Dear Harvest Family,

During the month of October, we are using this newsletter to explore some biblical principles for thinking clearly and acting faithfully in the run up to the election in November.

Last week we looked at the role of the church in society. This week we’ll consider the God-ordained role of earthly governments and our obligations to them.

There are many passages of Scripture that address aspects of citizenship in society, but the two most well-known texts are probably Matthew 22:15-22 (render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s) and Romans 13:1-7 (be subject to the governing authorities).

In the text in Matthew, Jesus is put to the test. His opponents ask him if it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. If he says, “yes,” then he’ll be affirming the legitimacy of Rome’s tyrannical occupation of Judea. If he says, “no,” then he’ll be branded a revolutionary and enemy of the state.

In Jesus’ day, taxation was quite burdensome: between port, transit, and head taxes, as well as the taxation of grain (25%) and produce (50%), the ruling elite in government ended up with well over half of society’s wealth. For the Jew, the claims of taxation by Rome had to be squared with the claims of God to tithes and offerings. Hence the question of Jesus’ opponents.

Instead of giving a yes or no answer about the taxes, Jesus asks for a coin, has his opponents identify the image of Caesar upon the coin, and then makes the following statement, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Interpreters have debated the meaning of Jesus’ words. Is he affirming or denying the authority of Caesar? The words of Jesus clearly establish that there is a distinction between Caesar’s authority and God’s authority. Ultimately all things belong to God, and yet Jesus’ words affirm that under God’s dominion Caesar does possess a subordinate authority to make claims upon us.

This is confirmed in the words of Paul in Romans 13:1-7, where Paul says, “There is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” It is striking that Paul could write this in the era of the Roman empire in which he lived. It was a time of widespread corruption, decadence, violence, and godless ambition in government.

Nevertheless, Paul affirms the legitimacy of the Roman government and describes the role that government is meant to play within God’s plan. Earthly rulers are given an authority from God to administer justice for the order and welfare of society. This necessarily entails an authority to punish wrong-doers, collect taxes, and establish and enforce the law. As Christians we are called to acknowledge and submit to this authority.

Of course, the power of the state is exercised by real people, and politicians and statesmen possess the same fallen nature as the rest of us. And that’s really the crux of our problem when it comes to the government: what God has created for our good can so easily be corrupted into something bad, broken, and dysfunctional.

We would not do away with the state, for God has given it to us with potential for good. Yet we’re also realistic about the human capacity for evil and the danger of entrusting too much power into the hands of anyone.

There will come a time when Jesus comes to set things straight, but in the meantime, we live with imperfect governments that often exercise their power in ways that are at odds with God’s vision for a flourishing society. Our elections present us with flawed candidates advocating flawed policies to be enacted within flawed structures and institutions.

As Christian citizens, we live with the tension of being aliens and sojourners in this world (1 Pet 2:11). We recognize God’s ultimate authority over every aspect of our lives, and yet we acknowledge the subordinate authority of the state to make claims upon us, imperfect as the state may be. Sometimes it feels like God and Caesar are fundamentally opposed, and we find ourselves caught in the middle wondering what to do. This is the tension of submitting to the state as citizens of heaven.

When God commands, we must obey. And one of God’s commands is to submit to the governing authorities, so we should comply with the demands of the state so long as they do not contradict the commands of Scripture (Rom 13:1-7). However, when the state commands something contrary to the clear commands of God, like Peter we must say, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). When we refuse to obey commands of the state out of faithfulness to Scripture, we accept the consequences imposed by the state and bear witness to Christ by our suffering (1 Pet 3:13-14; 4:15-16).

In next week’s newsletter, we’ll look at how the visible powers of this earth are not the only powers to be concerned with, and we’ll consider the spiritual dimension of citizenship as the people of God. When we recognize the unseen forces at play in the world around us, it puts our perspective toward earthly politics in a new light.

In Christ,

Ben Wilson