The cry of almost every American, believer or not, is that Church and State must be separate. Almost. Of course, it's not found in any of the official documents of our nation. Oh, it is certainly part of the First Amendment, where government is forbidden to pass laws that prevent people from exercising their religion. But if your religion is real -- actually from God -- it would have to permeate everything you do, so it would make no sense to preclude someone from being in government on the basis of their religion ... thus passing laws against the free exercise of religion. However, all that being said, that's not where I'm going here.
I believe in the separation of Church and State. Oh, not so much in terms of "people of faith must not interfere with governance" like it's normally meant. No, I believe that the Church -- or, biblical Christianity -- separates rather than unites believers with the State. In our world, we see a lot of nationalism. It's not merely an American thing. Most people like to think of theirs as the "best country." It's typically only Americans these days who are not supposed to think that way. But Scripture says, "Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation" (Psa 146:3). Instead, we read, "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes" (Psa 118:9). And you can see what is meant. We often tend to trust in our government. If not, we at least think we ought to be able to. But Jesus said we are not of this world (John 15:19). We are, indeed, ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20) on assignment, but sojourners (1 Peter 2:11). We're only visiting this planet.
Some of us spend a lot of time getting comfortable here. It really makes no sense. We are certainly in the world, but we are not of it (John 17:14-16). It has been said that doctrine divides, but love unites. That is, in fact, quite true. But is division bad? And doesn't the love of Christ unite those in doctrine? In the same way, there needs to be a separation -- among believers -- between Church and State, not in the sense that God's views and values have no place in government, but in the sense that our first allegiance and our final hope is not in our world's systems, but in Christ and Him alone.
2 comments:
This post touched on several different themes, but as I follow you through to your concluding thoughts, I see an important reminder at a very pertinent time. The older I get in the Lord, the more I feel that I am “just passing through.” I often get the sense these days that I am “watching a train wreck” or am on a boat that I know is going down; I almost don’t recognize my surroundings anymore, as our society drifts farther and farther afield and those with more rational outlooks get shouted down. As we watch our country heading “to hell in a handbasket” (not to sound overly negative), it is crucial—and reassuring—for me to have my trust in the Lord and not in the State or the world’s systems, for sure!
(And I agree with you that many Americans do not understand the original purpose behind what is often termed as “separation of Church and State.”)
Precisely where that post was supposed to go.
Post a Comment