TWO ULTIMATE POWERS; CHURCH/GOVERNMENT
The cosmic struggle for power has always been between two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world temporarily ruled by Satan and the Kingdom of Christ which resides spiritually through His people. All power can be partitioned out to one of these two kingdoms. Now as Christians we believe that Christ ultimately rules both kingdoms. He is the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” For reasons wrapped up in the divine mind, God has allowed Satan to exert control over the kingdoms of this earth. In the parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt 13:24ff) Christ notes that in this present age Satan even plants certain alien forces into the heart of Christ’s kingdom. In other words we can expect that there will be a continual battle between the two kingdoms until the end of time. Only then will Christ come and assume rule over everything at the final judgment.
This is all to say that Christians live in a world of two intermingled kingdoms. They live in Christ’s kingdom where He rules in His people directly. But they live in the world as well and are to a certain degree to obey the secular authorities while they exist in this domain. The church is an outpost of one kingdom living temporarily in the land of another, much like Israel living in Goshen. This does not mean that the relationship with the secular realm is peaceful. The church must continually be on her guard as she fights the evil around her. Her posture is be alert both in an defensive and offensive way.
How is the church first to identify the secular power? The answer given by Scripture is that secular power resides primarily in secular governments. The book of Revelation was written by John primarily against the Babylon of that day, the Roman government. John is giving a clarion call to the church to be faithful to Christ in the face of great persecution. He further comforts believers that they shall win in the end even in the face of martyrdom. Now governments are not the only secular foe. There are other minor outposts of secular power as in corporations, universities, local gangs, etc. But government is the main rival kingdom to Christ. It was the government that slew the prophets (under the Jewish theocracy). It was the government that persecuted the apostles (Acts chapters 3 & 4). And throughout history various governments have risen up to fight the spiritual kingdom of Christ, whether that be a religious or secular government. It is clear that the most formidable enemy of the church is always the secular government. Psalm 2 makes this clear.
“The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed.”
That governments are the chief enemy of Christ’s kingdom is not surprising. Governments have been established to rule and ruling naturally leads to power. Those in power never accept a competing power. Now we must not go too far in assessing the evil of governments. In a functional sense governments are not intrinsically evil but part of God’s plan. Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 both command citizens of Christ’s kingdom to obey and honor the rulers of the secular kingdom. This submission is temporary; nevertheless it is real and binding in time. Truly there will come a day when God’s people will enter their homeland forever at which time the host kingdom (like Egypt) will be destroyed. But until that time the people of God must act like strangers and foreigners and as such must obey their host to the degree it is does not violate a law of their true King. The subjects of the kingdom of Christ must never expect their sojourn to be easy. The Egyptians would prefer not to have the Israelites in their land. But they must be there; hard conditions will be laid upon them. In the future the two agendas will clash and a great battle will ensue. In a real way the battle has already started. Minor skirmishes happen all the time in this present age when members of Christ’s kingdom find the rule of the secular kingdom intolerable. The aforementioned parable of the wheat and the tares points to a great battle at the end when Christ will come and assert his rule over the entire universe and judge the secular kingdom. What needs to be understood by those in Christ’s kingdom is that the secular kingdoms of the world are never an ally of the spiritual kingdom. Many Christians do not understand this and are duped into a untenable alliance.
Understanding the different ways that they kingdoms of this earth attempt to persecute church would be a helpful war manual. Knowing the tactics of the enemy is always a necessary element in warfare strategy. How do the governments of this world ruled by their master, Satan, relate to the church? There are four general ways.
The government(s) unleash an all-out war against the church. Such governments make it known openly that the church is a threat to the power structures of the secular government and must be eliminated. Such was the case in the Chinese ‘cultural revolution’ under Mao Tse Tung after 1949. The government’s openly atheistic agenda moved it to destroy the church through severe persecution and ‘re-education’ of the youth. A similar response of the government happened in France in 1572, when the ruling Catholic authorities plotted to eliminate all vestiges of evangelical (protestant) Christianity in that land. This led to the St. Bartholomew Day massacre where up to 70,000 French Protestants called Huguenots were brutally murdered in the course of several days, an event for which the nation of France has never fully recovered.
A second way the government purposes to persecute the kingdom of Christ is through external pressure to cooperate with the secular power no matter what. This is what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s when Adolf Hitler forced many churches to support his evil. He did this by assuring them of his support for the church and making veiled threats of hardship if they did not support him. The German church submitted to the government and thereby became complicit in all the horrors generated by the evil regime. Here the church yielded to cowardice and convenience.
A third way the government can persecute the church is through a very subtle form of oppression that comes through a secular-Christo alliance. Here the church buys into the agenda of the government thinking its agenda is sympathetic to the Christian faith. Here the church, through party allegiance, aligns itself to certain elements of the government and forms a de facto political party. Such was the case when Christianity thrived under the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The state church became an arm of the government and in the end it led to some very difficult years. The church needs to be continually reminded that when she aligns itself with the government she is aligning herself with a sleeping lion which in the end will more than gladly eat her alive. This phenomenon is seen in many western nations today especially America. Here the church has become infatuated with a moralistic political ideology (conservatism) and sides with it. When the church is enticed by the overtures of a moralistic government she is falling into a trap she has fallen into many times before.
A fourth tactic of government to persecute the church is by an open but deceitful policy of cooperation which leads to the church becoming an arm of the government. When this happens the church loses her prophetic voice. Here the church is actually more than a party in the government; it is the government itself. She is now in control of the secular realm as well as the spiritual. But this only leads to trouble. This can easily lead to oppressive state churches that persecute Christian minorities. Such was the case in the brief reign of Oliver Cromwell. (1653-58). But this reign did nothing to further the cause of the Christian church. So while the external church ‘reigned’ in Jerusalem, the true church was hiding in the caves of the earth.
This leads us to conclude that the true church of Jesus Christ is never acceptable to the governments of the world no matter how agreeable the government is. The war against Christ’s kingdom takes many forms but in the end every government always has an end game and that end game is to eliminate the voice of ‘Christ alone’ from the public square.
So how do Christians in American 2021 deal with the government, for that is where the rubber hits the road? The first thing is to remember two principles. First, the government has a purpose in God’s overall plan. Government was instituted by God to reward good and punish evil in the civic-societal realm. The government is a gift of God to keep relative peace in any culture so that the real mission of the church may go forth. In this sense the Roman Empire of the First Century was a real boon to the Christian cause for it provided that peaceful environment. Second, the government never has the best interest of the church in mind. Governments exist for power and self-perpetuation. Governments normally care deeply for morality because morality gives them an easier job in ruling. However governments have no sympathy with the gospel message itself, which they would love to emasculate if possible.
Keeping these two principles in mind, this is how Christians in America should relate to the government.
Christians must obey the government whenever possible, in particular where the government’s aim is to promote peace and order without attempting to step on God’s authority over the church.
Christians are not to be revolutionaries trying to upend the stability of culture or existing laws unless the Christian is explicitly commanded to disobey God. Therefore where a law exists that is evil but does not force a Christian to disobey God that law should be resisted through proper peaceful channels but never in a revolutionary/violent way. Christians in America should stand opposed to abortion and the gay agenda which aims to change the fabric of the traditional family but they should do so by well-reasoned argumentation from pulpits and in public conduits. This includes a call for national repentance both in the church and in society at large.
Resistance to the government should only occur when laws or executive orders prevent Christians from some aspect of divine obedience. However, this resistance must never be violent. Rather it should be suffused with meekness and grace, recalling the words of Jesus to turn the other cheek so that your enemy might see your good works and glorify your God who is in heaven.
Laws that cause inconvenience to the church that are both clearly given for the weal of society in general and are equally imposed on all elements of society equally, secular and religious, must be generally obeyed. It is in these instances that government is aligning with their God-given role of protecting its citizenship.
No matter what course the church chooses to adopt, it must always preach the gospel to her opponents in a gracious manner and to show the love of Christ as far as conscience will allow.