Mark 12
How do the people of God live in
relationship to the government? This
question has long been a point of contention.
For the Jews at Jesus’ time they struggled with being under the Roman Empire. Jesus’ comments to render unto Caesar the
things of Caesar would have been unpopular in His day. Their desire was to be their own nation
again.
Christians too have struggled with our relationship
to the secular powers and authorities. We
recognize government as a gift from God to bring peace and order to
society. Some have gone so far as to say
that earthly governments serve the purpose of implementing God’s laws and
enforcing biblical righteousness in the world.
But, there have been times when we the government behaved in ways that were
absolutely evil. What then? How should Christians respond to a government
like the Third Reich or Soviet Russia? What
about when there is a great mix of good and bad, like our own context in U.S.
America?
The call to render unto Caesar is tempered
by the corollary to render, “to God the things that are God’s.” Well, then, what is God’s? The Bible says all things belong to Him. But can we be faithful to God and to
country? Sometimes. Perhaps even often. But not always.
We view ourselves, at least we U.S.
American’s do, as free agents who get to decide where our loyalties lie and
what we will or will not do. This is not
the message Jesus gives when He says to love the Lord your God with all your
hearth and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This has us putting others before ourselves.
We experience Jesus’ love in the fact
that He put his rights aside for us; rights to condemn us, to not suffer, to
live innocently, etc. All these He set
aside that He might redeem us and make us His own by His death and resurrection
because He loves us.
When love is the heart of our politics
we will have to make hard choices, sometimes unpopular ones. As God’s people, however, our desire is
always that people would know the God who has loved us, so that in His love
they may love Him in response to His grace.
God, life in this world has many hard
choices. Help me show love for You and
for my neighbor in mine that You may be glorified. Amen.
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