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Hero For Christ

Earthly Powers





Across this nation, there are Christian pastors who have declared themselves the sole apostles of God’s truth within their churches. They equate obedience to themselves with obedience to God, and condemn those who oppose them to damnation. Are they justified in their claims? Further, there are those who consider our American nation to be the modern equivalent of the ancient nation of Israel. Are Americans really a “chosen people”? Finally, an increasing number of elected officials, at all levels of government, have announced themselves as divinely appointed to do the will of God. Is it really a religious duty to support Christian politicians? Or do all of these positions represent abuses of the law of Moses, and violations of the will of Christ?

In the time of the ancient Israelites, God interacted directly with few people, most of whom played special roles in society, either as prophets, patriarchs or rulers. For the average citizen, therefore, the only way to have a relationship with God was to participate in the relationship established between God and the nation.

At the most direct level, this was accomplished by obedience to the law, which established Israel as a “peculiar treasure” to God, “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6-7). Accordingly, the Israelites sanctified themselves by eating only a small range of foods, prepared in ritually approved ways (Leviticus 11:3-7). This reminded them they were holy. They also avoided mixing differing things together, such as different types of cloth, seeds or draft animals (Leviticus 22:9-11). This was a symbolic reminder that they should avoid either mixing their bloodlines or adulterating their traditions. Finally, they observed yearly memorials of their miraculous escape from Egypt. This reminded them that they had a special relationship with God.

For situations not covered by the law, however, the people needed other voices to tell them God’s will. If they were lucky, they lived in the time of prophets, who spoke directly to God. Otherwise, they had to rely on the priests and scribes, who studied the law most closely, and were best able to interpret its demands.

All of that changed with the advent of Christ, because Christ gave ordinary people a personal relationship with God. Accordingly, a Christian’s final authority is not the priest, the minister or the law, but rather the Holy Spirit of truth, which Christ promised would dwell within each person who truly accepts God (John 14:17, 26).

The purpose of the Christian minister, therefore, is to guide each person to their own relationship with God through Christ, and not to serve as God’s earthly representative in of himself or herself. Any ministers who claim otherwise are either acting out of honest misunderstanding, or else deliberately misrepresenting Christianity for power and gain. They are placing themselves as a barrier between the people and God, whereas Christ came to take those barriers away.

As far as the American nation is concerned, there is no longer any such thing as a single chosen people of God. Christ called all nations into discipleship (Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:47). Thus, to assume any one nation has all the favor of God is to assume too much. The entire earth is Christ’s kingdom, and we have been warned that “a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand” (Mark 3:24).

Finally, the claim of politicians to be appointed as agents of God’s will should be viewed with extreme caution. We are theoretically all appointed as agents of God’s will, yet the acquisition of earthly power is no guarantee of God’s favor or righteousness. The ancient kings of Israel were appointed by God, yet a casual reading of the book of Kings is enough to show that many of them were evil and corrupt. Nor are patriotism and obedience to earthly governments religious duties by any stretch of the imagination. It was Jesus himself who established the principle of distinguishing between the church and the state when he said “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:15-21).
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