#166 Christianity and The State
As I read chapters 29-32 of An Introduction to Biblical Ethics certain statements in the textbook drew me into further reflection. When you consider the church and the state it should be asked “can we actually neatly separate the church or religion from the state or the secular?” To this I would answer that we cannot. In a country where everyone has a say in the political direction of that country everyone is culpable to some degree to the decisions of that government. As Christians if we do not stand up for what we believe then injustice will be the law of the land. Americans have a civic responsibility to their government but also a personal responsibility to their God that carries over into all interactions with the government.
The second thing that stood out to me from the reading this past week is the idea that “if Christians are interested in having morals legislated, they must not only ask what is right and what is good for society, they must also ask, what will this society accept.” This is something I have not previously considered. I would say that idea has some merit but some flaws as well. For example when it comes to abortion, even if the society we live in will not accept a ban on all abortions that is still a good goal for Christians to have. With legislation this may be done in stages where we legislate to the highest degree the society will accept. While attempting to change the culture. But if Christians were able to ban abortion outright it would still be the right thing to do. On the other hand the idea of legislating according to what people will accept may have more merit on issues like illegal drugs. Since we do not want to encourage a society to commit crimes it may be better in some cases to legalize certain drugs in order to limit the amount of criminal activity. Marijuana may fit in this category, legalization while not ideal from a Christian standpoint may be the more ethical option.
The third thing that really stood out to me was when Copan and McQuilkin said, “In a democracy the citizens are responsible for the affairs of state; to neglect this public responsibility would be equivalent, in a lesser way, to the neglect of justice and mercy on the part of a Christian king or government official.” We each have the power to elect or not elect someone into government office in America. Even if we choose not to participate we are affecting the outcome of the election. This means that to some degree all Americans are responsible for every action our country takes in regards to its citizens and the rest of the world. Even if we vote against the person who wins the election we could have influenced others to vote and still carry some responsibility.
Christians and the Government
Christians ought to interact with the government to the greatest possible extent that is within the legal bounds. Politics are responsible for many of the errors and mistakes that our country makes. But as individuals, we are all responsible to some degree for the mistakes that our country makes because we have the power in a democracy to elect our officials. Choosing to ignore this responsibility does not make it go away. Instead if we do everything in our power to fill all offices in the government with Christians our country will be better off. It ought to be the goal of every Christian to have our country be as Christian as possible in the way that its government is run and the way it interacts with the world. Growing up, the town that I lived in Stockton, California was badly managed. The mayor when I was a kid embezzled money and committed a series of crimes. The next mayor also caused many problems worsening the homeless problem and crime problems. While the current mayor was a pastor at my local church growing up and turned to politics because he saw how many issues our city was having. Under his watch, Stockton has lowered its crime rate and homelessness rate. Christians must stand for what they believe in even if it means pastors becoming politicians. When any of us may go into leadership in our country, we all bear an equal responsibility over who actually becomes the leader of our country.
When I apply this reading to my own life, I consider my calling and chosen career path. God has called me into ministry, and I am currently completing a Master of Divinity degree. At the same time, though, I am planning on joining the Air Force as a chaplain. Which means that to some degree, I will be beholden to the commands of other people in the military and our government who may or may not be Christian. I think that it is reasonable for a Christian to serve in any role of the military. Specifically though serving as a chaplain in the military is less of an issue as leadership concerns are somewhat diminished as chaplains are supposed to be beholden to their Christian beliefs rather than solely to their commanding officer. There are going to be many challenges regarding what a Christian Chaplain can do in the military of course. With this chosen role, though, there is a lot of opportunity to influence the thinking of the United States military towards a more ethical, Christian, just war, way of thinking. By being a Christian in the military, I will necessarily make the US military more ethical. In the same way, all of us must be aware of who we are putting in charge of the government. Even though we are not all in the military, we are all beholden to our government in a similar way, although to a lesser degree as people in the military, it is the same issue. We must participate and be the conscience and the people who set the moral standard for our country. We cannot leave this essential task to non-Christians.
Bibliography
McQuilkin, Robertson, and Paul Copan. An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom. 3rd ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014.
