The church of modern times has strayed far, far away from the path of the Gospel message blazed by Jesus Christ.
Judas had a nickname -- Iscariot -- which has debatable connections, possibly implying he was a member of a political resistance group. What is hardly in dispute is this man was all about politics. We would call him today, at a minimum, "an activist." While much the same could be said of Simon the Zealot early on, he seems to have finally gotten the message of Jesus: "My Kingdom is not of this world." Judas never got it. To some degree, all twelve of His Disciples kept expecting Jesus to announce His candidacy. Judas alone was willing to force the issue, and Jesus' response was to go willingly to the Cross. He had rejected politics since at least the Temptation in the Wilderness.
Anyone in the church today attempting to use the methods of secular politics joins Judas in his error. The very idea of seeking to govern human events by the methods of fallen man is a rejection of God's ways. The weapons of our warfare are spiritual, for our battle is against spiritual forces (Ephesians 6). After piling on that allegorical spiritual armor, Paul's next act is to call for prayer. That's the battlefield. Sure, most of us would agree, for example, abortion is tantamount to murder. However, if you have to legislate such a thing in the face of massive social resistance, you have already lost. Pray, and teach the Word lovingly. If the Lord does not turn the hearts of the nation, your fund raising to pay some smart marketing firm to press that message is an insult to your Sovereign Lord.
The Lord is on His Throne, not up pacing and wringing His hands in panic when government goes wrong. The world is not redeemed by manipulating ephemeral electoral fancy. Sure, vote your conscience, and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. Don't ever assume any one solution to a particular problem is God's answer just because no one else sees a problem, much less offers a different solution. Don't ever assume any candidate is God's candidate just because he makes the right noises. Always expect Satan to distract the Church by drawing off the energy of the Great Commission into sink-holes of wasted effort. Get your eyes off feeble human concerns; seek the Eternal Kingdom. Otherwise, in the end, you may find yourself betraying your Lord.
Rome did some good things as governments go, but remains to this day a symbol of crushing oppression. This was the government which held Judea at the time Jesus lived. While respectful of the prohibition against Gentiles inside the Temple, even enforcing it as Roman Law, the Romans saw no problem with controlling the office of High Priest. It had long been given to political use, anyway, most significantly during the Maccabean Period. Leaving behind their bully pulpit for teaching the Law of Moses, they went into politics.
When you imbue an office of religious leadership with political significance, don't be surprised if that office is taken by some future government. The very nature of pastoral leadership has shifted far from the biblical model. The mark of success is now having a big name, a huge church -- or several -- and millions of dollars in the budget. This permits joining a Big Preacher Club to promote various public policy positions. Meanwhile, the foundation of truth disappears, and everyone forgets why Christ called them together.
Are the modern Western Evangelical churches setting themselves up for government control? It's already happening.
The crowds attempted more than once to make Jesus king. This included a willingness to back Him in a revolt against Rome. It's because they could not shake the false notion Messiah would bring prosperity, plenty, peace and a return to the Davidic political dominance.
After some 70 years in Babylonian Exile, the conquering empire of the Medes and Persians offered the Jews a chance to return home. The wealthy elites and most learned had little reason to go. While many praised the noble sacrifice of those who returned, there was an under-current of mocking that only the losers left Babylon. These came to a desolate pile of rubble, and tried to rebuild an almost forgotten life in a land now foreign. Drawing upon all the inspiration they could, there arose a new theology based on Messianic promises. It was deeply tinged with false expectations, ignoring the spiritual and allegorical elements for a literal reading of the prophets. So deeply entrenched was this false belief, the preaching of prophets on the scene could not uproot it. Their words were simply twisted to support the false message, in the urge to maintain the momentum against the long and depressing challenge.
At the heart of this twisted religion were the Messianic Expectations. It read like a laundry list of worldly dreams:
The stunning arrogance of this vision was regarded as wholly justified. After all, were they not God's own People? Were they not the Chosen Race of humanity?
This was behind their constant revolts against every foreign government which followed. Those who did not adopt Hellenism under Alexander the Great and his succeeding generals were led by a bitter and hateful reactionary cabal, who understood nothing of tactics and strategy, nor of measured response, and provoked crushing reprisals. By the time Rome was the dominant force in their lives, the reputation of Judea was that of the worst nation for insolence, plots and revolts.
At no point did these people remember the part of Moses' Law which encouraged building the reputation of gentleness, fairness, hospitality and enlightenment, a refuge for lost souls. Most certainly forgotten was the humble reliance on Jehovah. They were His Special People, and deserved better, so they impatiently asked where was His deliverance? This was the attitude behind attempts to make Jesus accept the role of Expected Messiah, who would sweep away all Gentile powers and make them the glorious center of the universe.
They rejected a Messiah with the good news this world and its sorrows did not matter, whose Kingdom was on another plane of existence. They wanted no part of Eternity in God's Heaven. We can't afford to embrace the Jewish error of thinking this world matters. Jesus died on the Cross to save souls, not society, and He surely didn't teach us to seek political dominance. Indeed, He "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4).
The tax resistance movement in the US today is both technically correct, and morally foolish. That is, examining the actual documents, we see a strict and proper reading of the Constitution and tax law shows the courtroom decisions have all been completely wrong. It also doesn't justify a believer claiming a Christian conscience as the basis for fighting.
When we search through the teachings of Jesus, we see a sense of detachment about politics. For example, on the question of taxes Jesus rejected the Jewish activist mindset of denying tax revenue to a pagan occupier. Jesus essentially noted there were two different currencies in use at that time, because all Temple offerings had to be Hebrew styled coins, without a human likeness -- the practice of human likeness on coins came uncomfortably close to idolatry for Talmudic Jewish tastes. By a strict reading of the Torah, this was probably correct.
Jesus noted by query the common Roman currency used in the secular market bore the likeness of Rome's rulers. Since they controlled the currency, they could control its use, including oppressive taxes. It didn't matter how unjust, how ungodly, how sinful those taxes might be; the power to levy was built into the currency. Since rich and powerful Jews had no complaints with amassing lots of wealth, even in Roman coins, by banking and trading with Gentiles, they had no grounds for resisting even the highest taxes.
Back in history, there was a period when Christians met where they could, and in many ways mimicked the synagogue. In due time, congregations scattered across the Roman Empire would borrow, rent, lease or buy meeting halls or similar accommodations. No surprise, then, in some places these became rather large groups meeting in fairly large facilities. Under successive emperors Christians might risk persecution or tolerance, in varying degrees, in varying places. Larger groups could afford a sizable staff of leadership, among them being some genuine scholars and men of influence. The larger and better organized churches sent out missionaries, and in no time these developed into regional church groupings with senior pastors shepherding several congregations.
At some point, a Roman general decided to adopt a semblance of Christian faith. Using its primary symbol, a cross, as a battle ensign, he managed to seize the imperial throne. Records indicate he never completely dropped his pagan sun worship, but church leaders were nonetheless thrilled by his decision to officially tolerate Christianity in the empire. That emperor's successor went further, making it the official religion of the empire. At that point, things were looking good for churches under Rome. Naturally, as civil government adopted various measures of Christian-based ethics in law, even so, many church leaders adopted Roman methods of leadership in their congregations.
Those of us held by Reformed convictions agree things went downhill for the church sometime around 400AD. That is, church and government became deeply entangled, each was using the other. In time, the official church hierarchy was indistinguishable from government bureaucracy. Everything wrong with civil human government was found in the church government.
In these latter days, government has again courted organized Christian religion, this time in the US. Government figures have offered official recognition of Evangelical pastors, who in return described enemies of the state as enemies of God. It sounds so right, but is wholly without biblical support. The two have become deeply entangled, with burdensome regulation of churches appearing, but largely ignored in the heady rush of power flowing into the hands of religious leaders. Many Evangelical pastors wield significant political influence, and their followers love it. Those members have become political troops at the grass roots. How long before mainstream churches resemble John's Harlot of Revelation 17-18?
Do we place ourselves under the Covenant of Noah? That is a dangerous mistake. That covenant was mandated by God to the fallen world, to sinners. It called for a sinner's government to handle the task of keeping civil order. It called for sinners carrying the sword on God's behalf so that there be no need to repeat the Flood. There is nothing about it which applies to followers of Jesus, except an awareness it has a purpose. That purpose comes from God, to keep other sinners in check. It makes sharing God's Word possible. Thus, we do not upset the natural balance of fallen man ruling over fallen man.
Instead, we stay out of the way. We have a calling from God to accept fallen human government as fallen, with no pretense to make it anything else. That is the whole point of Romans 13. Let fallen men do what fallen men do, fight their own battles, generally follow their requirements upon us. Meanwhile, we know our true King is Jesus. We give no allegiance to human government; we tolerate it. Meanwhile, we know in our walk in this fallen world, by our Christlike conduct based on love, we are well above such petty rules and laws. In a broad general sense, our obedience to Christ will keep us out of trouble. When it does not, the trouble itself is a condition of service.
In the broad sweep of history, governments will come and go. With our spirits, we stand on the sidelines of this passing parade. We know the great battles, of weapons or of politics, are not our battles. Tomorrow, the whole mess will be gone, and we will still have the same mission from the God who made all things. We submit, we salute whatever flag they wave, we pay whatever taxes they demand. All of those things are ephemeral, things of the flesh, things of fallen sinners who live in darkness. We live in light, eternal in Christ.
By Ed Hurst
06 January 2007
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