Being Wise to the Situation of the Church in 2024
Good Morning,
Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the scariest phrase in the English language is a nine-word sentence that goes, “We’re from the government and we’re here to help.”. While I think we can all identify with the sentiment of that quote, especially in 2024 America, it does get to something that the civil magistrate is actually supposed to be doing. He is designed by God to help those under his charge. There should be a positive relationship between the State and her people, just like the Church should be a place of peace and hope. How the civil realm goes about that makes all the difference in the world. A government which suffocates under the annoyance of pointless regulation and red tape and busybodies is not going to win friends and influence people, other than maybe move them to rebel. It’s hard to blame rioters when the State is being a pain.
In Sabbath School this past Sunday we went over 1 Kings 12 and part of the moral of that story is Rehoboam being approached by the elders to lessen the burden on the people, and in doing so win their affection, and more importantly re-establish the righteous kingdom of his grandfather David. However, as you know he chooses to motivate Israel to fear him and respect his power by doubling down on the bureaucracy, which goes swimmingly for him, and Jeroboam.
A godly king (or President), that is, not Rehoboam, should understand that central to their calling is to ensure that every soul in the realm is protected in life, liberty, and to then pursue happiness, in accordance with the way in which the Lord has defined those attributes. To be open to raise a family, work hard, and be rewarded is really all that most people want. When the leadership of a nation can provide that they are well on their way to be remembered fondly. At the end of the day most folks just want to be left alone, or maybe that is just me. Often when we think of freedom we imagine a daily existence where people are able to do whatever they want as long as they don’t hurt anyone, or at least that is what libertarians who can’t comprehend community think about. The Biblical understanding of freedom is the liberty, without fear or anxiousness, to do those things that are good. To serve one another and to obey the law of Christ in peace and harmony. All of those high-sounding words of delight are born out of the reason why we are here in the first place: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. When the civil magistrate looks and sounds like the one envisioned in Deuteronomy 17 everyone benefits from it, even the animals.
For today’s prayer and worship help we are going to think some more about how the government is given by Jehovah, both before and after the Fall of Adam, to guide us toward living out these truths day-by-day in the grace of our Lord. It can sound odd to talk of the civil magistrate in such glowing terms, with such positive characteristics. We’ve been trained by experience to only expect the worst from those in authority over us, but that is not how things should be. When the prophet Isaiah speaks of the king as being a Foster Father in Isaiah 49:23 it is meant to openly communicate to the reader that there is to be a warm provision towards the church of Jesus Christ by these men and their governments. Dad’s are meant to be cuddly, yet fierce in defense.
This is particularly witnessed for us in how Cyrus and other otherwise pagan men gave material and peace to the Jews of the Old Testament. In church history it is Frederick the Elector who lends safety to Martin Luther, Gustavus Adolphus that wins a great victory to lock-in the felicity of the Protestant faith in northern Europe, and Alfred the Great, converter of the Norsemen and savior of England who shines forth in God’s providence. There are many quieter examples of mayors, aldermen, and county commissioners doing the small things which help out the local church. Even our otherwise secular American constitution grants rights and privileges to the Christian faith that show up in anodyne things like tax exceptions and the (for now) freedom to congregate as we see fit. We might quibble with how broad that tent is in the USA, however, we should be wise to the protections. Sometimes when I travel and hear the stories of our brothers in foreign lands it reminds me that despite our trials, they are nothing compared to the places where the civil magistrate is actively hostile to the churches of our common redeemer. We have much to be thankful for and we must needs be careful to maintain what we have.
When we speak on these things part of the question we have is how did we get here in our own country? Benjamin Franklin said in 1787, “A Republic, if you can keep it”. From what we can tell we barely have it. Why is that? Even though he was hardly an orthodox Christian John Adams gives us the answer: “Our Constitution is only made for a moral and religious people.”. Living in a high trust society requires high trustworthy people. As you lose the latter you cannot have the former. It is part of the consequence our culture faces for being openly disobedient to the God who has provided them such blessings that we are more and more quickly losing that mercy. The more our nation breaks its covenant the more Jehovah will gladly bring judgment on such a recalcitrant and wicked people. It is to be noted that the means of that wrath changes in accordance with the nature of the sin. The transgression the United States commits more than any other is love of idolatry. We have an idolatrous relationship with pride, avarice, adultery, covetousness, and probably lots of other items we could identify without much trouble. When the fullness of the punishment of God arrives the first thing we’ll see is the slow collapse of the tie that binds, and as that comes unraveled so too will all we hold dear. If we would have good government, it must be sought by those who want to be governed well. Our great trouble is that we do not want it.
In closing, one of the words you hear about our culture today is that we possess a “safetyism”, an over-obsessive fear of danger. Which is ironic considering we don’t worry much about the One who actually should cause us to fall on our face in repentance and humility. If we would see us maintain the mercies of protection that even in our tumultuous state we still possess we would be wise to consider the nature of things and react in kind.
Last word:
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church
