THOUGHTS ON A THEOLOGY OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT

As I have watched various speeches that Donald Trump has made on domestic policy, it has occurred to me that he has a coherent underlying view of what the responsibility of civil government should be toward the citizens it serves.

We see a hint of the biblical view of civil government in I Timothy 2:1-4: “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 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.”

This passage prescribes that Christians pray for all people, including government leaders. It also confirms that civil government exists to insure as much as possible a peaceful & safe environment in which the people can live, work, & be involved in their communities in positive ways. For Christians, this is the kind of environment where they can bear faithful witness to Christ & offer their neighbors the opportunity to know Him.

When Mr. Trump talks about safe communities where people can go to the store without wondering if they will be shot, he is echoing this biblical view. When he talks about revitalizing & bringing productive employment back to our inner cities, more of the same. When he mentions righting the wrong of illegal aliens stealing the work opportunities of minorities, he is advocating another aspect of the same principle that should guide how civil government functions on behalf of the citizens.

He often says, “What do you have to lose?” We cannot lose, if we embrace biblical values when we go into the poll booth.

MAKING DISCIPLES & DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL LEADERS

One of the things that spiritual leaders get confused about (or, maybe not even confused if we don’t consciously think about it) is the difference between making disciples & developing those disciples as spiritual leaders.

It’s really important to know what our job is as pastors & spiritual leaders. What is it? We could use Ephesians 4:11-13 as a basic description: “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

Notice in the Book of Acts how Paul worked with Timothy:

·       When Paul met Timothy, he was a young disciple, whose character & faithfulness were already recognized by those who knew him (16:2)

·       Paul recognized this, & wanted to bring him along (16:3-4)

·       Paul apparently trained him, & left him with Silas to continue the work (17:14-15)

It’s not totally clear, but it my understanding is that Timothy’s mother & grandmother raised him to know the Lord & discipled him in the faith (II Timothy 1:5; 3:14-15). Paul then selected him & trained him for ministry.

From this we learn something very important about our work as pastors & spiritual leaders: Making disciples & developing workers or spiritual leaders are not technically the same thing.

Here are a few observations about these 2 things & how we need to understand the relationship between them:

The ultimate task of the Church is to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49)

·       If I work hard as a spiritual leader to evangelize & make disciples, I will win some people to Christ & make some disciples

·       If I train & develop others to do these things, many more will be won & discipled

·       If their disciples can be empowered to do ministry, the Great Commission will be fulfilled much more effectively

What are the practical differences between making disciples & developing leaders?

·       Discipling:

o   Primarily about helping people be conformed to Christ’s image

o   Looks for the same general result in all disciples

·       Developing workers:

o   Primarily about equipping, training, empowering people to do ministry tasks effectively

o   Looks for the specific tasks that God has created them to do

o   May change over time as people become more aware of God’s plan for them

How are these 2 things related?

·       We make disciples so that we can develop them as spiritual leaders

o   Discipleship without development = lack of effectiveness, problems in the congregation

o   Development without discipleship = legalism, activity but no spiritual power

·       This is why the Bible has requirements for spiritual leaders in the local church (I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9)

·       It is true that both of these things can happen simultaneously

THE UNTOLD STORY OF EPHESIANS 2:8-9

It seems like one of the verses that I hear most often is Ephesians 2:8-9.

In much of the world, a major problem in Christianity is what I call the “I-prayed-a-prayer-to-accept-Jesus-so-now-I’m-OK” style of being a believer. One of the many sad results of this way of thinking about conversion is that it all starts & ends with the “Sinner’s Prayer.” Once that’s marked off the checklist, the “new believer” is free to go on his merry way. Maybe you know a few “Christians” like that.

It’s vital to be aware of what the verse immediately following, because it shows that our salvation experience is only the beginning of a new life which has been designed by God from eternity past.

This has meaning for me personally, because when I began to follow Christ at the age of 18, I had no idea that I would be involved a few decades later in mentoring pastors on the other side of the world. It’s true that God’s plan for us is beyond our wildest dreams.

Another aspect of this is the consideration that the Book of Ephesians wasn’t written to an individual – it was written to a congregation.

There are common rather than just individual considerations to think about here. God’s plan for the believer involves being part of the community of believers. It is in those relationships, during the hard times & the good times, that we grow spiritual & experience the grace of God. As we serve one another, we participate in the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan.

Believer, make sure that your story of Ephesians 2:10 gets told. Others need you & are depending on you.

ADDICTED TO NOVELTY

There’s a line in “Night at the Museum 2” where Dr. McPhee says that people like something just because it’s the new thing.

There is a very subtle temptation in the kinds of work that are called helping careers (this can include medicine, psychology, politics, even ministry). I call it the need to be needed.

But I'd like to talk about another subtle temptation that faces people who are involved with endeavors that require communication & creativity. That temptation is the need to be praised by others for coming up with something new or novel.

A couple observations about novelty. First, like the Bible says in the Book of Ecclesiastes, there really is “nothing new under the sun.” When someone comes up with something new, it’s not a creation. It’s only a discovery or re-discovery of something that was there all along. God is the only real creator. We get in trouble when we do what Tom Hanks does in “Castaway” when he says, “Look what I have made! I have made fire!”

Another observation is that not every novel thing is good, true, or worthwhile. Sometimes things take a long time to come up with simply because everybody before already knew that it wasn’t a bright idea. A good example is the many social experiments our government seems bent on forcing on people who have a lot more common sense derived from living in the real world.

One of the negatives of social media, especially in this political season, is that too many people want to come up with nuances & novelties, simply so they can think of themselves as the smartest guy in the room.

In our Christian experience & understanding, we have to be especially careful. The Holy Spirit gets the credit for a lot of ideas & experiences that people claim originated with Him. But maybe they didn't.

Rather than getting pulled into this kind of addiction to novelty, it’s better to see ourselves as King David saw himself according to Psalm 131:

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.

GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

When I was a teenager who had not yet come to know Christ, I was content to think that it would be sufficient to live to the age of 25. What more was there than to become a professional musician, spend my time partying, & just burn out after a few years? After all, a good number of my idols had done exactly that.

Fortunately, when I came to my senses & gave my life to Christ just after my 18^th birthday, I began to understand that my life was not my own, to do with it what I wished. Since that time the Lord has blessed me with several additional decades of life. By His grace, I have tried to invest them in following His will for me.

Although this life is short, it is immeasurably important. Whether your life ends at 25 years, or at 50, 60, or 75 or beyond, it is still brief. The primary reason for the importance of this brief life is that it is to be spent preparing for eternity.

Imagine a pile of sand 6 feet high. Imagine that every 100 years a bird comes & removes one grain of sand from the pile. Now imagine that when the last grain of sand has been removed how long it will have taken to accomplish the task. That incredibly long period of time is not even the smallest measure of a fraction of eternity.

It’s true – the God of the Bible is “the God of the Second Chance.” But the second chance is given only during our brief time here on earth. We need to get it right the first time.

THE SINGING THEOLOGIANS

It's almost an axiom. Christians build their spiritual & theological foundation more on what they sing in church & the Christian music they listen to, than on their reading of the Bible or listening their pastor’s preaching.

They are learning & forming theology as they sing, hence the title of this blog.

I have written in the past about the issue of the volume of music in church. Maybe that was more about my age than anything else. But a greater concern is the content. (I would rather go deaf singing theologically sound worship choruses than empty ones. But I hope that there would be other options.)

The bottom line is that lyrics are important.

A couple nights ago my wife & I were singing together an old hymn called “I’ll Go Where You Want me to Go” by Mary Brown & Charles Prior. I was struck by the rich variety of themes the hymn contains in just 3 verses & a repeated chorus.

It’s a little lengthy, but take a minute to skim the lyrics:

It may not be on the mountain’s height, or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me;
But if by a still, small voice He calls to paths I do not know,
I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in Yours,
I’ll go where You want me to go.

Refrain

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,
O’er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord,
I’ll be what You want me to be.

Perhaps today there are loving words which Jesus would have me speak;
There may be now, in the paths of sin, some wand’rer whom I should seek.
O Savior, if You will be my Guide, though dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet,
I’ll say what You want me to say.

Refrain

There’s surely somewhere a lowly place in earth’s harvest fields so wide,
Where I may labor through life’s short day for Jesus, the Crucified.
So, trusting my all unto Your care, I know You always love me!
I’ll do Your will with a heart sincere,
I’ll be what You want me to be.

Refrain

Can you see some important theological themes here?

Of course, there’s the Great Commission. But there is also the need for a personal commitment, no matter what the cost, to do one’s part in its fulfillment. And that commitment is not based on one’s plans or desires or even best intentions, but on God’s sovereign plan for them.

You might also notice both verbal & lifestyle witness. This relates to the 2 primary works of the Spirit in the disciple’s life – a Christ-like life & anointed testimony.

Another theme here is a personal experience of God’s love for us as an individual. It’s not just theoretical or for others. This depth of relationship motivates us to persevere in serving Him no matter what the personal cost.

The bottom line for me is: people in our churches are learning something when they sing & worship the Lord. What are they learning? What kind of foundation are they building?

ARROGANCE

One of the things that people claim to dislike in political candidates is something they call “arrogance.” I agree that arrogance is by its nature an irritating thing.

But my question is, what do people mean when they use the word? I suspect that everyone has his own definition (we are after all living in the day of “democratized truth”).

I looked online at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which defines arrogance as “an insulting way of thinking or behaving that comes from believing that you are better, smarter, or more important than other people” or “an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptious claims or assumptions.”

It appears that people like to use the word without much thought, & limit it to people or (in the political realm) candidates whom they dislike. I also suspect that a lot of people resort to their own subjective feelings as the basis of labeling one person as arrogant & another as not.

I believe that people with experience & expertise are easily perceived as arrogant by others without the same expertise or experience. Hence, someone who has effective skills or abilities gained thru perseverance & long trial & error experience, & who has succeeded where others have failed can easily be seen by less successful or less skilled people as an arrogant person.

Arrogance in politics is not personality or even the lack of people skills that measure up to our standards. It is, to paraphrase Merriam-Webster, the attitude & behavior of someone who considers herself better & smarter than others. It is the self-perception that she can bully or coddle her way into elected office simply because she feels entitled to it.

Arrogant people, by this definition, don’t deserve my vote.