“Men must be governed by God, or they will be ruled by tyrants.” – William Penn
The 2024 election cycle is in the books. In the absolute scheme of things whether our candidate won or lost, or maybe we did not even have a candidate in the race – the results do not matter for our ultimate destination. They will impact the journey along the way, but we need to elevate ourselves above the fray and take a spiritual viewpoint. No matter which political party occupies the White House or holds the majority on Capitol Hill, as Christians, and as Americans, we have a duty to treat each other with charity, respect, and civility, regardless on our opinion on how to carry out matters of public policy.
We have become a nation of opposites in politics. Politics is based on power, and power always causes divisions. We have divided our nation into “good” and “bad” or “us” and “them.” Today’s America seems resolved to hate the other side. American elections are typically won by candidates who convince voters they are facing an enemy they cannot defeat, and the candidate is the one who will defeat their enemy. At one time, this “enemy” was Germany, Japan, or the Soviet Union. Today, the “enemy” is the other party. The more polarized we become, the less functional our society becomes.
Living in a democratic republic we elect each other to office, hold each other accountable, support each other through our taxes, trade with each other in commerce, and most importantly live with each other in the community. Diversity and differences are good. God made each of us unique. He also intended for us to share a common foundation as people made in His image. We are called to see others as a person to love, not a problem to solve or neighbor to convert from the dark side.
America’s founders believed morality to be essential to self-governance.
Our constitutional checks and balances only go so far. A Government “of the people, by the people, for the people” requires a people capable of self-governance. A free people can govern each other only if they can govern themselves. John Adams famously wrote that the American constitution was written “only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Adams understood democracy to be inherently adversarial in its practice and is “wholly inadequate” to the task of holding a nation together if its people do not, cannot, and have no reason to love their neighbor.
One hundred years ago, President Calvin Coolidge identified the very problem we now face: “The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.” These foundational teachings have ceased to be “universal in our country” and are even unacceptable to many. As a result, the society and government they support are falling apart.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian author and Soviet dissident, in his 1978 Harvard University commencement address “A World Split Apart”, noted the United States had placed too much faith in an unhealthy reliance on government for solving social problems and coping with examples of injustice. The primary reason for our growing weakness was a result of the idea that man is independent of God and has responsibility to only himself. We had lost the concept of a ‘Creator’ to restrain our passions and our irresponsibility. He added that since we are all fated to death, our task on earth must be spiritual and the fulfillment of a duty so our journey may become above all an experience of moral growth. Instead, we have become engrossed in the search for the best ways to obtain material goods with carefree consumption. Our path out of this ever-mounting crisis is a return to Christian spirituality. “No one on earth has any other way out—but upward,” Solzhenitsyn said.
There have always have been and always will be leaders acting God-like in their rule. As we continue to move further away from God and towards a more secular society, we create a gap for those who govern to function in His place. These ‘God-like’ leaders can become tyrants appearing as a protector and a champion of the people. Most tyrants falsely claim an inspiration from God as well as a love of God. They will find religious ideas permissible insofar as they are useful and flattering to themselves. Tyranny gets its essence from power. It is in opposition to liberty. It becomes deflated when love is introduced because it is seemingly impossible to get across a message of love and power simultaneously.
Jesus spent zero time trying to change the political culture. He spent His time changing hearts. His first followers were anything but a homogeneous lot. Matthew was a tax collector for the Roman Empire, Simon the Zealot was aligned with a movement seeking to overthrow the Roman Empire. Jesus included both Jews and Gentiles, who despised each other, women who were devalued in Jewish society, as well as Roman soldiers and jailers, along with Jewish priests and Pharisees. His movement soon encompassed people from fifteen different language groups (Acts 2:9–11). Despite these differences and various ‘tribes’, they were transformed and unified.
The first section in Chapter 13 of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is titled,
Obedience in Authority. Paul is addressing the problem of Christians relating to Roman authority. Paul builds on the book of Wisdom (6:1–3), where it is stated that kings and magistrates need to rule by consent of God. From this perspective believers who render obedience to the governing authorities are obeying the one who is highest in command. Paul also is noting that Caesar has the responsibility to make just ordinances and is not entitled to obedience when such obedience nullifies God’s moral authority. Too often Christians interpret Jesus’ words about rendering to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God’s as two separate circles—one for Caesar’s things and one for God’s things. Yet the context of these verses is worth noticing. Jesus asked whose image was on the coin. The people replied, “Caesar’s.” Yet every member of Jesus’ largely Jewish audience would have known that Caesar himself was created in God’s image. Caesar’s circle was within God’s circle.
I believe God wants man’s politics to be seasoned with grace, concern, love for our fellow people, and a willingness to work out our differences without being hateful. God transcends politics. Before the Declaration of Independence, before the Constitution, before the Bill of Rights, and before the various laws and statutes from over two and a half centuries, there was the foundation for all law and order, God’s Word, the Bible, and its two commandments – love God and love our neighbor.
There is only one viewpoint that matters, and that is God’s. He defines all that is right or wrong. Regardless of our political leanings, God expects us to side with His will and ways. As Christians and representatives of Jesus, we are called to love our neighbor, even the ones who oppose us. We are to bestow what Jesus would, bipartisan grace, and be governed by Him.
