“I exhort
therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the
truth.” (First Timothy 2:1-4)
In these turbulent days that bring the
year 2014 to a conclusion in the United States, Christians, as they usually do,
have a lot of influence over how issues are decided. The surprising
reversals in the November elections came in part from strong Christian
participation. As salt and light, American Christians are bringing new
strength to the movements in their country to defend life, marriage, and the
rule of law. Yet these days have also brought dangerous confusion to the
minds of many as to just what God’s people want, or should want, from their
government, and specifically from their President. Both believers and
unbelievers alike have reason to find out what the Bible says about this, and
thankfully there is a passage in the New Testament that gives us a definitive
answer.
The
early followers of Jesus Christ had great interest in politics and
government. They had little say in what their rulers would do (since the
republican form of government was not being followed in any real way during the
first century), but they definitely had an interest in it. Jesus
predicted that they would be “brought before kings and rulers for my name’s
sake (Luke 21:12),” and they were. It was said that the great apostle
Paul was “a chosen vessel to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and
the children of Israel (Acts 9:15),” and he was. Paul and many others
ended up on trial before rulers and magistrates, and many died in the custody
of civil authorities. In scripture, Christians are told to “be subject
unto the higher powers…not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake”
(Romans 13:1-7). The Word of God tells us, “Submit yourselves to every
ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or
to governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of
evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well…Fear God. Honour the king”
(First Peter 2:13-17). The apostle guided by the Holy Spirit tells us in
the First Epistle to Timothy how to pray for those in government. And what
he tells us to ask God for them is a little surprising.
We
are to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we might lead a
quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (First Timothy
2:2). We are not asking the government to help us, to support us, to
adopt our convictions, or to wave our flag. Christians would love to have
God-fearing leaders, as we can see in Proverbs 28:2-5, 15-16, and 29:2, 4, and
14. Certainly First Timothy 2:1-6 encourages every believer to pray for the
personal salvation of our authorities, including President Obama. But the
main concern in our prayer for our rulers is simply that they leave us alone!
We
only ask that we not be harassed as long as we live “a quiet and peaceable life
in all godliness and honesty.” This is what the earnest Christians that
preached the Word in the newly independent states that became our nation were
asking of the framers of our Constitution. They begged that a Bill of
Rights be added to the original document guaranteeing that the new government
would stay out of the important affairs of its decent citizens. The main
body of the Constitution gives the power to make laws into the hands of a
“Congress” of the peoples’ representatives (Article I) in order to restrain the
President or anyone else in the federal government from becoming tyrannical.
Although
the civil authority of the Roman rulers was not particularly limited, the
Christians prayed that they would restrain themselves. And although
believers in Christ were prepared to submit to unfair and oppressive measures
decreed by their rulers, and to respect and honor their persecutors, they were
praying that those in government would leave them alone. That was their
main desire.
They
were not looking for federal aid to faith-based initiatives. If a
ministry is based on faith in God, why would it need federal aid? No, the
Christians want to see the government restrained and limited and out of their
business. To a Bible-believer, the business of government is to condemn
and punish evildoers and not to solve the other problems of society. If
Christians can be free, they can use the Gospel of Jesus Christ to solve social
problems.
Those
who will take the time to read the first chapter of this Bible book (First
Timothy 1) will see the contrast it gives between the Law and the Gospel.
As in other passages of scripture, we learn that the Law (both the Law of God
and the law of man) can only condemn people (see verses 9-10). It can’t
really solve their problems. The Law of God shows a man his real
problem—sin—but it cannot take away his sin. Knowing what the rules are doesn’t
give anyone the power to keep the rules. The Law has no power to change
us. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that can save a man from his sins and change
his life (see verses 11-17).
“According to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God,…Christ Jesus our Lord…hath enabled me, for
that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I
did it ignorantly in unbelief…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;
of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me
first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them
which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”
Because
of the limitations of Law, the government cannot solve the great social
problems: immorality, divorce, prejudice, greed, poverty, hatred, violence,
hunger, ignorance, suicide, addiction, insanity. Fundamentally these are
sin problems, and only Christ can take away sin. The Gospel of Christ
must be preached and believed, and only Christians can preach the Gospel of
Christ (note First Timothy 2:5-7). It’s not the government’s job.
So Christians are praying that the government will leave them alone so that
they can do their all-important work.
Every
unnecessary expansion of government power works against the spread of the
Gospel. Even high taxes, which Christians will pay (Mark 12:14-17, Romans
13:3-6), restrict the work of the Lord by removing from the economy billions
which Christians could use for church and mission work. Deliberate
efforts by the tax-collectors (such as we have been deeply disturbed to
discover) to use tax exemptions to oppress Christian organizations clearly put
the powers of government against the Cause of Christ. The diminishing of
the Congress in recent years threatens everybody’s freedom, and principally
that of those who are spreading the Gospel. Our forefathers guaranteed
that law-making authority would be reserved to Congress, where the people are
represented, but the practice of Presidents who have gone to war without
Congress declaring war, operated government without submitting budgets to
Congress, and made laws by executive decrees not subject to Congress has
threatened everybody’s freedom and served to make our chief executive more and
more like a king. Christians do not want this to happen. If we must
serve the Lord under the oppressive rule of a too-powerful government led by a
tyrant, we will, but it is not what we hope for.
Let the followers of Jesus Christ in this time work and
pray for limited government, as our spiritual fathers did, and let us
re-dedicate our lives and efforts to the spread of the Gospel. This work
is the main reason we have a right to ask the Lord for freedom. It is not
the freedom to get rich, to do wrong, to stir trouble, or to control others
that we seek. We just want to “lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” Let
believers believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to every human trouble.
In the times of great revival in the past, the churches have stepped up to meet
society’s deepest needs, and have succeeded in meeting them.
Dr. Rick Flanders
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