God’s Servant for Good (4)

“…you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORDyour God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORDhas said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.” Deuteronomy 17.15-17

An old story
Governments haven’t changed much throughout the course of human history, at least, in some very fundamental ways, one of which is the tendency of government officials to use their office for personal aggrandizement.

Even as far back as the days of Moses, rulers seem to have understood that public service could be very lucrative work for themselves and their friends. The law of sin is just as active now as it was then, so we shouldn’t be surprised when public officials today use their office for personal benefit.

It shouldn’t surprise us, I say, but that doesn’t mean we have to put up with it.

We’ve seen our share of this lately, no? Sex scandals, tax evasion scandals, favoritism and bribes, trading government jobs and contracts for campaign contributions, manipulating the media for personal gain – it’s all very familiar stuff.

And that’s a large part of the problem. The more we see this kind of self-serving behavior, the more we become accustomed to it, so that we begin to think it’s inevitable.

To some extent it is, of course: human beings never cease being sinful. On the other hand, the public officials we seek should be those whose only interest in serving is the public weal. Personal interests and prosperity must be put on hold for the sake of the common good.

Holding officials accountable
The temptations of office are great, as we know. All that attention. All that power. All that money. All those connections and possible deals. Our public officials do deserve the salaries we pay them, as well as the thanks we render for a job well done. But beyond that, public office should not be a place where men and women jockey and vie for the most visibility, media time, political power, wealth, or worse.

Can voters do anything to help ensure that those who enter public service understand from the beginning that we expect selflessness in our public officials and will hold them accountable accordingly?

I have to believe we can.

For example, we can insist on regular reviews and reports on the practices of our public officials. We want to make sure our governing bodies – such as Congress – enact and enforce rules designed to curtail, expose, and condemn all merely self-serving activities by their own members. Most bodies have such bylaws and regulations, but they aren’t always enforced in a manner that seems to fit the offense.

The media are supposed to help keep government officials honest and selfless, but the same temptations of power and access, combined with political agendas and the desire for big ratings, can prevent the media from serving as an effective watchdog.

Private oversight groups – such as Public Citizen’s Congress Watch – provide a useful service as well, but their information only gets to a small number of the public.

Public officials require oversight, and it is part of our duty as “we the people” to discover the best ways of making such oversight a reality.

Electing selfless officials
Second, we can refuse to put in office any men or women who have demonstrated that the appeal of public service for them is largely that of self-interest.

This can be hard to judge, of course, but it should not be difficult to devise questions for use, say, at a town hall meeting or campaign rally, which might surface a candidate’s or official’s deeper motives in seeking to win or remain in public office. Do they answer our questions in ways that indicate they are truly informed about the needs of their constituents and willing to work hard and make sacrifices to see that good government is available for all?

Government serves best which serves in a disinterested, selfless manner. We don’t have to put up with public officials who work for government in order to enrich themselves and their cronies. But we’ll have to pay more specific attention to this area of political life if we’re going to get the kind of selfless government we seek.

Next steps: Would you consider prayer to be a useful place for keeping watch over public officials? Talk with another believer about this question.

T. M. Moore

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This week’s study, God’s Servant for Good, is part 2 of a 5-part series on The King’s Heart, a Biblical view of government and politics, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We cannot understand God’s view of government, or how to function in a political environment apart from faith in King Jesus and His rule. Order T. M.’s book The Kingship of Jesus  to supplement our studies of God and government..

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.