Topic #11: Christians and the government

This chapter of the book is written by John MacArthur himself. He tackles a topic that pervades so much of what happens around us today: government. I have never been a person who has been extremely involved in government. I vote on election day and try to stay educated on the things in the news, but beyond that I genearlly abstain from involvement. I've always felt a little bit of guilt about that...but this chapter made me wonder why I felt that guilt.

As Christians our first calling is not to our government. Our first calling is found in Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

We are commissioned as Christians to make disciples. That is our priority as believers in Jesus. Government is not going to change the world. An army of Christians living out the 2 previous verses will.

We also need to remember that God is in control. No matter who is in the White House or the mayor's office or on the school board, God is over them all (1 Timothy 6:15-16).

Really, God only commands us to do two things in regard to government: submit (Romans 13:1) and pay taxes (Romans 13:7). It is my full belief that if we as Christians would live how God calls us to live, our government would struggle to find things to keep it busy. There would be little need for welfare if we took our job seriously to give to the poor (Luke 18:22). Our prisons would sit mostly empty if we took our job seriously to teach the fear of the Lord to all our children (Psalm 34:11).

All that being said...we live in a fallen world that will never operate as it was intended until Christ returns. What are we to do? We should pray for those in government. Pray for their salvation and that their decisions will allow us to worship God as we are called to do without hindrance.

It's not evil or sinful to be involved in the government on any level. However, for those involved there is a very real danger that their position in the government will begin to take precedence over their position in Christ. For those of us who aren't in government, there is a very real danger that our discussions will center more on politics than it will on the gospel.

I'll sum it up this way. As Christians the things we see happening in the world ought to cause something to stir within us. We should be stirred to see change happen in the lives of people all over the globe. But as Christians our first response should not be to try to change things through governmental action. Our first response should be to pray to God and seek to love the world without limit. Only when God's people go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey God's word will our world be impacted as we desire it to be.