The Limits of Politics (7)

Thus says the LORD:
“For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have despised the law of the LORD,
And have not kept His commandments.
Their lies led them astray,
Lies which their fathers followed.” Amos 2.4

Let’s review
We recall that politics is the science of government, and government has been instituted by God for the good of the governed. Politicians do well when they govern according to the divine plan, as revealed in Scripture, which is able to equip us for every good work.

Daniel did not shy away from insisting that the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar should turn from the lies he was practicing to follow the Law of God. John the Baptist held the pagan king Herod accountable for transgressing God’s plan for marriage. And the prophets, all of them, routinely indicted the nations of the world for acting in a manner inconsistent and at odds with the divine plan for human flourishing.

Good government is government God’s way; good politics is the science of government carried out in accordance with what God has revealed in His Word.

Thus it is good for politicians to create and maintain an order to society in which goodness and justice might flourish. But it is not good for politicians to presume to be able to define the terms of justice and goodness. Governments must be pegged to unchanging standards, such as are outlined in the moral law of God, and politicians should not feel as though changing times or extraordinary needs or circumstances somehow empower them to define new standards of order, goodness, and justice, conveniently ignoring existing standards, or tried and proven standards, in the process.

Courts out of control
In our day the courts are the fountainhead for generating arbitrary standards of justice, standards created to reflect the social and cultural mood of the day rather than to refract the justice of God.

To be sure, courts can act to restore justice in a society where this has been corrupted, as in the civil rights rulings of the 1950s and 60s. Court rulings, such as Brown v Board of Education, which overturned the unjust Plessy v Ferguson ruling, made it possible for other branches of government to create laws redressing long-standing social evils.

On the other hand, courts become the source of new standards of justice when, to accommodate pressures for social change, they ignore long-standing and fixed moral standards by judicial fiat, as in Roe v Wade and the infamous “mystery clause” of Planned Parenthood v Casey.

It is not the province of the courts, or of government in any of its branches to reshape society in ways that can be shown to be contrary to the divine purpose.

Calling out politicians
Now, I’m fully aware that the vast majority of contemporary politicians feel no compulsion whatsoever to consider the form God might like their actions or policies to take. And since that is the case, and I think that’s easy enough to demonstrate, then we as believers in Jesus Christ should hold politicians’ feet to the fire, demanding they be consistent in all their governmental duties.

For instance, we should remind politicians that they have taken a public oath to seek the help of God in all their public duties. We should insist that politicians who choose to set aside the Law of God desist from any and all public attempts to invoke God on behalf of their plans or programs. We should denounce them when they call for the Lord to bless this nation, since what they really mean is that they want God to get with the program and keep us safe while we do whatever it is we want to do, apart from any meaningful input from Him.

At the same time, Christians should begin to make it clear that they will only support politicians who take seriously the teaching of Scripture concerning good government. For this we can appeal, not merely to Scripture, but to the long heritage of British common law and the explicit teachings of the Founding Fathers of our nation. Good government is good when it governs God’s way. Political practice is illegitimate and out of bounds when it ignores, forsakes, or transgresses the clearly revealed standards of order, goodness, and justice which may be consulted in the Word of God.

This is not a call for theocracy. This is a call for good government and for politics that function within the limits of order, goodness, and justice that are defined in the Scriptures.

And it is a call for Christians to wake up to their responsibility for making government God’s servant and politicians God’s agents for order, justice, goodness, and peace in our society.

For reflection
1.      What are some ways politicians can be seen to have set aside the Law of God in recent years?

2.      What standards do politicians put in place of the Law of God when they do such things? Why do such actions endanger the long-term stability of social order?

3.      How can you, as a Christian, become more active in holding politicians accountable for practicing their calling within the limits marked out for them in Scripture?

Next steps: Meet with a few friends and share what you have learned about the limits of politics from this series. How should this help you to think about the kind of government we need in our nation?

T. M. Moore

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This week’s study, The Limits of Politics, is part 3 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 books The Kingship of Jesus  and The Ground for Christian Ethics 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.