Of Church & State

Christians in America face a historic opportunity this November.

Elected leaders will make decisions that determine the nation's direction for the next four years...and beyond. There will be nomination and ratification of Supreme Court and State Supreme Court justices. Legislation that defines what constitutes a family and what constitutes a viable human life will be decided. Tax and economic determinations that dramatically affect the rich and poor will be passed. And decrees that ensure our freedom to worship God and share our faith in Christ will be voted on.

In We Will Pray for Election Day, Thomas Freiling & Michael Klassen report that "many political observers say that more than any other election in modern history, the 2004 race could change the course of the United States of America. That is because the government is almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. If either party takes a majority of the races on November 2nd, we would soon see a major shift in the kinds of laws that get passed and enforced."

So what impact can Christians make in the 2004 national elections? According to the NAE, "we make up better than one quarter of all voters in the most powerful nation in history. Never before has God given Christians such an awesome opportunity to shape public policy in ways that could improve the well being of the entire world." With all that's at stake, "disengagement is not an option. We must seek God's face for biblical faithfulness and abundant wisdom to rise to this unique challenge."

We engage in public life because Jesus is Lord over every area of life. Through Him all things were created (Col. 1:16-17), and by him all things will be brought to fullness (Rom. 8:19-21). "To restrict our stewardship and political concerns to the private sphere alone, would be to deny an important part of His dominion, and to functionally abandon it to the Evil One. We know that we must wait for God to bring about the fullness of the kingdom at Christ's return, but for the interim, the Lord calls the Church to speak prophetically to society and to work for the renewal and reform of its structures."

In Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, Dr. R. C. Sproal noted that "in our day, the concept of separation of church and state has been widely misinterpreted to mean the separation of state and God. More and more civil government seeks to be out from "under" God. It seeks autonomous power and authority. When the church cries "foul' the church is criticized for intruding into the domain of the state. The church, however, is not trying to be the state. The church, in offering prophetic criticism, is calling the state to be the state as God ordained it and rules over it."

In their Faithful Citizenship statement, Catholic leadership also suggests that when we bring our moral convictions into public life "we do not threaten democracy or pluralism but enrich them and the nation. The separation of church and state doesn't require division between belief and public action, between moral principles and political choices, but protects the right of believers and religious groups to practice their faith and act on their values in public life."

According to Bishop Wenski, "the stakes are high. For Christians today, flight from the world or surrender to the world cannot be options. For if we flee from the world -- including the world of politics -- we would just relegate ourselves to second class citizenship. But when we enter the world on politics, we must do so as Christians. To make our faith "private," without consequence for our public positions, is to surrender to the world. In doing so, we lose our identity as Christians."

The NAE recently drafted an evangelical declaration, "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility." In this document they concluded that you and I are to "commit ourselves to support Christians who engage in political and social action in a manner consistent with biblical teachings." We call on Christian leaders in public office or with expertise in public policy and political life, to help us deepen our perspective so that we might better fulfill our civic responsibility."

They went on to say, "We call on Christians to vote and communicate biblical values to their government representatives. We urge Christians to take their civic repsonsibility seriously even when they are not fulltime political activists, so that they might more adequately call those in government to their task."

Essentially, the Bible affirms the following key points:

1) In this dispensation, church and state are two distinct institutions ordained by God and answerable to Him for their respective tasks.

2) Civil authority is ordained by God and given the power of the sword.

3) No government is autonomous or separated from God.

4) When governments seek to be autonomous, it is the duty of the church to criticize them.

5) However, obedience to government authority is a sacred duty for every Christian. Civil law must be scrupulously followed, unless it is contrary to the Word of God.

(For additional reflection refer to 2 Chronicles 26:16-20; Psalm 2:10-12; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; and 1 Peter 2:13-17)

Last but not least, we are reminded "above all, we are to commit ourselves to regular prayer for those who govern, that God may prosper their imperfect efforts to nurture life, justice, freedom, and peace."

Roy Tanner