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July 10, 2011 |
| The Christian in Society | ||
The question often comes, "How does a Christian fit into a secular society and the rules, written and un-written, of that society".
While the goal of every Christian should be living in the will of God it isn’t always obvious how this translates into a life in a secular society. Plainly the will of God has to be our first goal. But what about the laws of society, how is the Christian to fit into society?
Some Christians say that we should be separate from society and that it is wrong to participate in the election process and there are many other ideas about how Christians should be involved in society. There are probably thousands of such questions. Should I do this or that? So we need to establish a general principle to guide us in our decisions.
About our leaders and the laws they create for society, the search for answers begins with the 5th of the 10 commandments – honor thy father and thy mother. This will seem like a strange place to start, but hold on. Christians and Jews divide the 10 commandments into two groups, those dealing with our relationship with God and those dealing with our relationship with our fellow man. These groups are described as
Christians have traditionally assigned the first 4 commandments to the first group, the relationship with God. Jews instead assign the first 5 to that group. It’s good to understand why and important to this lesson.
They do this because they see the 5th commandment in a bigger sense, as respect for all who are in authority over us, from our parents, through our government, all the way up to God. This is very much in sync with what Paul says in Romans 13:1-9.
1 Let every soul be subject to the authority of the great, for there is no authority that is not from the same God, and those authorities who are from God are under orders.
Paul makes the point that Christians are to be subject to the authority of our leaders because these leaders were put in place by God. He does not mean that we should merely recognize their authority but that we should obey them. This becomes clearer in the next two verses.
2 Whoever therefore stands against the authority stands against the decrees of God, and these who stand against them shall receive judgment.
Paul says plainly that rejecting authority is rejecting the decrees of God. Also such people that reject authority will be called before judges. In this context we understand that the judges could be both earthly and heavenly.
3 For judges are not a fear to the good doer, but to the wicked. Do you wish, therefore, to be unafraid of the authority? Do good, and you shall have praise from him.
If you are a person who lives within the law you have nothing to fear from authorities. In fact you will receive praise instead of judgment.
4 For he is the Minister of God to you for good. But if you have done evil, be afraid, for he does not wear the sword for nothing, for he is the Minister of God and a furious avenger to those who do evil.
But if you do not live within the law you have every reason to fear authority. Instead of being the one the authority would protect, they authority will avenge the wronged on you.
5 Therefore it is urgent for us to be subject, not for the sake of wrath only, but also for the sake of conscience.
Paul is saying that we should live within the laws of the authorities not only because we fear the punishment they may inflict but because that is the right thing to do. By always doing what is right and good our conscience can always be clean. Therefore we do not live in fear that the authorities may discover what we have done.
6 For this cause, also, you pay the head tax, for they are the Ministers of God who are appointed for these things. 7 Pay every person what is owed to him: to whomever head tax, pay head tax, and to whomever a tribute tax, a tribute tax, and to whomever reverence, reverence, and to whomever honor, honor.
Paul now focuses his general statements on principle down to
a specific point for his readers. In his time "the people faced not only Roman
taxes and tributes but also religious taxes and taxes
imposed by Herod the Great and later his sons. Among the taxes paid were
tributes and direct taxes such as land taxes and a head tax. There were also
duties, sales taxes, and extra taxes on items such as salt. In addition there were taxes for the building and upkeep of the
temple and various tithes.
"It is estimated that the tax burden on the common man was 30% or more. Not bad
we might say, but these were sustenance farmers and the like. They were barely
keeping their families fed and sheltered."1
So Christians found themselves under an oppressive government over which they
had no control. It was natural for them to ask what was right.
Paul goes beyond taxes though. Authorities are also due respect and honor and they should be "paid" what is their due.
8 Owe no person anything but to love one another, for whoever loves his neighbor fulfills The Written Law.
We must correctly understand the word "owe" used here. Paul’s point here is not that we should not borrow money. He is saying that we should not leave unpaid those things that society requires of us. Instead we should continually be paying off a debt of love for one another. Paul says that someone who lives like this is fulfilling the law and specifically the 10 commandments.
In this context, Paul is specifically speaking of a debt of love for our authorities.
9 For this also that says, "You shall not commit adultery", "You shall not murder", "You shall not steal, "You shall not covet", or if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in the saying: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Notice what Paul is saying here. Having discussed authority and being subject to authority (the Jewish understanding of the 5th commandment), he lists some of the 10 commandments. First he lists the 7th, then the 6th, the 8th, and the 10th. And then he says "if there is any other commandment" it is also included. The only one not mentioned from the second group of the 10 is the 9th.
The same view of submitting to authority is expressed by Peter in 1 Peter 2.
13 Submit to all the sons of men for the sake of God; to Kings, because of their authority, 14 And Judges, because they are sent by him for the punishment of wrongdoers and for the praise of the workers of good.
15 For it is the will of God in this way that by your excellent works you may shut the mouths of fools - those who do not know God
But elsewhere Paul also says that there is a limit to a Christian’s subjection to authority. From Acts 5:
29 [Peter] answered with the Apostles and said to them, "God ought to be obeyed more than men."
The general principle commonly drawn from this is "Follow the laws of man unless they conflict with the laws of God". But whenever there are two over-lapping principles there is a grey area where they come into conflict. We’ll now look at some of these conflicts.
The Jewish authorities ordered the apostles to stop preaching the Gospel. From Acts 4:
18 And [the Sanhedrin] called [the apostles] and ordered them that they should not speak at all neither teach in the name of [Jesus].
19 [Simon Peter] and [John] answered and they said to them, "If it is right before God that one should listen to you rather than to God, you judge." 20 "For we are unable not to speak whatever we see and hear."
From this we see that the Great Commission given by Jesus is a greater law than the laws of man and even the laws of church leaders.
Beginning there we will take a quick run through history to find a few of many examples where Christians of good reputation violated laws that contradicted the laws of God.
Later Christianity became an illegal religion in the Roman Empire. Those that practiced it were given the death penalty. Many Christians died for violating that law, beginning with the apostles.
The Catholic Church, during the period where it had legal authority, persecuted and killed many Christians for violating its laws. Therefore we know that the authorities in the church can make laws that are against God’s laws just like any other authority.
Communist governments have commonly made the practice of any religion illegal. Christians have been persecuted and killed for violating these laws.
Looking into the future we see in the book of Revelation a time when everyone will be required to wear a mark or be excluded from society. We don’t fully understand this mark but we know that Christians will choose not to wear it and many will be killed for this.
The decisions of these people were never easy. Often the laws became progressively worse, beginning with laws that were probably not in conflict with God’s laws but were tightened until they obviously were. The point where it crossed the line would have been determined by each person according to his conscience.
But respect for authority includes subjection to all laws by the authority that are not in conflict with God’s laws. We’ve seen above that Christians are to pay their taxes and fulfill their other duties to the authority. But subjection includes all laws. Ignoring a law is essentially a form of arrogance and disrespect for authority.
Let’s take a look at driving speed limits. We should obey those as Paul says, for conscience, not because we fear being caught speeding. A Christian should live a life that is without fault.
Christians don’t need radar detectors.
A Christian should never be hauled into court because someone was injured or killed because the Christian was acting outside the law. Except for unintentional mistakes, a Christian should never have to say "I’m sorry, it was my fault."
Not only is it wrong to live outside the law, it defames Christianity and Christians everywhere. Unbelievers don’t need any more examples of flawed lives to write-off Christians as hypocrites.
Truth should be the standard of every Christian. But truth is not only in words. Any difference between what we do and say is not truth. Any difference between God’s will and ours is not truth. Truth should be the very fiber of our being, expressed in thoughts, words, actions, and life style .
What of judicial errors, injustice, corruption?
If you are late because you took time to do something nice for someone, is it OK to speed to your destination?
What if we disagree with the actions of a governing official? How do we respectfully disagree?
Is it OK to protest against laws?