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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Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality (Rm. 12:12, 13).

The three–rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer–if any are to be fulfilled in the life of a Christian, each must rest upon the other. For patience in tribulation will not come apart from rejoicing in hope, nor will it come apart from incessant prayer. However, our hope will not come apart from tribulation, for the apostle says earlier in his letter, “We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rm. 5:3-4). And incessant prayer will not come apart from rejoicing in hope and patience in tribulation, for hope and patience are the wellspring of godly supplication. The three are a three-stranded rope, where together the three are strong and stay a Christian’s life, but remove even one, and the others’ strength is diminished.

And when these three are found in the life of the Christian, it overflows practically in the contribution to the needs of the saints and the showing of hospitality. For the one who rejoices in hope of his future Inheritance by necessity does not rejoice in the world’s temporal pleasures and thereby uses his resources for the needs of the saints rather than for worldly gain. Also, the one who is patient in tribulation, because of his own suffering, sympathizes with the plight of his fellow brothers and sisters and seeks to aid them in their need and suffering. And, finally, the one who does not cease to pray to the Lord, is constantly fixed upon doing the will of the Lord, which is to love his brothers and sisters in the same manner that Christ loved him, suffering even unto death for sake of the saints. Each of these–hope, suffering, and incessant prayer–hold the Christian fast and overflow in a wellspring of generosity to the needs of the Church.

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By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward (Heb. 11:24-26).

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” was the declaration of our Lord to those who would listen on the Sermon on the Mount, and it is the testimony of countless lives of men and women who have looked upon the offerings of this world and upon the suffering that comes with Christ and forsook the former for the latter.

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There exists a great misunderstanding with regards to Christian giving, regarding how much of one’s income one is to give and where that portion is to be given. The same questions are asked over and over again: Should I give a tenth (a tithe) of my income to the church? Should that tithe be of my pre-tax or post-tax income? Where should I give my tithe, should it be to the general fund of the church, or can I give some of it elsewhere? On and on the questions go, and on and on for decades Christian pastors have been more than happy to give answers to those questions.

If you have been indoctrinated properly, you know beyond a shadow of doubt that your tithe is to be of your gross (pre-tax) income, and all of it is to be designated to the general fund of your local church. The only exception to this rule is if the church is in the midst of a capital campaign to build a new structure for their church, then one’s tithe may be designated to that fund without retribution from God.

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These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Heb. 11:13-16).

Driving home from the work the other day, I spotted a bumper sticker on the back of some man’s truck which said in essence, “God gives freedom to those who are willing to die to protect it.” This sticker echoes the sentiment of many who call themselves Christians in America, who love their country dearly and who have gone to fight or have sent sons or daughters to fight for the sake of this country. And, on the surface, our freedom is a great gift accomplished by those who were willing to die for their country, for because of their sacrifice, we live in relative freedom and from fear of attack and persecution.

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In his letter to the Hebrews, the apostle to the Hebrews gives what is perhaps the most quoted definition of faith by Christians, namely, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). The word that is translated “things” in the English Standard Version is pragmaton, from whose root we get the English word pragmatic. When we speak of things pragmatic, we speak of things that are practical, of things that are put into action and are demonstrative. Therefore, I believe that the King James Version translates the passage rightly, saying, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Indeed this is valid in the context as well, for, in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle shows, example after example, first the assurance and hope of faithful men of the past and then how that assurance and hope is manifested practically in the lives of those who had faith.

This translation is validated further by the testimony of the Scriptures, for true faith that rests in the blessed assurance of things to come always manifests in the lives of those who have faith. Thus, the brother of our Lord, James, writes in his letter:

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Having attended a Southern Baptist college and seminary for the better part of a decade, I have what is commonly called, “The Great Commission,” imprinted on my brain. At Southeastern Baptist Seminary, it was / is not uncommon to hear multiple messages preached on the Great Commission every semester and to see in its buildings (Jacqumin-Simmons in particular) the passage from Matthew 28 spelled out in golden letters:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt. 28:19, 20).

Now the desire to fulfill the final command given by our Lord to his apostles is a great one indeed, and being that it was the final instructions given by Christ, the Great Commission should have a profound impact on how we operate as a Church. And I do not make the case of some, who argue that this command was issued to the disciples alone, but that it is effective till “the end of the age,” when Christ returns as our Champion, and all things are made new.

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The Southern Baptist Convention, began, a most Baptist affiliations do, as a gathering together Baptist churches for the purpose of centralizing resources for the propagation of the Gospel around the world. Fast forward over a hundred years later, you will find a corporate conglomerate that dictates doctrine, that owns the largest publisher of Christian literature in world (viz. LifeWay Christian Resources), that operates its own Willow Tree figurine, VeggieTales, and The Shack distribution stores (viz. LifeWay Christian Stores), that possesses its own insurance agency (viz. Guidestone Financial Resources), that has created and owns its own translation of the Bible (viz. the Holman Christian Standard version), that owns and operates six American seminaries, and that does missions through the International and North American Mission Boards. This transformation is indicative of the shift in the SBC from its former role as the mere centralization of resources for the sake of the Gospel to its present role as a massive, bureaucratic entity that makes preaching the Gospel to the nations a great ordeal.

To understand the great difficulty that the SBC causes with regards to missions, one simply has to look at a decently sized Southern Baptist church. In those churches you might find missionaries who go through the International Mission Board into the nations, but you are likely to find a greater number being sent out directly by those churches thereby by-passing the IMB. The purpose is not that those churches desire to establish their own international identity apart from the IMB, but it is because the IMB has made the process of sending out missionaries so difficult that many who would desire to be missionaries have looked upon the IMB as a great barrier rather than as a great help. They look at the mandatory education requirements and the strict doctrinal conformities and then turn their backs on the IMB and its numerous hoops and look for other options.

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