Tag Politics

The God Over All Government

Todd R 1 Comment

We’d all like to live under a better government, but the only perfect, Godly government we’ll ever see is a monarchy under Jesus in heaven.  Until then, like it or not, we all have to live under imperfect governments.  We hope and pray for our government to be more Godly, more like the perfect government, and we should, as Paul wrote:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” – 1 Tim 2:1-2

In addition to praying, there are many ways we try to influence our government.  In a democracy, we can seek to do this: by voting, by contributing money to political candidates, by working on a candidate’s campaign, by donating to lobbying organizations, by convincing others to vote differently, etc.  God may lead different people to participate politically in any of these ways, not at all, or in other ways.

However, none of these actions will be effective unless God is behind them, and the outcome we seek is what He also wants.  Only He can decide what are the right actions for us to take, and only He can decide which outcomes are best for His people, who He seeks to make perfectly Godly by His own definition of the word.  His purposes are to purify His people for eternity, not to bring about a perfect government in this broken world.  His purposes may not be our purposes, and where our influence is limited, His is unlimited.  Proverbs 21:1 tells us:

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;
            he turns it wherever he will.”

Therefore, regardless of whether we think our government is Godly, our government is actually Godly in one way: that He is in charge behind the scenes regardless of how it looks to us.

There are a couple of verses in the book of Ezra that acknowledge this, but first just a little background.  Ezra was a priest and scribe who likely wrote the Old Testament book bearing his name, in addition to Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and possibly Psalm 119.  It is also thought that he helped compile the Old Testament canon (the list of which books do and don’t belong).

Ezra lived at the end of the Babylonian captivity of the nation of Judah, an exile that ended not because of the vigorous efforts of Judah to break free, but because God used foreign kings to free them, and later to pay for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.

After returning to their own land, the people of Judah were thankful for King Cyrus and King Darius, but ultimately, they knew God was behind it, and they determined to worship only Him, not Cyrus, Darius, or any other gods or men.  Ezra 6:22 says:

“And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

Ezra repeats the point in Ezra 7:27, referencing the principle from Proverbs 21:1 –

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem”

Our government is always in God’s hands, and He can do whatever He wills with it.  Pray that He will use it to bless God’s people, but also praise Him for all the benefits we may have, even under a hostile government.  Remember that God was behind Israel’s defeat by the Assyrians and Judah’s by Babylon, not just the return from exile.  It is by worshipping only God, not particular people or forms of government, that God’s people find their joy and peace.

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;           
he turns it wherever he will.”

The Cross and Power

Todd R 1 Comment

“And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:8

Here Jesus endured the powerlessness that many feel. At any moment, Jesus could have chosen to free Himself from the cross, but He actively maintained His powerlessness for hours through the torture for our benefit. Any time we think power is the answer, we must consider this.

Photo by Wim van ‘t Einde on Unsplash

The Priorities of the Good Samaritan

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The parable of the Good Samaritan is well-known, even by those who aren’t Christian.  Briefly, it goes like this: a man is robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of a road.  First a priest, and then a Levite, passed him by, offering no help at all.  But a Samaritan, a member of a group despised by many Jews, stopped and helped the man, even bringing him to further help and paying the necessary expenses.

There is a lesson in the story about priorities – what this Good Samaritan put first, and what he didn’t.  But before covering his #1 priority, here are some things he did not prioritize, even though these aren’t necessarily bad things:

His first priority was not to fight for stricter laws against robbers.  What the robbers did was probably already illegal, and definitely not morally right.  We don’t know the fate of the robbers in the story, but they might have gotten away with this near murder.  In modern times, if criminals are getting away with bad behavior, a movement sometimes grows to make something that is already illegal “more illegal.”  If robbing is against the law, some might lobby to make the punishment harsher, or to focus laws on particular victims or perpetrators, but if they’re getting away with it now, how will these changes help?  The Good Samaritan couldn’t do much about this immediately, so it wasn’t his first priority.

His first priority also was not to raise public awareness of violence along the highways.  He didn’t create posters and social media hashtags (I write as if those things existed then).  Such a campaign can have benefits.  It could help people be more careful when traveling, it might encourage the government to allocate more of its limited resources toward highway safety, but it will never completely solve the problem. The Good Samaritan couldn’t do much about this immediately, so it wasn’t his first priority either.

Photo by youssef naddam on Unsplash

So, what was the Good Samaritan’s priority?  He focused on what he could control, and any other concerns came later.  He focused on the problem right in front of him – a man beat up and near death on the side of the road.  Sometimes we can focus so much on advocating, that we lose sight of doing.  (I worry about that for myself as someone who spends so much time blogging.)  But the Good Samaritan “proved to be a neighbor”[1] by taking care of the neighbor right in front of him.

We can also be deluded into thinking that our government and other institutions should be able to solve all of our problems if only we fight hard enough for it.  However, they never will be enough, because any and all institutions are made up of people who too often deny their own responsibility for the problems of the world. Especially on social media, we often get the illusion that we can offload our responsibility for the world to others, and that what’s happening somewhere else is more important than what’s right in front of us.

While advocacy can be a good and necessary thing, God wants us to prioritize doing, which is what everyone in heaven will do!  In heaven, everyone will be like the Good Samaritan (and like Jesus), and therefore we won’t need better laws, awareness campaigns powered by advertising and hashtags, or stricter enforcement of laws.  The bloody victim by the roadside won’t exist.  And that is something to look forward to!

In the meantime:
“I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help. This may even become an escape from the works of charity we really can do to those we know. God may call any one of us to respond to some far away problem or support those who have been so called. But we are finite and he will not call us everywhere or to support every worthy cause. And real needs are not far from us.” – C.S. Lewis

[1] Luke 10:36

Is Democracy Good? A Quint of Quotes

Todd R 2 Comments

Fellow travelers,

In the United States, today is “Super Tuesday,” when citizens in 15 of the 50 states vote in their state primaries, which decide who will be the nominee for President from each political party.  15 states in one day are far more than on any other day, and why the day gets a special name.  In observance of this day, here is another “Quint of Quotes” from my collection, on the theme of democracy:

“Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.” – E.B. White

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” – H.L. Mencken

“Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots.” – John Adams

“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” – Edmund Burke

“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…” – Winston S. Churchill

His Story Needs No Revision

Todd R 1 Comment

Journalism, particularly newspaper journalism, is sometimes referred to as “the first rough draft of history.”  This phrase is usually attributed to Philip Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post.  It’s a useful phrase because it is flattering to journalists to know that their work is important and meaningful, but also a reminder that their work is inherently imperfect and in need of later revision.  Particularly under deadline pressure, it is impossible to know all the relevant facts and potential angles of any story.  Unavoidable and expedient choices and compromises must be made.  The saying came to mind when I recently read Psalm 33:10-11, which says:

“The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
            he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
            the plans of his heart to all generations.”

As I’ve written before, total objectivity is “theoretically impossible for anyone but God Himself.”  The best any news reporting can do is cover a tiny piece of what happens in the world, screening it using whatever judgment they decide to use, and applying imperfect ethical standards.  As I’ve also written, “The dots of the pointillistic narrative are never the full picture and sometimes aren’t the right color.”  Thus is the “counsel of the nations” – incomplete by necessity, biased by choice, and morally imperfect by nature.

In contrast, what God says is true is always true, unlike the 24/7 news cycle where truth is constantly under revision.  The “counsel of the LORD” contains everything we need to know about His plans, is designed by His choice to benefit those He loves, and morally perfect because His nature is holy.  If better counsel existed, He would know about it.  His counsel reliably informs us about how He wants us to view the events of the world, rather than the other way around.  His plans frustrate and overcome the “plans of the peoples”, rather than the other way around.

When Jesus said on the cross that “it is finished,”[1] His payment for our sins was complete.  He lived a perfect life in our place, so that He could be a perfect sacrifice and atone for all the sins of His people in all times and all places.  This was not a rough first draft, but the flawless consummation of God’s plan for salvation “to all generations.”  Jesus made no flawed choices for the sake of expedience, and His work can be trusted at all times.  Whatever you see in the news today, the Good News of the kingdom of heaven is more important, more trustworthy, and provides comfort for your soul.

His Story is the first draft, but it is also the only draft because none other is needed.  His Story needs no revision.

Therefore:
“Our soul waits for the LORD;
            he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
            because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
            even as we hope in you.” – Psalm 33:20-22

[1] John 19:30