faith for faith

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed (Rm. 13:7).

If there is one command given by the apostle Paul concerning submission to the governing authorities that is practiced the least by American Christians it is the final one on his brief section concerning the matter, namely, “Pay to all what is owed to them: … respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” While we might grumblingly be obedient to the prior command to pay our taxes, we often neglect the debt of respect and honor that is owed to our governing authorities.

While the case might be made that our governing authorities are wicked and depraved (which they likely are), the issue of honoring and respecting them is not dependent upon their character and practices but upon him who put them in authority, namely God. Regardless of who is in office or who put them there by political vote, God ultimately is the one who put them in their place, and therefore they are to be honored and respected in acknowledgement of God’s ordinance.

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Unfortunately, rebellion against government by those who call themselves Christians is not an uncommon occurrence. The reasons behind such rebellion, be it actual or philosophical, more often than not has more to do with one’s political theory than one’s desire to live peaceably with all men (cf. Rm. 12:18). For despite one’s belief where true authority should be vested (e.g. in the Magna Carta or in the king; in the Constitution or in the governors), authority truly resides only where there is actual power. For any human document is only as powerful as its government allows it to be, and where there is perceived conflict between the human code and the human government, the government is the one to whom the Christian must submit, for it is the government who has authority.

And though exceptions might be brought up in the case of the national Israel in the Old Testament, national Israel is unique in that she was governed by a document written by God. Therefore in its case, not to submit to the law of the land was tantamount to rebellion against God himself, for he was the Author of the law.

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Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Rm. 13:1).

Submission to government is a difficult task for any full-blooded American. For the American has two natural inclinations working against him. First, the American is, as with all other men, a son of Adam and is therefore by nature a son of rebellion. Second, the American by national heritage, is a son of political rebellion, having descended from those who rebelled against the ruling authority of her infancy, viz. England. Therefore, the American is controlled by two rebellious passions: a natural one that rebels against God, and a philosophical and political one that, by social indoctrination, rebels against the governing authorities which God has put into place.

Having come from such a heritage, the American is not only rebellious, but he is unashamedly rebellious. For he has been taught from his youth that he is endowed with certain “inalienable rights,” and when he believes that he is robbed of those rights, that robbery is not merely an injustice that he must endure, but it is his duty to rebel. For this reason, America’s brief history is interpreted in a amiable and cavalier fashion by its citizens, where the “good” citizens of this country rose up against the “evil” despotism of England, and, by God’s favor, defeated and overthrew the despot.

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For some reason, former president Jimmy Carter caused quite a stir when he decided to leave the Southern Baptist Convention for the sake of some “peace group” brought together by Nelson Mandela called “The Elders.” According to an article that Carter composed, his main reason is the supposed lessened and demeaned role of women that is common in the SBC and apparently in Christianity altogether being that The Elders is not a Christian organization. Because of the issue of women’s roles, Carter has found it necessary to leave the church and the God of Christianity for the sake of a political organization, in essence leaving the faith which he once claimed to have.

How should the church respond?
While the state of a man’s soul is never a flippant subject, it can be said of Carter as it has been said of other apostates, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1Jn. 2:19). Carter’s leaving the church for the sake of the role’s of women demonstrates that he was not “of us” to begin with. For, in spite of Carter’s political upbringing, the church is not some mere political party that can be left due to some seemingly random issue, for salvation resides in the God of the church alone.

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I know that what I am addressing is a very sensitive issue and an extremely weighty one. For the great atrocity of our day which is called abortion is nothing less that sanitized murder for sake of selfishness and convenience, and it is no less atrocious than the acts of the heathens who sacrifice their children for the sake of worship to their false gods. For abortion is essentially the same practice, except, instead of being practiced on an altar for worship of an idol, it is done on an surgeon’s table for the worship of one’s self. For we are a self-worshipping generation, and we have demonstrated that no sacrifice is too great to be placed upon the altar of our self-worship.

The vast majority of Christians view abortion in this way, and rightly condemn its practice. And among many Christians, abortion is their greatest worldly concern, and they therefore align themselves in the political arena with those politicians who claim to be against abortion in order that, by God’s grace, the practice of abortion might be made illegal. However, the issue of abortion has made many Christians adopt an “ends justifies the means” philosophy so that they are willing to throw their unabashed support behind any political candidate who stands against abortion though that person might otherwise be morally reprehensible.

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Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Rm. 12:19).

The heart of vengeance is the feeling of a debt being owed that was unjustly taken. The debt might be wounded pride, a great loss incited by evil, or any number of things. The natural man, when a loss is exacted upon him by unjust and evil means, seeks in his heart to right that wrong by exacting an equal blow to his debtor thinking that he can, by his own hand, balance the scale of justice. It is a flawed method of justice, for sin can never be righted by the acts or suffering of men, therefore an avenger will never be satisfied in his heart that his debt has been repaid while he lives, and his desire for vengeance will consume him the rest of his days.

For this reason, the Christian is admonished by the apostle not to seek retribution for himself, but to let God be the righter of all wrongs. For God alone can settle the record of sins, and he will do so swiftly and justly. For no act of sin will be hidden from Lord’s eyes on that Day when he judges the deeds and secrets of men by Christ Jesus (cf. Rm. 2:16). He will render to each according to his works (cf. Rm. 2:6) and will inflict eternal tribulation and distress upon those who oppose him and his people (cf. Rm. 2:9).

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If possible, as far as depends on you, live peaceably with all (Rm. 12:18).

In some ways, the Christian life is seemingly a paradoxical one. For, on the one hand, we all called into action against the powers of this age, and, on the other, we are called to endure them with patience. What makes the Christian life not paradoxical is the Gospel, for we are commanded to be active in the Gospel’s proclamation and in its demonstration in our lives, but with regards to all other matters, we are called to be passive. That is why the apostle instructs the church at Rome in his epistle to them, “As far as depends on you, live peaceably with all” (v. 12:18). In other words, in all matters that are dependent upon us and our personal opinions and not dependent upon the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to live lives that demonstrate peacefulness to the world.

For any time that any matter which is not the Gospel, be they political matters, social matters, or what have you, is brought forth by the church and is harped upon in a divisive manner, the Gospel is tainted and made to be second rate. For this reason, the apostle gives this instruction:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all (vv. 12:14-17).

For all these matters–persecution, rejoicing, mourning, social associations, and retribution–all these are subservient to the Gospel and should be utilized in such a way as to make Jesus Christ and his Gospel known to the world.

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What is hypocrisy? If you were to ask any person, the answer that you would likely get is, “Hypocrisy is practicing the opposite of what you preach.” While this is indeed true–that the one who is a hypocrite does not live in the same manner that he preaches, this contradictory living is merely a fruit of hypocrisy rather than the essence of hypocrisy. For if this were hypocrisy in its essence, all men would be hypocrites at some times, for all men are sinners.

To understand what hypocrisy is, we must understand its roots. The word “hypocrisy” comes directly from the Greek language, and it was a term used of actors who wore masks that covered their true identities. When Christ employs to term to speak of the Pharisees, he is condemning them for their mask-wearing–for their desire to appear holy and righteous before men not before God.

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He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day. ~John Bunyan

I have heard it said many times in my short life that it does not matter at what time during the day that a person seeks for God insofar as he does it. While I might chalk my contradictory belief up to personal experience, I must say that I cannot agree more with the above quote by John Bunyan. For I have found that on the days when my bed felt the softest and when the snooze button was easiest to press that my spiritual life has suffered the most. For, on those undisciplined days, rather than waking up early with a mind set against the Adversary, I wake up with mindset of flippancy, desiring to simply make it through another work day and return home so that I might rest.

And I believe that this is the great goal of the Adversary, to make our lives appear mundane and insignificant so that our personal holiness appears insignificant. So, rather than realizing that our efforts against the flesh and for the glory of God in our trivial dealings are far from trivial, we look at each passing day as the world looks at each passing day–without regard for God or eternity.

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Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rm. 13:8).

Though the above-mentioned verse may be taken out of its context for my purposes intended, I do believe the concept of living a life free of financial debt is a biblical one. For the Christian, as long as he owes debtors on this earth, he is a slave to two or more masters–to the Lord and to those whom he owes. And while one is indebted to financial lenders, he is under obligation by the law and the Lord to be faithful to those debts, though those debts may inhibit him from serving the Lord in a free and zealous way.

Through years of my own stupidity, I have enslaved myself to many masters. For I bought into the culture that declares that all should be able to partake of the luxuries of this world, and have, for several years, lived a life that’s luxuries have far exceeded my means.

For this reason, my wife and I, after many discussions, prayers, and pouring over of the heart of God revealed in the Scriptures, have decided to do something about the tremendous debt that we have. We have looked upon the world’s remedy (which is to finance things for thirty years or more), and have decided that that remedy is not the best way for us to serve and honor the Lord. Therefore, we are seeking, by God’s grace, to figure out a way that we can, as Christians in America, rid ourselves of our debt-masters in as short amount a time as possible, and live within our means the rest of our days, being ready to pick up and leave at a moment’s notice, if the Lord so desires.

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