Is being a good citizen really a Spiritual issue?

“[Martin] Luther once said that if we defend Christ at all points except those at which he is currently being attacked, then we have not really defended Christ” (Politics For Christians, Francis J. Beckwith, pg. 19). We must be very careful to not separate standing up for orthodoxy within the Church and standing up for morality within the culture. It is not our aim to create a Christian government (in case you are wondering how that worked, just read up on Constantine’s Rome). But it is our mandate, as Paul exhorts Titus in shepherding the church under his care, to “be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people” (Titus 3:8). In this the mature Christian and the healthy government share a common burden of working for the common good of the people. Thomas Aquinas wrote about the purpose of human law to lead men to virtue over time. He argued that government could not forbid all vices, but only the most egregious ones, and mainly those that hurt others. A Christian too wants to see people cared for more than people forced to act a certain way. He uses the gifts and influence he has to see policies and programs that protect people’s dignity and preserve their just treatment. This is not a partisan platform, but a spiritual endeavor. How it gets done is both outside the government, and in cooperation with the government. 

            “Social action is a partner of evangelism. As partners the two belong to each other and yet are independent of each other. Each stands on its own feet in its own right alongside of the other. Neither is a means to the other, or even a manifestation of the other. For each is an end in itself. Both are expressions of unfeigned love.” (Christian Mission in the Modern World, John R. Stott, pg. 27)

* Over the next weeks I will be sharing excerpts from a “Gospel & Culture: Politics” paper I wrote to help us better understand how to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17).