and eat grass like an ox for quite a period of time. (Also note, that God took care of this situation directly—it was not the place of the Godly people in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom to enforce “judgment” on him.)
      7. At the end of his time living as an animal, Nebuchadnezzar said that he “blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.”
      8. What a change from thinking his own kingdom was the best and most wonderful.
      9. Nebuchadnezzar recognized God’s overruling of his dictates and kingdom.
      10. Government leaders have a duty to respect God’s divine authority, and God will definitely deal with them if they do not.
    5. Fifth, government must Defend the People of the Country
      1. Another role of civil government is to defend the country from attack by other nations.
      2. In Biblical times, and up until relatively recently, it was very common to have wars of conquest, where a country attempted to expand its empire to include other territories. Today, many wars are fought from a defensive standpoint.
      3. When Samuel was explaining to Israel how their kingdom was going to work, one of the things he specifically mentioned was the creation of an army to fight the wars of the king (I Sam 8:12).
      4. Joshua, David, Solomon—the Bible is replete with the names of Godly men who led nations through wars both of defense (when they were attacked or were about to be) and wars of offense (taking additional territory as the Lord directed).
      5. Creation of an army for the defense of a nation is vital to ensuring the safety and protection of the citizens, and is one of the key roles of a government.
    6. Collect Revenue to Allow Proper Functioning
      1. Ok, this is probably the least-favorite role of government that I can bring up. But this is in the Bible. That’s right, government has a duty to collect sufficient revenues to allow it to function.
      2. Romans 13 says very clearly in verse 6 right after discussing the responsibility of government to punish evil [which we like], that “For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.”
      3. I’m afraid we can’t get out of this one—“tribute” means a tax or “assessment on persons and property, usually a general toll on goods or travel.”
      4. In order for the government to be able to do its job of punishing evil, enacting laws, and enforcing those laws, and defending the country, it requires money. Money that has to come from the citizens, in nearly all cases. Meaning your money and mine.
      5. There doesn’t seem to be an exception here for really high taxes or taxes that don’t seem right or withholding taxes. Although Roman taxes varied dramatically depending on your position in society, whether you were a citizen, a slave, or something else. There were taxes on trade, property, and a variety of other items. But Paul doesn’t say here that you should pay your taxes only up to a certain percentage and not beyond it.
      6. As sad as it is, it is a requirement that the government have enough money to function. And this is a Biblical duty the government must perform. Something to remember on April 15!
      7. We’re going to look at the issue of taxes in more detail in a later lesson, but just wanted to touch on it here.
  3. So those are the duties government has to Do.

Discussion Topics

  1. So politics and life - what I’ve done here is put some discussion slides together for us so we can talk about different issues in the news and see if they line up with a Scriptural duty of government or not.
  2. Believe it or not, these were on news websites earlier today.
    1. So since everyone here is tired, it’s Wednesday, what better place to start than . . . energy drinks!
      1. Specifically Four Loko.  Have you heard about this?
      2. Energy drink that is high in caffeine and also high in alcohol content.
        1. Apparently as you drink the alcohol, the caffeine helps mask the effects of drinking, so you get drunk and passed out very quickly.
        2. Large numbers of people had to be hospitalized from from drinking this, and four states are moving to ban the stuff.
      3. This caffeine powder here also is part of this story (and looks curiously like cocaine, but that’s neither here nor there) - a guy in Britian died from a caffeine overdose recently after consuming enough caffeine powder to equal 70 Red Bulls.
      4. So let’s discuss this - should government regulate energy drinks?  
        1. Why or why not?
        2. Is this a scriptural duty of government?
    2. Second is another item in the news - TSA security screenings.
      1. This is a complex representation of how one works with Playmobil toys
      2. Basically the issue here is this - government workers either have to do a full body scan which shows you without clothes on, or they have to do a patdown that includes feeling you in very sensitive areas.
      3. Is this a duty of government?
        1. Is it part of keeping people safe?
        2. Is flying mandatory?
        3. Would you allow someone to do a screening on you in that situation?
    3. Third is relief to other nations.
      1. Haiti had a massive earthquake recently, and now there’s a serious problem with cholera.  Over 900 people have died.
      2. What, if any, duty does government have to act?
        1. What about for initial relief?
        2. Continuing relief efforts?
        3. What if private individuals couldn’t provide enough help?
        4. What if Haiti asked for help?
    4. Fourth is Online privacy
      1. Social media tends to involve sharing lots of information online.
      2. What role, if any, does government have in protecting your online information from criminals?
        1. What about from non-criminals?
        2. What about if you don’t adjust your security settings?
    5. Fifth is Endangered species
      1. Is it a Biblical goal of government to protect animals?
      2. Why or why not?
    6. Sixth is foreign policy.
      1. The President went on a 10-day Asia trip culminating in the G-20 summit, a group of the 20 wealthiest nations, to discuss policy and what to do with things in general.
      2. Is that a Biblical duty the government should fulfill?
        1. Why or why not?
    7. Seventh, crematory/zoning issues
      1. Ok, so I tried to work the royal family in here somewhere, but couldn’t figure out how.  So I started getting weird.
      2. In Gwinnett County, there is a crematorium that a funeral home wants to build.
      3. The neighbors don’t want it built, so there’s been a backlash.
      4. Is zoning and choosing how private property will be used a proepr role of government?
        1. Would you want a crematory next door?
        2. Why or why not?

Conclusion
  1. Lots of different issues to ponder - thanks for walking through these with me tonight.
  2. As you can see, trying to think Biblically isn’t always easy
  3. But it is something we need to think about.
  4. Next Sunday we’ll be moving into Thanksgiving week, so we’ll be talking on a Sunday-morning-only session about how to make a wise decision.  Hopefully it will be interesting and helpful!