How Your Local Town Can Bring Reformation to Our Federal Government
Good Morning,
As we continue to keep in prayer our brothers and sisters and all others in the wake of the epic storm which hit our part of the country a question that has bubbled up surrounding the response is, in a Christian republic, who would have the primary responsibility to care for the people before and after such destruction?
Not only that, but does the Bible speak to this question? Something to keep in mind is that as Presbyterians we are not what some would call Biblicists. That word basically means that someone would require a Scriptural citation, a chapter and verse, before they could believe something had God’s warrant to confess as true. We don’t read the Bible that way. In our Westminster Confession of Faith Ch. 1.6 it says:
The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.
What this means for us today is that we as humans can make arguments that use Biblical principles while understanding it is not required that we cite specific verses in doing so. For instance, a good example of this is that the Bible nowhere commands women to eat the Lord’s Supper. However, to say we would need Paul or Peter to say that in order for the church to allow it would be absurd. In other words we can look at the command to the church to eat the bread and drink the cup in 1 Corinthians 11, understand that the church includes men and women, and therefore say that it is okay for both to partake of the table meal. Hopefully that helps us all to be on the same page as we talk some more about civil government and the Christian faith.
As noted our topic today is going to get into the question about the levels of government, town, county, state, and federal. How they relate, what they should be expected to do, etc… It may seem like an odd topic for a Tuesday morning devotional. Yet we should know that while Jesus doesn’t require a particular form of government for His rule to be honored, we are know that the vast majority of people reading this live in America where we exist as a Federal Republic. If we are to help the Church speak prophetically in a time of danger it would be good of us to conversate about this at a plane where it actually could have some impact.
When we think about the way our nation is organized (or at least is supposed to be) there is a reason why we refer to it as a republic, and not a democracy, or something else. Our national documents define this as, “. . . a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.”.
I know I said we do not need Biblical examples, but it doesn’t hurt either.
When Moses is leading people out of Egypt it becomes abundantly clear that he can’t be the despot telling people what to do all the time. He’s neither physically nor mentally capable of taking that all on. His helpful father-in-law ably helps him to see that. So in Exodus 18 it is decided to make the heads of the tribes representatives as well as leaders who then report back up the chain-of-command. We see this in action in places like Num. 1:16, Num. 30:1, Joshua 19:51, 1 Kings 8, and on and on throughout the old testament. How it would usual work is that Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, and/or whoever was king would give a word to the head honcho who would then take it to the people of Asher, Gad, or Naphtali. After it made it to the “state” level, then it would filter down to the “county” level, or the heads of the households where then the “towns”, the families themselves, would put it into practice. Likewise if there was a matter that could not be handled by the local government, it would then get passed up to the next level, and if it was still not competently being taken care of it the issue would be presented to the supreme head, in the case of Exodus 18, Moses himself.
The Biblical witness then tells us exactly the answer to our question. Ideally the first line of defense is the town. A mayor, as we would call the leader of that level today, is primarily responsible for making sure the people under his care are provided the basic needs of life. That includes not just civil engineering projects (which may be handled in concert with the county or the state) and food availability, but the spiritual feeding of the citizens is taken care of as well. It may seem a leap to say that so let us take a moment to defend such a statement. In Deuteronomy 16 the Lord of love provides a means by which we can make sure justice is taken care of for all citizens. The Scriptures say thus in Deut. 16:18-20:
You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
These judges (as we see born out with Ruth and Boaz) were there to handle disputes arising from legal matters to questions about the righteousness of an act. They were to be men full of wisdom and grace. They were to know God and seek to honor His name for the betterment of their own settlements. Part of the reason why our nation is in such rot today is because the bottom is just as messed up as the top. For a godly Republic to function well each level must know its role, and who they ultimately answer to for the way they lead.
For the Feds not to be overstepping fascists it helps when the small platoons are strong and humble in seeking to do well that mercy Christ the King calls them to each and every day. Next week we’ll touch more on this question.
If you have particular questions about it please let me know.
Last word:
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church
