In the Bible, God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). God’s word is sufficient, and that sufficiency includes teaching us how to consider and engage in governmental politics. So, why does it often seem that political discussion and political cares are out of bounds in the local church?
I want to propose a model for how Christians can and should meaningfully engage in politics. I believe change is needed. My guess is that the most common take on politics you’ve heard from Christians goes something like this:
“Romans 13 commands Christians to submit to governing authorities, which means that we must obey all that the government commands unless they are commanding us to sin or prohibiting us from obeying God’s commands. Outside of that context, we should live peaceful and quiet lives that are mostly unconcerned with governmental politics because Christ is sovereign over it all anyway.”
That sounds true. But I think a more careful look at Romans 13 and other relevant passages will lead us to a slightly different understanding—an understanding that will free our consciences and allow us to be better public witnesses and supporters of righteousness in the public sphere.
Christ Over All
I want to begin with a look at the passage at the epicenter of Christian political philosophy: Romans 13. For the sake of time (because exegesis takes a lot of ink), let’s look at the first two verses. If we better understand those verses, I believe it will lay a foundation for us to better understand the rest of the passage. Give it a fresh read:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Romans 13:1–2
You couldn’t ask for a more direct answer to the question of our role to government than this. But I want to ask a few questions of this text that I hope will expose how we’ve misinterpreted it for some time.
What does it mean for the governing authorities to be appointed by God?
God is the creator and sovereign ruler over all governmental authorities. Governmental rule is not an invention of men. It is an institution that was purposefully created by Christ himself.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:15–16
Rulers were created by God to be servants of God (Romans 13:4). As with all things God creates, God gets to define it. For example, after creating marriage between one man and one woman, God did not give humans free reign to adjust that definition as they see fit. As we saw above in Colossians 1:16, government was not only created through Christ but also for Christ. The Lordship of Christ means that what he creates, he rules—including government.
To be appointed by God means that you have been assigned and called to a specific task by God. Appointment always has an object. One is always appointed to something specific. Appointed does not mean—in this passage or anywhere else—that one is given free reign to do as one pleases.
What is that task to which human government has been appointed? At the very least, it is appointed to wield the sword to protect its citizens and to uphold ordered justice within its borders. But my point in this post is not to give an exhaustive answer to that question; it is to convince you that there is an answer. We must understand that the government has not been created to rule over all things in all ways. It was appointed to fulfill specific tasks that were assigned by God. And as a created, appointed institution, the government must submit to its Creator and recognize the lordship of Christ over itself. God gets to—and has—set the bounds of the sphere of the government’s authority.
Within those bounds, we have a clear command: submit.
What does it mean to submit?
As I mentioned previously, our assumed answer to this question is that to submit is to obey everything government commands except when their commands force us to sin. But is that how submission ought to be biblically understood?
There are three institutions God created to bring order to his world: the family, the church, and the civil government. In each of those institutions, there is a God-created order that requires submission. Consider the institution of the family:
- “Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.” – Eph. 5:22
- “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” – Eph. 6:1
And consider the institution of the church:
- “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.” – Heb. 13:17
Though the language in these passages is remarkably similar to the language of Romans 13, we rarely hear it applied similarly. This is because we understand that God has set the limits of the authority of the heads of these institutions.
As a pastor, I cannot require any member of the church to give 60% of their income to the church. I can’t require the members of the church to watch my kids on the weekend or have breakfast ready at the church offices every morning. If a pastor commanded you to do those things, would you think it necessary to obey? I think most of us would not. Those commands obviously lie outside of the scope of the authority of a pastor. And we would quickly recognize them for what they are: pastoral tyranny.
As I use it here, tyranny refers to the attempt of the leaders of any institution to take strong control of things that are not inside of their scope of authority as God has determined it. We recognize tyrannical, domineering leadership in the home. We recognize it even more quickly in the church. But we’re very slow to recognize tyranny in the government.
A biblical view of submission is to obey those in authority over you as they lead you in the spheres over which God has made them leaders. This is right and good. Based on my personal observation, it seems that just as we currently have a propensity to speak of submission to the civil government too broadly, we often have a propensity to submit in too few ways in the home and the church.
All of these institutions have God-appointed leaders for a reason. And they all have real spheres of authority under the Authority of authorities: Jesus Christ. We should be quick to joyfully submit for our own good—including to the government—as they lead us within their sphere of authority.
Proclaim the Truth to Kings
The church of the living God is a pillar and buttress of truth (1 Tim. 3:15). We are the recipients of his sufficient and perfect revelation: the Bible. And we have been given the responsibility of heralding this truth that has been entrusted to us. The truth we herald is transformative. The gospel we proclaim is God’s power to save (Rom. 1:16). The commands of God are a blessing to those who hear and obey (Ps. 119:1-2).
Because the government is a God-created and God-appointed institution, it is right for the church to continually inform our rulers of the truths of God’s word and to plead with them to submit to him.
- John the Baptist called out King Herod, saying, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18). He informed him of the commands of God and called him to repentance.
- The Psalmist urged kings and rulers of the earth to “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled” (Ps. 2:11-12).
Our misunderstanding of Romans 13 has led us to turn a blind eye to injustice committed by governments and rulers. But calling out that injustice is the responsibility we have as the recipients of God’s truth.
We don’t have to stay silent when our leaders refuse to use their power to protect the lives of unborn image-bearers. We don’t have to stay silent when our rulers blaspheme the name of Christ. We don’t have to stay silent when our government plunders its own citizens, demanding far more tax dollars than God even has required of his people. We don’t have to stay silent when our congressmen celebrate unjust wars, sexual sin, and partiality. We don’t have to stay silent when our political commentators conspire to deceive and unnecessarily deepen the unrest of the population.
This requires us to have our eyes open. We need to know our culture and understand our political sphere. We can’t be witnesses to a culture we don’t understand. We can’t recognize injustices we know nothing about. We can’t apply God’s word to a government we aren’t familiar with. There is a potential to idolize politics, to follow it so closely that we begin to put our faith in governments and leaders rather than in the mighty hand of God. But politics is not alone in its potential to be idolized. We must beware that neither politics nor anything else take the place of God in our hearts.
But from my personal observation, I think that ignorance of political matters in our context is a much more widespread problem than idolizing political matters. We have the biblical knowledge, but we lack the ability to rightly apply it because we don’t fully see the picture of what is happening in our culture. I think this is largely because understanding politics in our culture is very difficult work. There are large, influential groups conspiring to deceive the population. There are false narratives perpetuated by those who have the responsibility of reporting the truth. But my encouragement is this: do the work.
We must be informed so that we can proclaim. The government doesn’t get a free pass to sin. But God, who is their authority, will bring judgment to the judges. That’s what we see in Romans 13: He is the authority over the authorities, the judge of judges, the King of kings.
I want to show you an incredible example of what faithful proclamation in our day can look like. R.C. Sproul gave an address to a newly-elected governor, and he recorded it for us in his book What is the Relationship Between Church and State. Here’s that full quote:
Today is your ordination day. Today is your ordination sermon, or ordination ceremony. Your office is ordained by God, just like mine is as a pastor. It is because of God’s authority that there is such a thing as government. For this reason, you are called by God to be a minister, not as a preacher in a local church, but as an official of this state. However, in your office as governor, you are not given autonomous authority. Your authority, and the only authority that you have whatsoever, is an authority delegated to you by the One who possesses all authority, and that is God. Ultimately, God is the foundation of authority by which you will rule in government. I challenge you this day to always remember that you are accountable to God for how you exercise that office, and may you not be seduced by this mythological concept of separation of church and state. The state, as much as the church, is instituted by God, ordained by God, and derives whatever authority it has through the delegation of divine authority. The state, therefore, is answerable and accountable to God.
R.C. Sproul
May we follow the example of Sproul!
We’re Not Ready
We have inherited a government that was wisely ordered by people who came before us, under which Christianity once was treated positively. That wonderful heritage has led many to grow comfortable with never needing to choose Christ over government.
Christians are commonly told that we don’t have persecution in the West—or, at least that our persecution is as close to non-existent as it can be. But this can’t be true. Christ promised that all of his followers will endure hatred and persecution because of his name (John 15:20, 2 Tim. 3:12, John 15:18, et al.).
And it is becoming increasingly less true every day. There has been a massive shift in our culture in the last decades. Things are not as they used to be, and they aren’t getting better. Christianity is not viewed positively in our culture, and we are facing political persecution beyond what existed in the United States before. In recent years, we saw churches forced to shut down during COVID-19, pastors jailed for keeping their churches open, and Christians jailed for sharing Christ outside of abortion “clinics.”
The government tyrannically overstepped its God-appointed authority and used its God-given sword against God’s people. That happened. And it will happen again.
We are not ready enough. It seems like a day is approaching—and possibly is already here—where we will be tested in our faithfulness to God over government. Things will not be as easy as they have been. And we must be ready to stand on God’s truth in resistance to tyrants who defy the commands of God.
My exhortation to you, brothers and sisters: Be ready. Keep your guard up. And always submit to Christ as Lord of all.
