Separating Church and State

Sunday 29 Mar 2009

Christians everywhere should mark these times as a reminder of the importance of the Church being actively involved in the political process.  If one thing is patently clear in the current financial crisis it is that our leaders (business and political) have lost their moral compass.  Lying, cheating, deceiving; and every abominable sin that one can imagine has been committed by the very people who are elected and appointed to lead and protect us.  They have torn up and shredded God’s LAW.  This is why the economy is in such a mess and no one seems to know anymore, what is right and what is wrong; what will work and what will not work; they appear to be spiritually blind.

The world is full of people screaming out about saving the planet; they all seem to know and understand that there is balance (LAW) in nature, but none seem to understand that this means that there must also be a balance (LAW) that governs the way we humans act.  Sadly, most people (including many in the Church) have come to believe that we (man) create such LAW; this is what politicians are elected to do; they no longer believe in and recognize the LAW of God as the supreme law that rules over every other law.

Jesus called them blind guides.  “Woe unto you, ye blind guides,” He said; “which say, whoever shall swear by the temple (the Greater of the two), it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple (the lesser of the two), he is a debtor!  You fool, and blind, for what is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” (Matthew 23: 16)

This is why the Church must wake up.  Christian leaders must start providing leadership.  They should take a leaf out of the current Pope Benedict’s book and start telling political and business leaders their responsibilities.  Sadly, too many Christian leaders today are not doing this; they are not defending the Church.  They care more for the money they get from government and business than they do for honestly representing the doctrine of Christ and the LAW of God.  As a result, there is no accountability; there is little regard anywhere for leaders; and the world is rapidly moving towards lawlessness.  Many will disagree with this; but the silent majority knows that the days are long gone when you can take a man at his word; even if he has signed what we might once have called a binding contract.

Leaders and Arrogance

No one likes to be told what to do, particularly leaders.  Sadly, leadership and arrogance are too often close friends.  As a result, it is hard to find a leader with what Christians call a servant’s heart.  This is why there is such strong support for the doctrine of the separation of church and state, because the leaders of the world today do not want to be morally answerable to anyone.  They want to live in a Godless and therefore, a lawless society.

As Jesus said, “How hard it is for those that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,” He said.
If you believe, as every Christian should; that our God-given responsibility in life (this means all of us, including our leaders) is to be continually striving to better ourselves; that we should always be trying to improve our lot in life; then it is difficult to understand how one can believe that it is good to separate what one believes from the administration of government that controls everything that we do.  If however, you do not care about self improvement; or what happens to your country, then the alternative is to gamble your future and keep one’s beliefs out of government; creating a situation where anything goes and lawlessness rules; which is where we are today.

Intolerance

Some will say that such a stance is intolerant of other people’s beliefs, but it is not.  The truth is that even the ignorant and the arrogant have their beliefs; we all have beliefs; and we all have the God-given right to seek out and to live in a place that is tolerant of our beliefs.  For example, if I am a devout Socialist or a Communist, I have the God-given right to live in a Socialist or Communist country.  If I am a devout Muslim, then I have the God-given right to live in a Muslim country.  If I am a devout Hindu, I have the God-given right to live in a Hindu country.  And the same right applies to Christians who created the FREE world that now sustains all the rest.   We have a God-given right to live in the world that we have created and to participate in its government.

But, you say, doesn’t this conflict with the whole purpose of missionaries taking the word of Christ to the world; aren’t we supposed to be converting those other countries to Christianity?   No, it doesn’t. Our job as missionaries is not to save countries, but individual souls. 

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers,” the apostle Paul said.  “For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13: 1)

God’s Law recognizes every man’s right to his own beliefs.  As sad as this may be for some Christians; it is a fact that our God has given every one of us the right to accept or deny Christ, and many chose to walk away. 

Read the story of the rich young leader in the gospel of Mark, who came to Jesus seeking eternal life.  When Jesus told him what he had to do, “he was sad at what he heard, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions;”which caused Jesus to say to his disciples, “How hard it is for those that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10: 22-23)

As we know, our Jewish brothers have been doing this for two thousand years, and we do not hate them.  To the contrary, we help them wherever we can, and try to show them, by our example, what we believe is their mistake.  This is intelligent discourse and it eventually wins many to Christ.

Economics and God

Many will say that you learn economics at Harvard and Yale; it has nothing to do with the Church; but once again, they are wrong.  Yes, you can learn about how the secular world operates at Harvard and Yale (and most universities), but nothing that you learn in these places will every mean that you can successfully manage an economy , unless you also understand God’s supreme LAW that rules over every other law.  To believe such is like believing that you can do science or business without understanding mathematics.  As Jesus said, you must understand which is the greater.

In the very same way that mathematics is critical to the understanding of science and business, God’s mathematically perfect LAW is critical to economics, because LAW is economics.  The way LAW works is the most economical model there is in all existence.  It is therefore utter foolishness to learn man’s law without also understanding God’s greater LAW.

“God stretches out His rule (Law); He marks it out with a line (it is a straight law); He fits it with planes (different levels), and He marks it out with the compass (He makes it circular as God’s Law is), and makes it after the figure (number) of a man, according to the beauty (glory = light = mind = logic) of a man; that it may remain in the house (of God).” (Isaiah 44: 13)  “God’s LAW is gone out through all the Earth; and His words to the end of the world.  There is no speech nor language, where His voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19: 3-4)
 

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