"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and be trampled by men." Matthew 5:13
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldy wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"
Luke 16:10-11
The Stewardship of Citizenship
I found this definition of biblical stewardship on the internet:
"Utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the Glory of God and the betterment of His creation."
In Genesis 2:15 it says that God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and take care of it. The first purpose of man was to be a steward over what belonged to God.
We are stewards! Everything we have been given is something we have been charged with taking care of. It doesn't belong to us. It belongs to God. It is our responsibility to take care of it.
The context of the aforementioned verse in Matthew 22, Jesus had been asked if it was lawful to pay taxes. I find it interesting that Jesus didn't simply answer the question with a simple yes or no. He actually gave an answer that went far beyond simply paying your taxes. We are temporary citizens of a country and as such we have civic duties that we must exercise. While our ultimate citizenship is in the heavenly country we have a temporoary citizenship here as well. Verse 12 of Luke 16 says the following:
"And if you haven't been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?"
We are going to have to give an account one day for how we exercised our civic duties in the country in which we were citizens. So it is crucial that we exercise our civic duties responsibly.
Our civic duties is what is 'Ceasar's', and yes, it includes paying taxes.
The Roman Empire of The Apostles Day vs. The Unitied States of America
Some have made the claim that because Jesus and the apostles weren't involved politically, modern Christians shouldn't be either. Those who claim that fail to contrast the vast difference between the Roman Empire, where Ceasar reigned supreme, and our modern representative republic. Simply stated, the option of political involvement didn't exist in ancient Rome the way it does here. In Matthew 5:13-14 Jesus said we are both salt and light. We are supposed to impact the culture. We have very little impact when we aren't involved. We become the light that remains hidden under the bushel. It has no impact. But even in Rome, a citizen had certain rights and the apostle Paul DID exercise his rights as a Roman citizen. (Acts 16:37-38; Acts 22:25-28) Here in the United States we have a constitution that contains the Bill of Rights. We have the right to free speech, to bear arms, freedom of religion. Those rights didn't exist in the world of the apostles.
These rights should be looked upon as things that God has given us to be stewards over.
With these rights and freedoms comes great responsibility.
And just like the master in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) God is going to demand an account of what we did with the freedoms and rights we have been given.
The apostle Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen and we should use our rights as American citizens. We have been given these rights by our creator and we have a responsibility to use them for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom. The opportunities and freedoms we have provide a great opportunity to preach the gospel and we should do what we can to preserve and keep those freedoms.
How to Vote
I remember many years ago hearing Joyce Meyer comment that if everyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus Christ would vote according to principles outlined in his word, it would only take a few election cycles and abortion would be a thing of the past. And if Christians would stop going to see movies that are dishonoring to Godly principles, Hollywood would either go out of business or they would have to completely change. I mention Hollywood because all too often Hollywood celebrities are revered as the experts and they are the ones influencing the culture and politics.
You have heard the old adage, "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."
So does the Bible give any guidelines on how we should vote?
I'd like to share this passage from Dueteronomy 17:14-20:
"When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel."
I don't think this needs much commentary. There are a lot of principles to be gleaned. One thing I would point out is that the king was not above the law. In Israel, the king was to write a copy of the law and read it all his life. What if we required all of our national elected leaders to write out for themselves a copy of the constitution and read it every day while in office? The important point is we should be electing leaders who understand the law of the land and seek to uphold and preserve it. As a matter of history, the nation of Israel never obeyed this command and it eventually led to the divided kingdom and the captivity of both.
"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Now some have gone into the other ditch and made our entire mission about "Reclaiming America For Christ." Both extremes are wrong. Our citizenship is in another country. And we must always see everything from that perspective. This country is not our home, but we are stewards of what we have been given.
Be Informed
I remember a talk show host on a Christian radio station interviewing someone and the subject turned to politics. The guest admitted that she really didn't understand the issues. The host told her in a very kind way, "If you don't understand the issues then please, DON'T VOTE!" As I said earlier; With our freedoms and rights comes great responsibility." It is crucial that we be informed on who we are voting for and what we are voting for.
Don't listen to the news.
Don't listen to the campaign adds.
Do the research.
If you hear a claim in an add, look up the information and see if it can be verified.
Look up voting records. See how these people have voted in the past. Then as a Christian, look at the principles that guide our worldview and vote for the candidate that most closely lines up with it.
Some have lamented that sometimes it seems like you are voting for the lesser of two evils. I totally get that. But that's OK. If there are only two candidates to choose from and those are the only choices, then vote for the lesser of the two evils. If enough Christians did that, over time we might start to slowly turn the tide and eventually have some really good candidates to choose from.
The Church's Role
I remember hearing Cal Thomas talk about how the church was duped by the tax exempt/non-profit status because it was very effective in silencing the church in matters of politics. While the rules only prohibit churches from actually endorcing candidates but not speaking out on policy and moral issues, many of our church leaders have chosen to remain silent and simply not ruffle feathers. That is why we have lost our saltiness. Our light is under a bushel so we aren't seen by the culture and we have allowed ourselves to be polluted by the culture to the point that we are no different than the rest of the world -- The salt has lost its saltiness. Salt is an element. It can't actually morph into something else. The way salt loses its flavor is it becomes contaminated by something else. That is what happens to the church. We become polluted with the world. And we've done that to the point that we don't look any different than the rest of the world.
The church needs to address social and political issues. But in order to do that, pastors and leaders need to be informed about what the social and political issues are.
We need to be salt.
We need to be light.
No more compromising and no more being silent.
SPEAK UP AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!
But it's Hard
I want to end this with a story about Dietrich Bonnhoeffer.
Toward the end of World War 2 Mr. Bonnhoeffer was in prison. The story goes that the prison chaplain was making his rounds one day and saw Bonnhoeffer in one of the cells. He exclaimed, "Brother Dietrich, what are you doing here? Mr. Bonnhoeffer replied, "Given the state our country is in, what AREN'T you doing here?" As the saying goes:
"Any dead fish can float down stream. It takes a live fish to swim up stream."
Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit has breathed true life into those of us who are truly his.
WE ARE CHRISTIANS!
IT'S NOT WHAT WE DO. IT'S WHAT WE ARE!
We must swim upstream against the current even as those around us may be floating downstream.
We have been given a great country. It is our job as stewards to take care of it.
Be blessed as you do.
This is a wonderful, informative reading. So much of this was in my Church school studies as a young person. If we followed the advice in here , the world would be better off.
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