Pastors: Don’t Separate the Battlefields!
By Dave Welch, U.S. Pastor Council
There “he” goes again. A Christian leader says to just ignore the world around us and stay only on the “spiritual” battlefield as if it is an “either/or” question. Dr. Gregg Frazer, in his response to my column opposing disengagement by the church from the culture, has unwittingly and clearly illustrated the problem.
It seems that Dr. John MacArthur can deride followers of Jesus Christ who have accepted the call to be responsible for our use of God’s authority in governing ourselves, however does not like to be questioned or held accountable. I fully expect Dr. Frazer, as a member of MacArthur’s staff, to fully defend his position however his response does not address the initial issue of MacArthur’s apparent contention that followers of Christ cannot be both a good Christian and a good citizen.
Let’s just start at the top and make this simple for Dr. Frazer and others who have overcomplicated the rationale for Christians to be good citizens and choose godly leaders. Beginning in Genesis 9:6, "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God He made man,” expanded upon in Exodus 18 with Jethro’s counsel to Moses for delegating authority and choosing leaders and literally throughout Scripture, God places a specific value and purpose on righteous and just civil leadership as well as the use of that leadership.
As too many evangelicals have done, Dr. Frazer also ignores the full context of the Great Commission where Christ states that, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age."
I did not share all of Dr. D. James Kennedy’s theology, nor placed him on a pedestal, however he understood that this passage and all of Scripture – including our mandate to visit the orphans and the widows, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, defend the defenseless and promote justice – leave nothing out of the believer’s commission to make disciples of all the nations.
Spiritual rebirth through the atonement of Jesus Christ is the first step toward personal transformation as well as community and national transformation. It is not, however the last or the entire New Testament apart from the four Gospels would be unnecessary. Discipleship and teaching “all that I have commanded you” is the business of the church and the marketplace of each follower of Christ should be impacted by his or her new life, including their home/marriage/family, business/profession, education, entertainment and citizenship.
Romans 13 clearly provides an understanding of God’s limited purpose of governing authority. The term “minister” is used in verse 4 as part of that description, using the Greek word: “Diakonos - dee-ak'-on-os one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister; the servant of a king”
The words Diakonos and Diakaneo appear a combined total of 59 times in the New Testament, including the familiar passage in Matthew 20:26, “It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your (diakonos) servant.” I doubt that any believer would disagree that Christians should be servants, regardless of our profession or vocation. All Christians are in “The Ministry”, including those who are called to civil leadership.
Biblically, civil rulers are servants and since all civil authority is granted by and accountable to God (Romans 13:1-7) the purpose of civil authority is indeed to “minister”. Is it possible for this ministry to be conducted properly by those who don’t believe in the God who gave the authority and who “made the rules”? Or by those who claim to believe but insist His Word is full of errors? It seems evident that like any ministry, the exercise of civil authority will be performed best by disciples of Christ who think and act Biblically.
When the ministry of governing is disconnected from Biblical moorings, there is no possible way for it to retain His perfect balance of justice and mercy. It must then be tossed upon the waves of selfishness, greed, sin and corruption. It is possible that Dr. MacArthur and his followers like Dr. Frazer adhere to such a philosophy but please don’t profess that it is scriptural and most certainly please stop condemning brothers and sisters in Christ who take responsibility for our duty to God and country.
Finally, Dr. Frazer also uses a red herring argument that somehow those who ascribe to a view of effective, godly citizenship are trying to politicize the pulpits. Nonsense. We are simply adhering to a view that all of scripture is profitable, that we should not ignore the obvious role the prophets played in holding kings accountable and the catastrophes visited upon the nation of Israel – and every nation since – when the kings or the people turned their backs on the one, true God.
We’ve tried it their way and over 40,000,000 babies have been murdered in their mothers’ wombs. Like Jefferson, the least religious of the founding fathers, “I tremble when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Political involvement will not change one heart, only the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God can do that. It will, however illustrate that God is indeed just and is concerned about the welfare of the people.
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