HISTORY LESSON

R. Albert Mohler Jr. had this to say regarding the writings of Carl F. H. Henry and Bishop Augustine; 

“The emergence of the modern evangelical movement in the post World War II era brought a renewed concern for engagement with the culture and the political process. The late Carl F. H. Henry addressed evangelicals with a manifesto for Christian engagement in his landmark book The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism.

As Dr. Henry eloquently argued,

‘Disengagement from the critical issues of the day is not an option.  As the Christian worldview makes clear, our ultimate concern must be the glory of God.  Building from that, we understand that when we are instructed by Scripture to love God and then to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are given a clear mandate for the right kind of cultural engagement.’

Writing even as the Romans Empire fell, Augustine, the great bishop and theologian of the early church, made this case in his monumental work, The City of God. As Augustine explained,

‘Humanity is confronted by two cities--the City of God and the City of Man. The City of God is eternal, and takes as its sole concern the greater glory of God. In the City of God, all things are ruled by God's Word, and the perfect rule of God is the passion of all its citizens.  In the City of Man, however, the reality is very different. This city is filled with mixed passions, mixed allegiances, and compromised principles.   But this does not mean that the City of Man is ultimately unimportant, and it does not allow the church to forfeit its responsibility to love its citizens. Love of neighbor--grounded in our love for God--requires us to work for good in the City of Man.’”

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. [Christian Post, Sept 3, 2004]

Ninth President Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

DEFINITION

When we refer to the civil authority what are saying?  In a general sense the people who exercise authority over civilian affairs constitute the civil authority.  

When God established Israel as a nation, one of His top priorities included the social structure.  Moses himself served as the judicial authority, helping us to understand the necessity that judicial arbiters need to have recognition of and a relationship with God, as well as a competent knowledge of the law.   This means that the ideal public servant has both a spiritual connection with God and an understanding of how government works.

I Tim 2:1-6

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

Rom 13:1-10     NKJ

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

³For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.   ⁴For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.   ⁵Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. ⁷Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.  ⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

New Living Translation (Rom 13:1-10)

Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. ²So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God and punishment will follow. ³For the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well. ⁴The authorities are sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong. ⁵So you must obey the government for two reasons: to keep from being punished and to keep a clear conscience.
⁶Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid so they can keep on doing the work God intended them to do.   ⁷Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and import duties, and give respect and honor to all to whom it is due. 

⁸Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God's law. ⁹For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting--and any other commandment--are all summed up in this one commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God's requirements.
 

Message Bible(Rom 13:1-10)

Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it's God's order. So live responsibly as a citizen. ²If you're irresponsible to the state, then you're irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. ³Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you're trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.
Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you'll get on just fine, ⁴the government working to your advantage. But if you're breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren't there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. ⁵That's why you must live responsibly--not just to avoid punishment but also because it's the right way to live.  ⁶That's also why you pay taxes--so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. ⁷Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.  ⁸Don't run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. ⁹The law code--don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of--finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. ¹⁰You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.
 

Even though we choose to add responsibilities to the office, the number one role of the civil authority is to protect the peace.  Debate begins when we as citizens decide to assign additional powers to civil government or in how we define what all is included in protecting the peace.  If a society and its citizens are influenced by Judea-Christian belief then civil government will be limited in its scope.  If the Christian influence is lost, there will be a natural pull toward government and people will demand that it provide where religion has not.  The two powers balance out one another and where one fails the other will inevitably become abusive.  If voters are not informed of this we may not clearly understand our role and how to vote.

From an article posted 11/12/2006 on hammerblog by Ben Bull entitled, Should ignorant People Vote, he states:

“Do we really want people to go out and vote just for the sake of voting?  What if they are ignorant of the issues? Many people seem to vote only in a case of perceived crisis.  There’s voting and then there’s participation.” 

I thought this might be a helpful exercise in civil responsibility.  Before you go any further, take out a sheet of paper and write down the top ten things that influence how you would vote for a presidential candidate.  After you finish I will share my answers.  Here is one key.  There should be some things on the list that are there regardless of the issues surrounding a particular political election or party.

TOP TEN THINGS THAT INFLUENCE MY VOTE
FOR A GIVEN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

1.         LIFE POSITION

2.         POSITION ON PERSONAL LIBERTIES

3.         SEPARATION OF POWERS

4.         ROLE OF COMMANDER IN CHIEF

5.         PERSONAL FAITH

6.         TAX POLICY

7.         JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY

8.         FOREIGN POLICY

9.         FISCAL POLICY

10.  SOCIAL PROGRAMS

LIFE ISSUES

A politician once said the following:
“To many people in America believe that if you are pro-choice that means pro-abortion.  It doesn’t.  I don’t want abortion.  Abortion should be the rarest thing in the world.  I am actually personally opposed to abortion.  But I don’t believe that I have a right to take what is an article of faith to me and legislate it to other people.  That’s not how it works in America.”

The article of faith he refers to is the moral basis from which a leader should fight for the right to life divinely granted to every human.  Our laws are, in large part, designed to influence the morality of society.  They are designed to protect life.  An unborn child has just as much of a right to life as any one else.  The society in-which he or she is to be born must protect that right for he or she cannot do it for themselves.  Without life no other discussion is possible.

“When the American story is fully written, and its dark side unveiled; the only thing more hideous than the owning of a human life would have to be the elimination of a human life in the womb of a compliant mother and legal system.”

“All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

“A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.”
Thomas Jefferson

PERSONAL LIBERTIES

The United States is a constitutional federal representative republic.

GOVERNMENT TYPES                                 Limited Government

In the United States, the powers of government are limited. Our constitution is a limited government.  A limited government makes sure that leaders of government do not misuse power.  It insists that all people, including people in authority such as the president and members of congress, obey the laws. A limited government has effective controls over the power of people in authority and protects the rights of individuals.

Unlimited Government

Unlimited government, such as authoritarian and totalitarian governments, places dangerous power in the hands of one or a few and attempts to regulate all aspects of life.  People who live under unlimited government do not have an effective way to restrain the power of the rulers. In addition, people in authority cannot be easily removed from office by peaceful and legal means.

TRY THIS LITTLE EXERCISE STARTING WITH PERSONAL FREEDOMS. EXPLAIN WHY LIMITED GOVERNMENT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL RIGHTS. 

IMPORTANT PERSONAL FREEDOMS

•      Privacy of your home.

•      Worship as you choose.

•      Owning a weapon.

•      Having children.

•      What would happen if government were not limited?

IMPORTANT POLITICAL FREEDOMS

•      Freedom of speech

•      Freedom of press

•      Freedom of assembly

•      What would happen if government were not limited?

IMPORTANT ECONOMIC FREEDOMS

•      Freedom to enter into contracts

•      Freedom to choose one’s own employment

•      Freedom to own and sell property

•      Freedom to own a business

•      What would happen if government were not limited?

There was an extensive argument regarding the idea of adding a bill of rights to the constitution because the constitution, as written, did not specifically enumerate or protect the rights of the people, rather it listed the powers of the government and left all that remained to the states and the people.  In the Federalist Papers No. 84 Alexander Hamilton feared that such an enumeration once written down explicitly would later be interpreted as a list of the only rights that people had. 

However, Robert Yates, writing under the pseudonym Brutus, articulated this view point in the so-called Anti-Federalist No. 84, asserting that a government unrestrained by such a bill could easily devolve into tyranny.  Other supporters of the Bill argued that a list of rights would not and should not be interpreted as exhaustive; i. e., that these rights were examples of important rights that people had, but that people had other rights as well.  People in this school of thought were confident that the judiciary would interpret these rights in an expansive fashion.  The matter was further clarified by the Ninth Amendment.

CREATIVITY DEPENDS ON FREEDOM                     

The enormous creativity that rests within each of us can contribute to society.  When a society has collectively determined that it is better to look to God as our source, creativity has a greater opportunity to flourish.

When government is the source creativity becomes control.

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Patrick Henry

“Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms.  Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.  Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.  Familiarize yourself with chains of bondage, and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them.”
Abraham Lincoln

As of particular interest to the various ethnic Americans, when we speak about patriotism, the constitution, and personal liberties, if you are unaware of all that was done to provide a pathway that has allowed America to progressively move toward correcting the sins of the past, it is most certain that your desire to engage in true national loyalty will be lost in cynicism.  National documents are powerful tools that either lead to freedom for all of its citizens or it can be used to exploit the weak and keep them in bondage.  No one can deny that America and its founding documents were influenced by biblical principles of liberty.  For this reason all of its citizens, whether you are red, yellow, black, or white, should rejoice.

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands

one Nation under God

Indivisible

with liberty and justice for all.

Galatians 5:1             It was for freedom that Jesus set us free.

John 8:36                   If Jesus makes you free you shall be free indeed.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

Ideas of separation of church and state have been shaped by the apparent turf battle between the two.  Separation of church and state means that the church should carry out it’s God given role in society and the state should carry out it’s God given role, with each avoiding crossing over into the others area of authority.  As a result of staying within defined powers the church and state compliment one another.

“Separation of church and state could never mean that religious values are to be separated from public life.”

“A bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district, all studied and appreciated as they merit, are the principle support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.”
Benjamin Franklin

COMMANDER IN CHIEF

People who run for public office are public servants.  They serve both the saved and unsaved.  It is crucial that Christians comprehend this.  Christians elected to public office acquire a different set of responsibilities.  Now they hold the power of the sword, which God has placed with Government to preserve order and maintain justice.  Now they act not for themselves but for all whom they serve. 

Paraphrase of Chuck Colson from his book [ Kingdoms In Conflict ]

As commander in chief the president has a sworn duty to protect the citizens of the United States.  Nothing should compromise this responsibility.

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
George Washington

PERSONAL FAITH

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

John Adams

“In no other way can this republic become a world power in the noblest sense of the word than by putting into her life and the lives of her citizens the spirit and principle of the great founder of Christianity.”

David J Brewer    (Chief Justice Supreme Court)

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; for this very reason people of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
Patrick Henry

Personal Faith Will Influence ones:

•      Value of life

•      Appreciation for freedoms

•      Character

•      Definition of family

•      Community responsibility

TAX POLICY

Because it is the primary source of government power, taxation is always one of the top issues discussed during elections. 

At our current level of taxation; that’s approximately 40% of the average wage earners income taken in taxes, it could be easily deduced that the U.S. is no longer operating as the republic it was intended; but is nearly half way to becoming a socialist state.  If every citizen, rather than having their taxes withdrawn through payroll deductions, actually had to do like the self-employed do and write a check every quarter to cover taxes; it would then register on us. 

For one year’s taxes, the average wage earners entire check will go toward taxes until the end of May.  He or she doesn’t really earn money until then.  The outrageous taxation was one of the primary reasons the settlers left England.  And when the British Crown began to flex its power to tax even from across the sea, citizens demanded a declaration of independence.  In view of the 1913 16^th amendment, it is believed that there should have been a bill of rights regarding taxes.  The clause, “from whatever source derived,” has been severely abused. 

Alexander Hamilton commented about the dangers of an income tax in Federalist No. 21 dated December 12, 1787.  He seemed to advocate a consumption tax on the wealthy and the poor give what he can.

In Karl Marx Communist Manifesto, his second plank describes the implementation of a progressive-graduated income tax as a means of moving a society toward socialism.  The very philosophy of an income tax rests on its use as a tool for governing as opposed to merely raising revenue.  With it government can coerce the citizen and voter.  It can punish political detractors and reward political supporters.

 “Government's view of the economy could be

 summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves,

 tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it

stops moving, subsidize it.”
Ronald Reagan

“It is not my intention to do away with government.

 It is rather to make it work -- work with us, not over

us; stand by our side, not ride on our back.

Government can and must provide opportunity, not

smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.”

Ronald Reagan

JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY

The United States has a judicial system that depends on the constitution as its guide.  As the U. S. grows and changes, and as world conditions change, some political leaders have taken the position that our founders intended that our constitution be more flexible and open to new interpretation.  Some have referred to it as a living document that must be interpreted in light of our current generation.  As a result, judges have taken it upon themselves to legislate from the bench rather than to enforce existing law. This kind of judicial activism becomes extremely important when a sitting President must appoint federal judges and Supreme Court judges. 

There are clear mechanisms in place to change existing law and even amend the constitution.  Because they have determined that the direction they choose to go would not be supported by the citizens, some politicians and judges team up to undermine the system.  This is most evident when a sitting President must nominate a judge to replace a vacant seat on the Supreme Court. 

FOREIGN POLICY

How a sitting President conducts foreign policy will reflect his view of his role as the leader of the United States.  Does he view our nation as honorable and will he take positions that strengthen our independence or make us more dependent on other nations?  When he talks does he communicate a sense of national pride and confidence in his country that can connect with other leaders?  Does he have the relationship and team building skills necessary to work with leaders of other cultures?  Can he keep his diplomatic missions simple and easy for the citizens to understand and follow?

FISCAL POLICY

A Presidents Fiscal Policy is his view of economics and how he believes government should influence the economy through spending, or cutting revenue.  His handling of the budget.  Will he cut spending or expand the government?  Major areas include entitlement programs, taxes, and the military.  Does he prefer economic stimulus via government spending or through consumer spending?

SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Each President will have specific social issues that tend to draw their attention.  Whether or not he views the office as an agent of social activism affects what he believes tax-payer money should be used for.  Every decision made regarding social issues will automatically have a moral component to it.  Government social programs take up most of the federal revenue.  Just the social security administrations 2008 budget is projected to be 657.3 billion.  They have 62,000 employees.