Deborah Horn, of McLeansboro, Illinois, was brushing her 9-year-old daughter’s hair on a Sunday morning when she began to pepper her mother with a lot of questions. Mom was doing her best to answer them until her daughter looked up and asked, “Are we Christians or Republicans?” (Deborah Horn, McLeansboro, IL. "Heart to Heart," Today's Christian Woman)
What? Are the two mutually exclusive? We could ask the same question about other political parties – Are we Christians or Democrats; or Are we Christians or Libertarians – as if politics and the Christian faith are completely incompatible with each other.
That used to be the attitude of a lot of Bible believing Christians. The common understanding among us conservative, evangelical Christians in the 50’s was that we should never mix politics and faith. So we stayed out of politics and watched as the 60’s came along and the foundations of our society were ripped apart with the sexual revolution, riots in the streets, and students protesting the Vietnam War being shot at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.
After that, some of us evangelicals began to look to politics as a way to save our society. We seriously believed that if we elected the “right people” and passed the “right laws,” then we could save our country from moral and spiritual ruin. So we elected Jimmy Carter in 1976, the first openly evangelical president, followed by Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, all who claimed to be born-again, evangelical Christians.
But what did it get us? I think most sincere believers today would tell us that our society is sliding into moral ruin faster now than it ever has. Politics hasn’t saved us, so we’re retreating again from the political process.
During the last presidential election, in 2008, a study by the Pew Forum indicated that many conservatives had changed their position on churches speaking out on political issues. During the previous presidential election, in 2004, just 37 percent of conservatives felt the church should stay out of politics. In 2008, the last presidential election year, 51 percent shared this view. This virtually matched the views of moderates and liberals (52 percent).
The study also found that a growing number of people were uncomfortable with a candidate speaking personally about religion. In 2004, 40 percent of all respondents said they were uncomfortable with a candidate expressing his or her religious convictions. In 2008, the same study found that 46 percent were uncomfortable. (More Americans Question Religion's Role in Politics, www.pewforum.org, 9-3-08; www.PreachingToday.com)
That raises a question that believers have been debating for centuries from the 1st Century believers under Nero to the Reformers in the 16th Century who established state churches to the preachers in the 18th Century who laid a moral foundation for the American Revolution to sincere believers in the 21st Century today. And that question is this: As believers in Christ, what should be our involvement in politics? What should we do, as followers of Christ, when it comes to trying to create a better society overall? What should we do as citizens of heaven when it comes to our relationship with human governments here on earth?
Well, I’m sure I don’t have the definitive answer this morning. But the Bible does give us some principles to think about as we consider our own involvement with government and the political process. So if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2, where Peter writes to a group of Christians suffering under government persecution in the 1st Century and tells them how they should relate to such a government.
1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. (NIV)
Now, that’s surprising! Peter doesn’t tell them to RESIST a government that’s persecuting them; he tells them to SUBMIT to such a government. In fact, Peter tells them and us to…
SUBMIT TO ALL HUMAN AUTHORITY.
To obey every government official from top to bottom, from the supreme human authority to the officers he sends out to administer justice. Now, that term, “submit,” is primarily a military term, which literally means “to rank under” or “to put yourself under the authority” of a superior officer. And that’s the way we’re to relate to all our governing officials – like they’re our superior officer.
That doesn’t mean we have to like them or even agree with them, but like an enlisted man in the military, we respect the position or the office. We respect it enough to obey every order that doesn’t go against God’s law itself (Acts 4:19).
Ideally, government officials should punish those who do evil and praise those who do good. Ideally, they should administer justice fairly and impartially, but that is not always the case, is it? It certainly wasn’t in Peter’s day when Nero’s government began to persecute believers. Even so, Peter reminds them to respect the office even if they cannot respect the officer.
We as believers in Christ should do our best to obey our government’s laws as long as they do not conflict with God’s law itself. That means we keep the speed limit, pay our taxes, and cooperate as much as we can with even our own local town board of supervisors.
I like the way one wag put it: “A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.” (Bill Vaughan, CONTEXT; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, maybe that’s going a little bit too far, but I think you get the picture. We at least pay the parking ticket on time without giving our governing officials a lot of grief. Submit to all human authority. Why? Well, we…
SUBMIT BECAUSE OF CHRIST.
We obey, as verse 13 says, “for the Lord’s sake.” He is the one who puts human governments in place. Romans 13 says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:1-2).
To obey government is to obey God, except when a government official asks us to disobey a clear command of Scripture. Then we choose to obey God rather than man (Acts 4:19; 5:29). That’s what Peter told the Jewish Supreme Court when they told him to stop preaching Christ. He told them, “We must obey God rather than man!” (Acts 5:29). When God and government conflict, we as followers of Christ, must choose to obey God. But when there is no conflict, we must obey our government officials as if we’re obeying God Himself.
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake,” verse 13 says. Or a better translation would be, “Submit yourselves because of the Lord.” We want to honor the Lord in everything we do. That includes our political involvement and our relationship with human government officials.
(illus.) In 1814, when Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner,” he was on a ship 10 miles out to sea viewing a 42 by 30 foot flag that hung on a pole 189 feet in the air over Fort McHenry. The flag was immense, but that’s what allowed Key to see it from as far out as he was, following a night of gunfire.
Well, for years people wondered how such a large flag could fly in stormy weather without snapping the pole. Then, in 1958, National Park Service personnel discovered something buried nine feet below the ground near the entrance to Fort McHenry. It was two oak timbers, 8 foot by 8 foot, joined as a cross. That discovery located the exact place from which the star spangled banner flew, but it also solved the mystery. The cross-shaped support provided a firm foundation for the symbol of our national freedom. (Greg Asimakoupoulos; www.PreachingToday.com)
Politics or politicians can never save our country. Only Christ and His cross can do it. Only Christ and His cross can save us from moral and spiritual ruin. So we as believers should be the best citizens there are, if only to have the credibility within our own nation and our own community to point people to Christ.
Tell me, how did your last interaction with a town supervisor or a local policeman go? Did it honor Christ and his church? That’s why we submit to all human authority. We submit because of Christ. But not only that, 2ndly, we…
SUBMIT BECAUSE OF OUR CRITICS.
We obey to silence those who would try to discredit our testimony as believers in Christ. 1 Peter 2 says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority…”
1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. (NIV)
Literally, God wants us “muzzle” our critics not with clever arguments and intimidating speech, no! God wants us to muzzle our critics with good deeds. In other words, let’s live our lives in such a way that when our accusers try to slander us, nobody believes them.
I think the Christians in Pakistan understand this principle. They make up only 2.5 percent of the total population with most of the rest, 97 percent, Muslim. As you can imagine, the political climate is not good for Christians. In fact, Rev. Munawar K. Rumalshah, a Christian leader in the northern city of Peshawar, describes a government-endorsed “social and economic suffocation of the Christian community” in Pakistan. Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws pose a constant threat for Christians. On top of that, Rumalshah reports that local mobs in his province have publically urinated on Bibles and closed four churches.
Even so, Rumalshah says he works for better relationships with his Muslim neighbors and views the persecution as an opportunity to display Christ's love to others, even militant Muslims like al-Qaeda members. Rumalshah summarized how his church responds to persecution: “We clean the wounds of those who hate us and those who would kill us.” (Douglas LeBlanc, “We Clean the Wounds of Those Who Hate Us,” The Living Church News Service, 3-8-11; www.PreachingToday.com)
How could anyone argue against such love? Muslims don’t have a god that loves them unconditionally, but we Christians do. The Bible says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Christ died for those who were hostile towards Him, and when Christians demonstrate that same kind of love for their enemies, those who are hostile have nothing to say.
Let me tell you how it is working in Africa. Matthew Parris is a newspaper columnist for The Times of London and a self-described atheist. He grew up in Africa; and just before Christmas in 2008, he returned to the country of his childhood, today known as Malawi. Here is what he wrote about that experience in an article for The Times. He says:
“Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects, and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa, Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good…”
Then Parris talks about his days growing up in Africa. He says, “We had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world—a directness in their dealings with others—that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall.”
Matthew Parris says, “It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.” (Matthew Parris, “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God,” The Times of London Online, 12-27-08; www.PreachingToday.com)
“By doing good,” vs.15 says, we “silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” That’s why we submit to all human authority. 1st, We submit because of Christ. 2nd, We submit because of our critics. And 3rd, we…
SUBMIT BECAUSE WE ARE FREE.
We obey not as slaves, but as people who have been set free by Christ Himself.
1 Peter 2:16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. (NIV)
Now, that word “live” is not in the original text. Actually, this verse in the original text is a continuation of one long sentence that starts in verse 13, and there we have the main verb of the sentence: “submit.” So the verse should read, “SUBMIT as free people, using the freedom not as a covering (or veil) for evil but as slaves of God.”
You see, only those who are truly free can honestly and willingly submit. Those who are slaves cannot willingly submit. They do what they do because they are coerced. On the other hand, those who are free willingly submit, because that’s what they want to do. It is their delight to submit because they know that pleases God.
Let me put it another way. Submission is NOT something done to us. Submission is something we do, because we are free to do it.
That means we have to rethink what freedom is all about. Contrary to popular opinion, freedom is NOT the ability to do whatever I feel like doing. Such so-called “freedom” just enslaves us to our passions. It makes us addicts to alcohol, drugs, sex, work, or power. That’s not freedom; that’s bondage. No. Freedom is NOT the ability to do whatever I feel like doing. Freedom is the ability to do what I know GOD wants me to do.
That’s why our Pilgrim forefathers came to this country. In the old world, they were prevented from worshipping God the way He was leading them to worship. So they came to a new world in order to do what they believed God wanted them to do. That’s true freedom.
But only those who put their faith in Christ are truly free. Even if they live in oppressive countries, Christ has set them free from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15). Death simply means an entrance into heaven for believers, so an oppressive government can’t even use the threat of death to coerce them. Believers in Christ are the only ones in any country that are truly free.
So let’s use our freedom not to indulge ourselves, but to serve. Galatians 5:13 says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”
At the beginning of the month, an elite team of Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. We don’t know much about that particular team, but in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, divulged the one quality that makes for a successful SEAL – the ability to think about other people and a higher purpose. Here's an excerpt from his article:
“The rigors that SEALs go through begin on the day they walk into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in Coronado, Calif., universally recognized as the hardest military training in the world. BUD/S lasts a grueling six months. The classes include large contingents of high-school and college track and football stars, national-champion swimmers, and top-ranked wrestlers and boxers, but only 10-20 percent of the men who begin BUD/S usually manage to finish…
“What kind of man makes it through Hell Week? That's hard to say. But I do know—generally—who won't make it. There are a dozen types that fail: the weight-lifting meatheads who think that the size of their biceps is an indication of their strength… the preening leaders who don't want to get dirty, and the look-at-me former athletes who have always been told they are stars… In short, those who fail are the ones who focus on show.
“Some men who seemed impossibly weak at the beginning of SEAL training—men who puked on runs and had trouble with pull-ups—made it. Some men who were skinny and short and whose teeth chattered just looking at the ocean also made it. Some men who were visibly afraid, sometimes to the point of shaking, made it too.
“Almost all the men who survived possessed one common quality. Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they had the ability to step outside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: How can I help the guy next to me? They had more than the “fist” of courage and physical strength. They also had a heart large enough to think about others, to dedicate themselves to a higher purpose.” (Eric Greitens, “The SEAL Sensibility,” The Wall Street Journal, 5-7-11; www.Preaching Today.com)
That’s what believers in Christ have: hearts large enough to think about others and to dedicate themselves to a higher purpose – the purpose of bringing honor and glory to Jesus Christ. That’s true freedom, my friends, and it’s a freedom we can use to serve one another and our country well.
When we think about our involvement in politics, when we think about what we should do as citizens of heaven as it comes to our relationship with human governments here on earth, we just need to think about one word: SUBMIT. God says submit to all human authority. Why? Well, we submit because of Christ. We submit because of our critics, and we submit because we are free!
It is the only way we create a better society. We do it by living such lives that point men and women to their only Savior, Jesus Christ. Verse 17 sums it up pretty well, doesn’t it?
1 Peter 2:17 “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” (NIV)
