What are my Christian duties toward the government?
Yesterday’s federal election results are in. The liberal party has been given another minority government, with Mark Carney at the helm as Prime Minister. Regardless of one’s political leanings, the question every believer should be asking is, “What are my Christian duties toward the government?”
Some feel that because Jesus is coming back, we should just hunker down and withdraw from the world as much as possible and wait for the rapture to happen. Others see politics as a waste of time. A bunch of talk and promises that get broken anyway. Still others see government (whether it be municipal, provincial, or federal level) as completely corrupt and since Christians are not of this world, we shouldn’t have anything to do with worldly systems of human government.
But, what does the Bible say about all this? Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christian church in Rome who were trying to discern their duties towards human government.
Romans.13:1-2 – “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
Human government is ordained by God. As verse 1 says, “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” This doesn’t mean every leader is good and/or godly. It does however mean that God establishes leaders and removes them. Daniel 2:21 says that God “removes kings and raises up kings.” Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” (Jn.19:11). The reasons God has established human authorities is to restrain evil, reward good, and govern justly:
Romans 13:3-4 – “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”
So, what are my Christian duties toward the government?
1. We are to OBEY the laws of the land and do what’s right
Romans 13:1- Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.
There is one exception to this rule. If a leader commands us to disobey God, then we aren’t obligated to obey them. When Peter and John were told by the Jerusalem authorities to stop proclaiming the message about the resurrection of Jesus, they said, “We must obey God rather than man.” (Acts.4:19).
2. We are to GIVE what we owe
Romans 13:6–7 – This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
We should pay our taxes. But not only is it our duty to pay taxes or revenue when it’s owed. We also are to give honor and respect to our governing authorities. “If respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” This doesn’t mean that we must agree with every decision that our leaders make. We can disagree with a policy while still showing honor.
3. We are to PRAY for our leaders
1 Timothy 2:1–3 – I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior.
How much time do we spend criticizing, when we could be praying?
4. We are to have our SAY
We are able to exercise the rights of human citizens. Paul was a Roman citizen, and in Acts 16 we read about how they arrested him, beat him, and threw him in jail without a trial. Then, they told him he could leave town and Paul stood up for his rights and said:
Acts 16:37 – “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
Paul demanded to be treated fairly. Similarly, we can speak up against injustice and policies that do not reflect our Christian values. When our government does right encourage them. When our government does wrong encourage them to do right. It doesn’t matter whether they are federally Conservative, Liberal, BLOC, or NDP, PPC, or Green. We are to be a voice of conscience of our government. We are to encourage our government to repent when they are wrong. We are to do so with respect and honor, but we are to not be silent. As long as killing unborn children is legal in our country, we cannot be silent.
5) We are to PARTICIPATE in our government
Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s’ but to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17). What is our Caesar? Our Caesar is our government. If we don’t participate in our government, we have not given to Caesar what is Caesar’s. One way to participate is to vote. Another way to participate is to inform ourselves politically. It is inconceivable that God would ordain human government but then tell his people to stay out of it.
Some of the most important political actions in history came about because Christians got involved in their government. Take William Wilberforce for example. In the 1700s, he won a seat in the British parliament and worked tirelessly to abolish the slave trade. He introduced bills to abolish slavery several times, and several times they were defeated. But, he persisted and didn’t give up. Finally, his efforts bore fruit in 1807. Parliament voted to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. History was changed because one man decided to get involved with their government.
