The Responsibilities of a Christian Citizen - by Joel C. Hunter
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. How is that going to happen? Making earth more like Heaven? What is required of us in order to be instruments of that transformation? How does God plan to use us to transform the earth?
We must engage the culture. We’ve got to be part of what’s going on in the world. And that includes Christians being engaged in government. In other words, I’m going to go out on a limb and address the topics of religion and politics. Now, why would anybody ever want do that?
Well, it’s the direct answer to what I just asked. How is it that earth will more resemble Heaven? By Christians being engaged in the culture. We are a people with two citizenships. All of us have a citizenship in a country. And those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Philippians 3:20 says, “For our citizenship is in Heaven.” And therefore, we need to understand how to act on the basis of dual citizenship.
There is a story about a brother and sister who were raised in a very patriotic, Christian family. And they were playing church one day. The little brother was the minister. They’d been to church so many times they knew all the words and how the service went together. At the end, the little brother stood up to give the benediction. He said, “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” Then his sister chimed in, “And to the Republic for which it stands.”
We have a dual citizenship, a dual loyalty. And we must learn to operate in both for a very simple reason: we will never be fully obedient to God if we withdraw from culture. When Jesus looked at us and said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s,” He wasn’t simply referring to paying taxes. He was referring to being under obligation to the government to which we belong and being able to answer their demands. Now, what does the government of America demand of us? It doesn’t just demand taxes. It demands participation. It assumes that we will voice and vote our values. The whole system of our country expects that of us. But, it gets real touchy with churches. Churches get paranoid, and so do governments, about each other.
Theologians and philosophers know the name H. Richard Niebuhr; a brilliant theologian. He wrote an insightful book– it’s in almost every seminary – called Christ and Culture. In that book he outlined the spectrum of stances that churches take relating to culture. In one extreme, he describes a stance called “Christ against culture.” These types of churches don’t want anything to do with the world because they believe if they get involved in the world, their religion will become adulterated; it will become contaminated and somehow, they will become less Christian. So they exclude themselves from the world and hide in religious gatherings, just waiting for the Lord to come back.
On the other end of the spectrum, is what Neibuhr describes as the “Christ of culture” stance. These are churches that get so involved in the world you can’t tell the difference anymore. There’s really no difference between the way the Christians in those churches live and the way the world lives. Tolerance is a top priority so everybody is right to live in his own way.
The stance I like the best and the one I believe that Christ was speaking about when He talked about earth doing as Heaven does is Christ transforming culture. I am convinced that the reason Christ hasn’t taken us to heaven yet is because He expects us to impact the world. I believe the reason we are left here is to make a difference in the world. But making a difference is dangerous. More dangerous, though, is not to make any difference in the world.
The Christ against culture stance, “Let’s gather up and just do our little religious thing in buildings” is a dangerous way to do church and an ineffective way to impact the world. When an ostrich hides from the world, it hides its head in the sand, and there it remains there with a certain portion of its body being an almost irresistible target. When Christians hide from the world, there’s a certain portion of our body that is almost an irresistible target. We aren’t in danger of the world aiming at that target, though. When we are in that position, we are right where the world wants us. “You keep your religion in your churches. We won’t bother – you keep this little Christianese thing going; that’s fine. It’s cute. It’s nice. But don’t come out here among us.” No, we’re not in danger from the world.
Let me tell you who we’re in danger from. I believe that when Christ returns, He is going to see Christians who never had an impact in the world, and He’s going to judge those Christians. When He comes back, He will look at the people who buried themselves in their churches and say to them exactly what He said to the steward who had one talent, and buried it in the ground. I believe if we’re hiding in our churches, He will say, “What are you doing?” If we say, “We’re protecting what You gave us” He’ll look at us and reply, “You wicked and slothful servant.” I believe we’re in danger – not from the world, but from the Lord. I believe that those who do not take what we have been given and invest it out there and see it multiply it out there are liable to God’s judgment. I think it’s dangerous not to be involved.
Now, let me tell you how it’s also dangerous to be involved. H. Richard’s brother, Reinhold Niebuhr, knew the devastation of sin, the depravation, and the absolute effect of sin on people and knew that people would want government to solve problems that only God could solve. And so, when he wrote about being involved in political life, he said, “We’ve got to be very careful. We can’t not be involved. But we’ve got to be very careful about how we do it.”
Have you ever gone across a suspension bridge? One of those old rickety rope things with planks falling off of them? When I was in college, a bunch of us went to some park. We were hiking and came to one of those things. The guys that I was with were crazy and had no fear of heights. I’ve always been afraid of heights, deathly afraid of heights. I’m 5’6” tall. I could have gotten taller, but I was scared. When we came to one of those bridges these guys ran across. I’m sitting there, breaking into a sweat. They’re looking back at me – and I’ve got two choices. I can either go home and never show my face again, a lowly coward, not a man, or I can go across. Well, I went across. I held onto everything I could hold onto, but I went across.
That’s how I approach politics. I know the danger. I’m very aware. And we all should be very aware, but we’re going to go across because I’m not about to go home a coward.
In Acts 22:22 we discover that Paul had a political strategy. He used every venue, every sphere of life to spread the Kingdom of God, including the government. When he was before authorities he was giving a talk to Jews about his faith.
He starts off strong, and they’re all with him. To paraphrase, he begins, “I was a Jew. I am a Jew. I’m the best Jew, a Pharisee. I am more Jewish than any of you.” Well, The Jews are right with him, thinking, “Man, this guy’s one of us. Okay.” Then he starts talking about how he came to know Jesus Christ as his Savior. And then he ends with a sentence that makes them angry, verse 21 says this: “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” “What? What did he say? He’s going to go to outsiders? He’s going to deal with outsiders, people who aren’t us? The outsiders are his priority?”
Verse 22 says, “They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not even be allowed to live.’ And they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air.” See what’s happening? This is a religious demonstration because people believe that their religion is being attacked. And therefore, they react emotionally.
Here’s the first principle: There are religious people who panic because they believe that they need to defend their religion. They get involved in politics because they believe they’re defending Christianity. And whenever you enter politics on that basis, you will almost always overreact. Your emotions will rule. You will go with your sentiments because you believe that you’re defending Christianity. And it will almost always end up badly. Somebody once wrote that the crowds that were stirred by sentiment produced the Crusades. But the crowds that were stirred by thought and by truth produced the Reformation. I like that.
You know why people are afraid of Christians being involved in politics or Christians are afraid of themselves being involved in politics? Christians think the only alternative they have is to go out and yell and scream and create enemies. Let me tell you a secret. You don’t have to defend Christ. Christ is not so weak that He needs you to defend Him. Christ is the truth. And when all the dust settles, He’ll be the one standing. Christ is the truth. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. If you believe that, you don’t need to get emotional; not that kind of emotional anyhow. Realistically, the best defense of our faith is demonstrating our faith – not yelling about it – demonstrating it.
When our church members do volunteer outreaches that, for example, provide free dental care for people who can’t possibly afford a dentist. Or when they go out with Habitat and help build houses for poor families, do you think we’re going have to defend our faith when we go there? Absolutely not. Our going there is defending our faith. When you give blood in a blood drive, you demonstrate the nature of Jesus Christ and you offer the best defense of your faith. You don’t need to yell at anybody; serve somebody. Show people who Jesus is, and watch what happens. When we vote, and we vote our values – our values that have everyone in mind. We don’t vote for what will only be helpful to our own little power group. When we vote we have everyone in mind. It’s the best defense of our faith. Don’t get into the religious groupings approach to politics, instead, vote with your life.
There is a sense in which we have to realize we will never fully obey God unless we do public service, unless we get involved in the political system and serve as our government expects us. Matthew 22:21 says, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s,” in Matthew 22:39 there is another command, second only to worshipping God with all your heart: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you’ve ever worked in the community, if you know people that are in need, you know they are profoundly affected by social policy. You will never fully love your neighbor unless your voice in social policy will benefit those people. We can serve person to person, but what about huge groups? If you want a complete service you’ve got to address group life, not just individual life. That’s part of loving your neighbor. But you’ve got to be tremendously careful that this is not about institutionalizing your religion in government.
The nature of government makes doing so difficult, because if the weakness of religion is to devolve into sentimentality, the weakness of government is to devolve into force. Look at Acts 22:24. That verse talks about the Roman commander; this is the government representative, and it says that he “ordered him [Paul] to be brought into the barracks and stated that he should be examined by scourging.” They are essentially saying, “Let’s beat some sense into him.” Ever heard that phrase? Let’s beat some sense into him. That’s the nature of government – force. It’s what they do. And for the government to use force is legitimate. In Romans 13, we learn that we need a government that makes laws, and enforces them, to keep order and protect us. We’ve got to have that. But never think that we can turn to the force of government to promote our religion. You can’t institute religion (for us it’s not religion but a relationship with God) by force. The nature of religion is persuasion. The nature of religion is influence. That is how we love others well. And how we can let others know how much God loves them.
But the default mechanism in us all is the same. Rather than going to the work of actually living a life that persuades someone they want to love the God who loves us, rather than going to the work of knowing about our faith and explaining our faith, we try this shortcut, “Hey, government person, you’re in charge, you’re strong; you knock some sense into them. You have the force; you make them do this.” We always tend to default to the person who has the power. Even when we were little kids, didn’t we go to our mom and say, “Make him do this?” That was because we didn’t feel like we had the power.
I cannot tell you how many times I’m out on the street, and a wife will come up to me, and say, “You don’t know me, but I’m in your congregation. My husband is just crazy. I can’t talk to him. Nobody can talk to him, but he respects you. Here’s his phone number; call him up.” Oh, that would be really nice, wouldn’t it? “Hi, I’m your pastor. I was sent to knock some sense into you. I was sent to get to the truth by scourging. That’s what pastors do.” Never going to happen. Do you think, even if he conformed just for a moment that it would last? Behavior modification without heart transformation won’t result in long-term change.
So when it comes to the government – what does God expect? First of all, God doesn’t expect for faithful people – the people who follow Him – to ask the government to do what only they can do. We rely on the government so much for what the Church really ought to be doing. The government may have some money, but they can’t take care of people. And when it comes right down to it, it’s all about caring for people. And the Church does that well. Ideally, there could be some sort of collaboration with government that allows for and encourages the Church to do what it does well. There could be some kind of cooperation between the two.
They can’t mix from a religious agenda. They can’t mix from a governmental agenda. But God has an agenda. And Paul picked it up. And this is what happens with Paul. First of all, he had to realize – as we have to realize – We are in the driver’s seat. People are so freaked out about what the government’s going think of religion, but the truth is, in this country we are the government. This is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We are in charge. And at least 80 percent of this country, the last time I checked, claim to be Christian. So freaking out is an inappropriate response to government.
Here’s what Paul realized: we have certain citizen rights. You don’t need to suffer needlessly. You don’t need to cower. All you need to do is act within your rights. Do you know what rights you have as a Christian citizen? Same rights as anybody else has.
The first amendment says, “Congress will make no law establishing religion.” By the way, that is about protecting us from government interference, not the government being protected from our interference. And it also says, “nor prohibit the free exercise thereof.” You have the right – and the responsibility – to be the same person in your community and in your expressions to your government that you are in your church. We have the right and the responsibility to voice and vote our values in whatever way is helpful for the Kingdom and for all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3).
Paul knew that. And he was going use the system to tell the story of the Gospel. The Bible says after they stretched Paul out to beat him, he asked a rhetorical question, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who’s a Roman and un-condemned?” Even if he wasn’t actually smiling on the outside I bet he was smiling on the inside.
See, we don’t need to be panicked about the government. We can smile. “Excuse me, I’m a citizen. Did you want my input?” That citizenship special recognition: “Oh, you’re a citizen.” That’s what happened in Acts, “When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, ‘What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.’ And the commander came to him and said, ‘Are you a Roman?’ And he said, “Yes.’ The commander said, ‘I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.’ Paul said, ‘I was actually born a citizen.’ And therefore, those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him. And the commander was also afraid when he found out when he found out that he was a Roman.”
You don’t need to be afraid of anything. You are God’s plan for the impact, for the renovation of this world. You are in charge. And you have certain rights that you can exercise for the furtherance of the Gospel.
There was never a time in all of Scripture when God did not use some form of government in order to form and mature His people spiritually. You go back and read it. When Abraham started out, he was the government. And then there was Joseph, an official in a foreign government. And then there was Moses, who was a voice against that very government. And then there was Deborah and Gideon and Samuel and David and Nathan and Nehemiah and Esther and Daniel. Every leader we had was involved in some form of public arena. Why? So that we all would be involved in the public arena as a part of our normal spiritual responsibilities.
We can’t subtract our voice; we can’t abdicate our responsibility and believe this country is going to be improved. God is calling us.
Let me ask you a question: Why is it that you think when your mama taught you manners at the table she used to say, “Now, there’s two subjects you never bring up: religion and politics”? Your first answer to that is probably, “Well, she was smart, and she knew that those are the two most volatile subjects around.” True. Why are they so volatile? Because they are the two most important subjects when it comes to impacting the future. And she always put them together because they go together.
Should we mix church and state? Never. They are not institutions that have the same agenda. Should we separate religious people from government? Never. You know what George Washington, our first president, said in his farewell address? These were his lasts words. “Do not let anyone claim the tribute of American patriotism if they ever try to remove religion from government.”
Let me tell you a story: My father died when I was four years old. So I was raised, for years, by a single mother. To this day I pray for single mothers everyday. But I got this new dad when I was about 8 years old and I didn’t know much about him. And he wasn’t the type that you got to know. Little emotion in this guy and he was old-line Catholic. Every once in awhile I would get up early in the morning, and I’d see him in his devotions. And they weren’t rote to him. When he was doing the beads, it wasn’t about the beads. It wasn’t about the words. There was this expression on his face, this reverence, this holiness that you could just see that he understood this was about something so much bigger and so much more important than him.
The only other time I saw that on his face was at Memorial Day parades. In Shelby, Ohio, we used to have Memorial Day parades where you put crepe paper on your bicycle and you put hats on your dogs, and those big overweight guys on the little motorcycles did figure eights. My dad was an American Legion guy, and he was in the color guard. We would march that whole parade out to the cemetery to listen to talks by the mayor and people who liked to talk. And when Dad stood in line to participate in the 21-gun salute and the American flag passed by,
I saw that expression again. I always wondered if he was remembering all of the buddies that he lost in World War II. And I wondered if he was wondering why it was that he got to come back, and they didn’t.
I want to ask you that question. Why are we here when they’ve died? There’s a war going on right now. And every time I turn on the television, I see another flag-draped box coming back. I am so grateful for somebody who would die for this country. But I ask myself, what did they die for? So that we could just enjoy ourselves while the country goes to hell in a hand basket? If they cared enough about this country to die to protect it, don’t we care enough about this country to live to improve it?
God does. That’s why we are still here.