Dear Reader,
I am told that we have an election. You may have heard the same. No one well-informed need hear anything more — to that I am quite sensitive. Many are ill-informed, but by now making a case one way or the other may have little impact.
But there is something that I must say! It is evident from my musings that I hew to a Christian doctrine, very much depending on the wisdom of Scripture. Some who agree with my outlook, I have found, do not consider civic duty a component of the sacred call.
I intend to show that this is not even remotely wise.
Where Caesar comes in
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus said.1 Therefore Christians pay their taxes without grumbling, and that lets us off the hook, right?
Wrong. Look carefully.
First of all, let us consider why He came in the first place. At a cursory glance, one might venture to guess that it was to show us that a perfect life could be lived. But the Scripture is plain that we cannot live a perfect life.
OK, next idea. Since He healed so many, and since the people came in droves for the express purpose to be healed, we might gather that robust health was His aim. There were, however, multitudes on other continents who also suffered. He would have needed a much longer earthly life, and many times as much traveling to fill that bill!
Well, then, many will answer that He came to save us. Yes, but let us not be cavalier. The power of the Cross is God’s willingness — His express desire — to offer to us a vicarious sacrifice to be the propitiation for our rebellion. Jesus was (and is) the Lamb of God.
So here is Messiah, bantering and dueling with religious leaders about taxes. Not exactly. They were seeking to trap Him, to catch him in some cunning lawyer’s trick. His answer was more than astute. He turned the topic, as He always did, to the true need at hand. Just as governments lay claim to our property, all the more so God lays claim to our lives. Furthermore, we are made in His image, giving us dignity far greater than any emperor’s glory. And lastly, Jesus was to bring about the kingdom of God, wherein His temple would be the body of believers, and no building or official organization, no matter how solemn.
Note carefully also, Dear Reader, that those who had posed this question “marvelled.” They understood. Now it is our turn.
Where duty comes in
Laziness and inattentiveness are frowned upon in Scripture. Nowhere is a devil-may-care attitude applauded. Certainly faith calls on us to release some reins, but not all.
I would ask my fellow believers whether a sick child’s plaintive whinings should be heeded. Of course, they would answer; the child is in his parents’ care, and cannot tend to his own needs. And what of the more mundane? Would we not sweep the floor? put up a fence to keep a rabbit from the garden? lay upon ourselves the discipline necessary to improve our lot? Yes, yes, and yes.
“But we are not of this world,2” one might protest. “Governments are instituted by God.3 Come out of her, my people!4”
All right. Each of these is an excuse, misconstruing the Scripture. The first misquote is about our citizenship in the kingdom of God, which is already among us. This is not even related to our thesis. Is there not the admonition to “occupy till I come5”? “Occupy” is active and deliberate. So get active and deliberate!
The second misquote does not relieve us of responsibility. God has the final say, but He has given us free will. And free will implies will. So if we were to will something to be so, it stands to reason that we would do whatever is in our power to make it so. Will, then!
The third misquote is about being intimate with the world system. Speaking up is not harlotry. The sad fact is that whatever knowledge, invention or amenable state of affairs clever people bring about, wicked ones will sully. Peace in any society is fragile, and, like the aforementioned garden — and that precious child — it requires tending. So tend!
Where we go out (or not)
A clearer understanding of Christ’s message and our duty should drive us to be more present in our age: to practice citizenship. And citizenship requires using what voice we have, and hopefully increasing our say-so in the future. But that can only come about by being responsibly engaged.
The one fatal civic error that Christians commit, if I may be so bold as to mention, is to wait for an escape. For the moment I will withhold my opinion of this idea; suffice it to say that any leader of a family will easily enough extrapolate such leadership to his broader sphere, and thereby become and remain engaged.
Were there to come a world-wide escape, rescuing us from drudgery and the need to deal with things profane, then let that be an interruption of the normal course of things. Let it come as a surprise. Pay attention! Be caught leading.
Vote!
.
Mark 12, Matthew 22
John 18
Romans 13
Revelation 18
Luke 19