by Wayne Greeson
Synopsis: Civil government should be a source of blessing for those who do good, but the misguided interventions of the bureaucratic state rob citizens of personal property (through mandated redistribution) and damage the concept of personal responsibility (leading to a sense of entitlement).
God appointed political government and its authority (Rom. 13:1-2). This authority includes the power to enact and enforce laws, collect taxes to finance its functions, and, carry out justice against law-breakers, including capital punishment (Rom. 13:2-7). God's purpose giving government and its agents this authority is "for good" for those who "do what is good." In particular, God gave governmental authority to protect and "praise" those who do what is good by "the punishment of evildoers," "execut(ing) wrath on him who practices evil" (1 Pet. 2:14; Rom. 14:4).
As God gave government its authority, He commands that "every soul be subject to the governing authorities" (Rom. 13:1). This duty of obedience extends "to rulers and authorities" who are "God's servants" "to serve you for good" (Titus 3:1; Rom. 13:4-6). Also, we are to obey "every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake" (1 Pet. 2:13). From the very top of government to the lowliest official, we are to "Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (1 Pet. 2:17). This honor is in respect and submission to their position and authority: "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Rom. 13:7).
Since God intended government for "to serve you for good," when it serves its proper purpose, it provides for the public good. The nature of the "public good" is exemplified in God's law given to Israel, which included a criminal law, defining crimes and their punishment, and a civil law, governing property rights, inheritance, marriage and divorce, health and sanitation, relief for debtors, and national feast days. God gave Israel laws, but He did not specify a form of government, other than that He should reign as King over them regardless of human leaders or governments (1 Sam. 8:4-7; Acts 5:29). Through the nation's history, Israel had various types of human governments: one-man rule (Moses and Joshua), a confederacy of tribes with judges, a monarchy, a council of elders, an oligarchy, and a semi-democratic government.
God demands that rulers and governments provide truth, justice, and equity, thus producing peace and security (Prov. 29: 4, 14; 16:12; 2 Sam. 8:15; Psa. 89:14; 99:4; Isa. 9:7; Amos 5:15). This includes protection for honest commercial transactions: no false measurements (Lev. 19:35-36; Deut. 25:13-16); no usury, extortion, or bribes (Lev. 25:36-37); no unfair advantage taking from others less fortunate (Amos 8:4-6). Nations and governments can be righteous or unrighteous. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Prov. 14:34). The character of a government reflects the character of its rulers, who often reflect the character of its people. God rules over and judges the nations: "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men" (Dan. 4:17). Again, "For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth" (Psa. 67:4).
God uses governments and rulers, whether righteous or wicked, to carry out His will for good: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Prov. 21:1). God used righteous Israel to execute judgment on the wicked Canaanite nations (Deut. 20:16-17) and the more wicked nations of Assyria and Babylon for the same purpose upon a less corrupt Israel and Judah (Isa. 10:1-19. Hab. 1:5-11; Jer. 25:1-29). The Lord described Assyria as "the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation" and His "ax" or "saw," His tool to bring judgment upon other nations (Isa. 10:5, 15). God used the Persian kings Cyrus, Darius I, Artaxerxes I, and others and their governments to help the Jews return from exile and rebuild and restore the temple and Jerusalem (Isa. 44:28, 45:1-3; cf. Neh. and Ezra).
It is hard to avoid the radical political and social divisions in our country. At the core of these differences are two very different world views: one with God and one without. The consequences of these views are evident in the diverging positions held about the role of government and its limits or lack thereof. Those who view this world and all that is in it, as the creation of God, understand that they are responsible to God for their lives. This is the message Paul preached in Athens: "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. … He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained" (Acts 17:24, 31).
Accountability to God in the future judgment requires responsibility in the present. This responsibility includes taking care of one's needs and the needs of one's household by honest work. Paul wrote, "Aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing…" (1 Thess. 4:11-12). We are to "work in quietness and eat (our) own bread" and "if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thess. 3:12, 10). "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8).
Those who view this world without God (or reject and rebel against His authority), reject accountability to God and often reject responsibility for themselves and their family. Rejecting this responsibility results in the entitlement mindset, described in the song "The World Owes Me a Living" Disney's 1934 Silly Symphonies cartoon, The Grasshopper and the Ants, based on Aesop's fable of the same name. One with this mindset envies and covets what others have and justifies theft by stealth or force, or even by the government, taking from others, because "they owe it to me." Micah described the results: "They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses, and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance" (Mic. 2:2). King Ahab and Queen Jezebel illustrate this attitude, coveting Naboth's vineyard and committiing murder, thus abusing their positions of authority in the government (1 Kings 21).
Rulers, leaders, and politicians, with this attitude are "greedy dogs which never have enough." They are "shepherds who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory" (Isa. 56:11). They seek power to govern by deceiving and exploiting others, who share this same mindset. Peter says, "By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words" (2 Pet. 2:3). For "…they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, … While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage" (2 Pet. 2:18-19). This was the modus operandi of the consummate politician, Absalom, promising to give people what they wanted and believed they were entitled to—if only he was in charge (2 Sam. 15:1-6).
The rise of the socialist system of Marxism was built upon an appeal to this covetous entitlement mindset. Socialism tells one group of citizens, "workers," they are exploited by "capitalists," those who own property. It urges "the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions" by revolution, so that the means of production, that is, property, is forcibly taken from those who own it and given to the proletariat or workers, who are entitled to it (Communist Manifesto).
Many politicians, may not go as far as Marxist revolution, but promise and use the government to take property from some citizens, as Ahab and Jezebel, to "redistribute income" to others through government "entitlement" programs. This commits two wrongs: it robs some citizens of their property, and it robs other citizens of their sense of personal responsibility leaving them with a sense of entitlement. This undermines the work ethic of all citizens: "Why should I work for something if the government will…" "take it from me" or "give it to me for free?" The result is a downward spiral of "evil men and seducers…wax(ing) worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:13). "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?" (Jer. 5:31).
Author Bio: Wayne has worked with the church in Connersville, IN since 2004. He and his wife, Chris, have three sons, Daniel, Nathaniel and Joshua, and two grandchildren, Elle and Joseph. The church website is connersvillechurch.com. He can be reached at waynegr@gmail.com.
