Now that we have the proper perspective of the separation of Church and state, let’s discuss the Christian’s responsibility towards the state.
The whole Bible, including the New Testament, makes it clear that worldly governments have a divine purpose. They have been instituted by God to punish evil and reward what is good. That is the biblical mandate for any government of the world.
This requires an understanding of two biblical principles. First, all who are not in Christ are under the Law. In dealing with sinful humanity, a law that punishes evil is necessary to instill fear and levy just consequences. Second, God is sovereign and raises nations and brings them down based on their fulfillment of that mandate.
The Bible spells out that one day there will be a new heaven and earth under complete governance of Jesus. Until that day, the Church is the example of that. No earthly government can hope to fulfill that. We should not expect the state to fulfill what the Church has been destined to be. That is futility and vanity.
So the mandate of the Church is to be the witness of righteousness by faith and the Life of the Spirit to a world under the death of the Old Covenant. We obey the laws of the rulers God has placed over us. We express grace and mercy through acts of kindness and other good works. There is no law against the fruit of the Spirit.
A small note here: If the Bible is true, and God has placed our leaders over us, then we should be careful what we say about them, whether it’s Bill Clinton or George Bush. Too many people who profess Christ tear down leaders with their words, calling them idiots or other crude names because we don’t agree with their political policies or actions. This is dangerous if God has placed them there, first of all. Second, they are worthy of our grace and love, not derision and hate. Standing for God-given convictions is never wrong, nor is expressing them in a loving fashion. But to slander others isn’t love. We should be careful whom we consider to be an enemy.
But there is a balance here, as well. To the degree that there are nations led by sinful men, there can be unjust laws. When obedience to God and worldly law come into conflict, the Church must obey God, especially in the preaching of the person of Christ, all the while willfully submitting to the authority and suffering whatever punishment they decide, even death. Everyone from Jesus, Peter, James, Paul and others in the New Testament were examples of this.
They did not protest or lead boycotts or lobby representatives in order to change the laws. They obeyed God and suffered the consequences because they knew there would be a greater reward for doing so. And they also understood that those leaders would stand before God for their actions, seeing the eternal nature of the situation, and they took the opportunity to love and suffer, pitying them instead of hating them.
What does all this have to do with Christians and war? Don’t worry. I’ll get there soon.
Peace.