The Law of God and Public Policy: First Things (9)

The question of what is truly good must guide all public policy.

“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them…” Deuteronomy 17.18, 19

The first law of the logic of public policy is that governments serve God for the wellbeing of the people they serve, and not for their own wellbeing. The second law is that the people are not God. God is God, and His Word is good and teaches us what is holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7:12). The people may clamor for this, that, or something else; but government does not serve the clamoring of the people. Government is God’s servant for good. The demands, needs, interests, and agendas of the people and the nation must be considered against the backdrop of God’s Law/Word, and only those policies must be enacted which express and further the good purposes of God.

Democracy can be a particularly dangerous form of government, especially, as in our day, when what Christopher Lasch described as “culture of narcissism” has settled upon the land. “All through the day – I, me, mine; I, me, mine; I, me, mine…” The Beatles, back in the early 70s, observed this trend and celebrated it in song. People want what people want, and democratic governments know that the way to stay in power is either to give the people what they want or convince them that you are doing so.

Not only does this represent an inversion of the proper leadership roles of a nation – governments are supposed to lead, not follow – but it is also a perversion of the divine standard for good public policy. God must have the last word on what government needs to implement in the way of laws, regulations, and so forth. Whatever policies promote what is good – what is in line with God’s view of how the world should be (cf. Genesis 1 and the frequently repeated, “God saw that it was good”) – is what governments must pursue.

This is why familiarity with God’s Law and Word is so important. How shall we weigh the demands of the people and the needs of the day? Not, as we have seen, in a way that merely benefits those who hold public office. And not in a way that panders to the whims and fancies of the populace. All matters of public policy are to be guided, shaped, and conformed to the teaching of God’s Law. Government cannot fulfill the requirements of its good purpose apart from familiarity with and input from the good Law of God. It is thus the duty of those who have been entrusted with the Law of God to make its good teaching and blessings known to those who are called as His servants for good.

The second law of the logic of public policy can thus be phrased: Only those policies are good which conform to the teaching of God’s Law and Word. Period.

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