Church and State (Pt. 2)
There are two things that seem to be pillars upon which we can all agree: 1) We (the church) ought to stand up against all that dishonors God, and 2) we ought to be good citizens (in our case…. of the United States). Both of these comments are about citizenship. We are citizens of the Kingdom of god with all the responsibilities that this implies. We also are citizens of the United States, with all the responsibilities that this implies. This very basic starting point is, i think, common ground for all of us.
Jesus said that we are to render to Caesar that which is Caesars. We can read that we ought to pay our taxes, but more broadly Jesus is speaking of citizenship. As a Roman citizen, people were to have paid their taxes as part of their responsibility. Similarly Jesus continues: and unto God the things that are God’s. Yet again, this is not a commentary merely on tithing, as it is a commentary on citizenship to Heaven. A good Christian Roman citizen had obligations both to Heaven and to Rome. Jesus does not dissect the two or minimize one for the other. He assumes that both are true, embraced and lived out to the best of one’s ability.
Now, we live in a Christian culture where it is becoming en vogue to say that Christians ought not be part of the political process…. that we ought to dissect our realities. Indeed, we live in a culture where Christianity is pushed out of the public square… where we are dissecting what is at our core away from our political realm.
May I suggest that this is folly. How is it that, even if I wanted to, I could be less of a Christian when I am discussing political issues? It has been established that we are to be involved (good) citizens. How can I be a good citizen without bringing to the fore the best part of who I am… the thing that makes me truly good? A Christian who is involved in politics from this vanilla standpoint is ceding the best ground.
Christians have been involved in the political process as outspoken Christians since this country was founded. One can hardly look through history’s founding documents without reading reference to God. The Constitution may as well be considered a religious document, and the founding fathers ministers. Today, however, if we insist that “Christmas” is “Christmas”, that Christians pray wherever they deem necessary, that we insist that “In God We Trust”, or that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life… if we insist these things it is Christians who take offense. The problem is that if we are going to confront and change culture we must speak truth in public squares and in places of worship. We must inter the political sphere as it is in government that much of “culture” is formed. Government and it’s policies lay the ground work for culture, both good and bad. How, then, do we change culture without addressing forces (often governmental) set to make it godless.
As I see it, unapologetic involvement in all spheres is necessary. Further, there is no more pertinent sphere into which we can enter than the one assaulting God’s Kingdom most aggressively.
I might add one small note that unbelievably we have allowed political correctness to dampen: we here in this country are a Christian nation. You may not like it, but it is what it is. America was formed with such a purpose. In large part, we owe the prosperity of this land to a couple hundred years of this reality. We are losing that identity in large chunks. I wonder what some of the prophets of old might do about that?
