The Role of Pastors and Christians Part Ten by David Barton

Yet many Americans today, including many Christians, have fallen into believing that Christians should not be involved in civil government – that there should be some sort of a compartmentalization – that faith should be kept in one arena, real life in another, and the two should never meet. The Bible does not teach that; and our Founding Fathers and early ministers did not believe that.

Yet many critics today try to invoke what Jesus said in Matthew 22 as proof that Christians should not be involved; but this is a complete mischaracterization of that passage. Matthew 22:21 says that we are to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” But does this mean that God’s people are not to be involved with “Caesar”? Why did Jesus make this statement? He was asked whether it was right to pay taxes. In response, Jesus picked up a coin, asked whose inscription was on it, and when they said, “Caesar’s,” Jesus replied, “Then render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” That is, render your due to the government, and render your due to God – you have responsibilities in both areas. He clearly was not saying to avoid the governmental arena. Beyond the passage in Matthew 22, there are many other Biblical passages where God endorses the involvement of His people in the civil arena – an institution that He Himself created and ordained. For example, in Romans 13:4-6, on three separate occasions, the Scripture declares that those who are in civil government are “ministers of God.” (Perhaps this is why so many ministers were involved in the civil arena during the Founding Era – they believed and obeyed the Bible.)

Hebrews 11 is the “Faith Hall of Fame” where the great heroes of our faith are held up to us as examples; in fact, Hebrews 12 declares that it is these heroes who are cheering us on. Yet, notice that the heroes of our faith listed in Hebrews 11:22-34 were involved in civil government. Why would God hold them up to us as examples to emulate if He thought it was wrong for His people to be involved in the civil arena? In I Timothy 2:1-2, we are told to pray “first of all” for all people – for our leaders and those in authority. Notice: God tells us to pray for our civil leaders “first of all” – before we pray for ourselves, our families, or our churches. There is nothing else in the Bible that God tells us to pray for “first of all.” This must mean that God considers civil government important.

Recall the parable of the minas in Luke 19. The Master calls His servants together and gives them all a mina – a trust – a stewardship. The Master departs and then later returns to take account of their stewardship. One had taken the mina and turned it into ten; another had turned his into five; and another had taken his trust and not used it at all. The one who refused to get involved with what the Master had entrusted him was the one who got in trouble; but notice the reward for the other two. To the first, the Master said, “Well done good and faithful servant; I will make you a ruler over ten cities”; to the second he said, “Well done, I will make you a ruler over five cities.” Notice the reward of the Master for their faithful stewardship: he places them into civil government! Today, most Christians don’t think of being in civil government as a reward from the Master; maybe it is time to rethink our beliefs about civil government based on what the Bible says. Despite the rich heritage of Christian faith and expression in America and the strong foundation that it has provided for our country, things have begun to change dramatically. Hundreds of years of religious freedoms have been erased by courts in only a few short decades. While there have been scores of horrible rulings, perhaps none is any more egregious than the ruling in a case that went to the U. S. Supreme Court: Jane Doe v. Santa Fe Independent School District. Santa Fe is a small rural town outside of Houston, Texas; it has a long tradition of prayer at graduations and prayer at athletic events such as football games. Yet a handful of students in that school were offended by the practice; they did not want anyone else praying. So they went to a federal judge and asked him to force everyone else to stop praying. The judge ruled that he would allow prayer to continue at graduations and athletic events – but only if students prayed the right words when they prayed. He warned: