Should a Christian be elected to serve in secular human government?

One of the things that is most striking in American politics is that a prospective civil servant has to have a religious ideology. Since it requires significant funding to organize a campaign and to get your message out to the voting public, the resources marshaled by the faithful are of significant value. This support however, doesn’t come without a price. The issues that will be advocated by a particular official carry with it, the religious ideology and legislative agenda from constituents desiring to implement their brand of morality and family values on the rest of society. The thing is, though, are the followers of Jesus Christ to be so invested with the ways of the world. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this matter.

John 17: 6a, 9a, 14-16

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

NOTE: Jesus said that He was not praying for the world and emphasizes twice that His disciples are “not of this world.”

John 18: 36a

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.

1 John 2: 15-16

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

NOTE: Not only is this an admonition not to become attached to the world but Satan is called the god of this world (Cp. John 16: 11a; 2 Corinthians 4: 4), and the ways of the world are under the influence of Satan (Cp. Ephesians 2: 2). Since this is the case, why would or should a person of faith think that their involvement in the human government of this Age is going to make a difference, or for that matter, is pleasing to God? There is a good principle of “separateness” found in 2 Corinthians 6: 17. Besides, according to 1 Corinthians 6: 1a, 2a, believers will judge the world as well as angels, so why not be content to wait for God’s government to be inaugurated when Jesus returns?

Let’s take a step back and look at things from a Constitutional perspective. The last sentence in Article VI says: “but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” The First Amendment which stipulates government ‘neutrality’ in matters of religion, prohibits as a practical matter of governance, any entanglement between elected officials and religious groups, organizations, affiliates or PAC’s representing a particular religious ideology. This also means that someone who is a person of faith taking an oath to obey the U.S. Constitution cannot exercise the duties of their elected or appointed office, authority invested in them to endorse or enact public policy resulting from a religious motivation or agenda; which offends the Constitution.

CONCLUSION: So, how are believers to conduct themselves in this present world system? I mentioned earlier about the notion of being “separate” from the world [in a sense] because its form is passing away (Cp. 1 Corinthians 7: 31), and to reiterate, Jesus said that He and His followers were “not of this world.” I think perhaps Jehovah’s Witnesses have the right idea; at least, in principle. So, what are we supposed to do? Some helpful guidelines are found below in the following:

Romans 13: 1-8a

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right; but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.  For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.

Titus 2: 12

. . . teaching us, that denying the impiety and the worldly desires, soberly and righteously and piously we may live in the present age, Young’s Literal Translation.

Robert Randle

776 Commerce St Apt 701

Tacoma, WA

August 16, 2017

robertrandle51@yahoo.com

The abortion issue and where or when Life begins

The biggest issue in the debate over abortion is not just about women’s health, the right to choose, family planning, access to contraceptives, or even ‘privacy’ but rather, defining when or where does human life begin. To many, if not most Christians, the answer is obvious; but is it, really? I am not taking sides on the abortion issue between those camps of the PRO-LIFE or PRO-CHOICE; the reader will have to decide that for themselves. In this brief study I will start with the bedrock passage from the Bible on where all of this is centered, as below in the following:

Jeremiah 1: 5a

Before I formed you in the womb I knew

you, before you were born I set you apart;

NOTE: Sound pretty convincing, does it not? However, there is a little problem here that is often overlooked, the word “before.” It does not say I knew you at the moment of conception in the womb, or as you were being formed in the womb, but pre-existent to that. If indeed, Life begins “at” conception then clearly this verse cannot be used to support that position. This is a knowing that exists on a level in the mind of God (??) prior to human existence or biological conception.

The prophet Job seems to have some interesting things to say about being born while suffering in his despair and trial of afflictions.

Job 10: 18-19

Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
 and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

NOTE: Is Job saying in the underlined portion that it would be better if he had been aborted?

Job 34: 4

The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Job 27: 3

As long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils

NOTE: It appears that “life” has to do with receiving the breath/spirit of God, so does this happen prenatally in the womb or after emerging from it?

Now, let’s look at the first man (Adam).

Genesis 2: 7

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

NOTE: This is consistent because it is only “after” the breath of life was received from the Creator does one become a “living person/being/ or soul.” Again, when does this happen?

Job 3: 16

Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?

Ecclesiastes 6: 5a

Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious (Ref. Holman Christian Standard Bible).

NOTE: If a stillborn baby is not conscious, then it would also be logical or rational to conclude that the embryo never was, and an indication of life, being alive or having “liveness” is to have sentience or conscious awareness.

CONCLUSION: There certainly is no sanction in the Bible for an abortion but at the same time, there is no passage in the Bible that definitively mentions that life, at least in the sense that humans experience or understand it, begins at conception in the womb. This does not mean that there are not some places in the Bible that strongly suggest that the practice or the closest modern equivalent was known in times past. The term used was typically “ripping open the pregnant women” (Cp. 2 Kings 8: 12; 2 Kings 15: 16; Hosea 13: 16; Amos 1: 13).

Robert Randle

776 Commerce St Apt 701

Tacoma, WA 98402

August 15, 2017

Randle51@yahoo.com