In last week’s blog article, I set aside working on my own taxes long enough to address some of the issues that arise from our tax systems and how a Christian should relate to them.
Basically, I pointed out from Scripture that:
1. God has instituted all authority (Romans 13:1); 2. The rulers are God’s instruments for justice and the restraint of evil (Romans 13:3-7); 3. Everyone is to be subject to the governing authorities (Romans 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-14 – “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.”); and 4. Jesus himself commanded us to “render to Caesar” what belongs to him, namely his taxes, but to render to God the things that are God’s (Matthew 22:21). This two-way submission is God honoring, but it may lead to problems when our duties to God and our duties to the state conflict with each other.
At the close of the last blog, I said “At some point, we may need to just say ‘No’; there may be a point when obedience to God means saying no to government demands.” I then ended with the statement: “Before we do, there are certain criteria we must take into account if our protest is going to be God-honoring.” But, what are those things?
- First, we recognize that “no one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). If God and government disagree, God is the supreme authority. As Jesus told his disciples regarding coming persecutions: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). I would rather be judged by the state than by God.
- Next, we have to make sure that our objection to particular government demands is based on God’s word, and not just our opinions or attitudes. Just because we don’t like a certain tax or law doesn’t mean we get to refuse it. The Apostle Peter was clear about this when he told Christians to behave, so that if they were persecuted it was for their faith and not for their criminal actions. He wrote in 1 Peter 2:19-20, “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
- The form of government does not matter when it comes to honoring those in authority, since all authority is given by God. Whether we are in a kingdom, an empire, a republic, a democracy, or a dictatorship, we are still to do our civic duty. In fact, for most of history, including all the earliest centuries of the faith, believers were under pagan kings and emperor – yet Christ’s command was still valid.
- Our form of government puts more of the onus on us as citizens. We cannot just point the finger at distant rulers and blame them for everything (as guilty as they might be); we share the responsibility because of our role in electing our leaders and decision-makers (or passively allowing others to elect those leaders for us). Our approach must be one of humility before we complain too loudly.
- If a law or tax violates God’s word, we must first seek to change that law or tax in ways that respect government and those who work in it. This means lobbying our legislators, speaking out publicly, forming organizations that seek to overturn the bad policies, etc. We must first make the case for why we object to the law or tax.
- Refusal to follow an evil law must be done while still honoring our fellow citizens who are enforcing those laws. We owe them respect, recognizing the position they are in, even if they fully endorse what they are doing. By treating them well we remove the personal nature of our refusal and have a better chance of winning them to our viewpoint. Hatred breeds hatred; love calls forth love.
- If we decide that we must disobey a law or tax, we must do so without violence. All violence decides is who has the biggest, or most, guns. People will decide that might makes right, rather than see the rightness of our cause. When a matter is decided violently, it is never truly settled; anger, hate, and revenge can simmer just below the surface, waiting for the chance to boil over. The early Church grew in spite of persecution by winning the hearts and minds of even the persecutors.
- If we disobey the law, we must be ready to suffer the consequences. We may not like the punishment, and may truly suffer loss of property and freedom, but those are prices that we must sometimes pay if we are to obey God. The martyrs before us, and those in other places around the world today, gave all they had for the faith. And they considered themselves blessed to suffer for their Lord who had suffered for them. Why should we expect to avoid government’s rod or sword?
- Ultimately, God will judge those in authority for what they did with their power. He brings down people and governments for doing evil and for not fulfilling the purposes for which he raised them up. God requires rulers to restrain and punish evil, to establish and administer justice, to protect the vulnerable, and to guard the lives of its people. It’s very interesting that the founders of many of our states’ early constitutions required that elected officials be Christians, or otherwise believed in judgment after death; they wanted leaders who recognized they were under divine authority and would one day be judged for what they did in office. (Too bad we don’t require that any more!)
There is a question to which all these considerations point: namely, what are the things of God that we must render to him? We owe him our very lives; we owe him our possessions (recognizing that he says to pay some of them to Caesar); we owe him our time; we owe him worship; we owe him our relationships and our activities; we owe him obedience to all his commandments (even recognizing that we cannot fulfill any of them); we owe him our faith and trust. We owe him love with all our heart and mind and strength; we owe him love for our neighbors as ourselves. In other words, we owe him everything. Should government command we look to it as our god, we must refuse. Should government outlaw our faith, we must resist. Should government order us to violate God’s commandments, we must refuse. For where our duty to God conflicts with the demands of men, God wins.
Finally: when Jesus was asked about taxes, he pointed to Caesar’s image on a coin and asked whose image was on it. If you look at a dollar bill today, you see a picture of George Washington, and the words, “In God We Trust.” If Jesus were asked that same question today, I can imagine him saying, “Render to Washington the things that are Washington’s, but render to God the things that are God’s, and trust in God for the outcome.”
With that in mind, have a great April 15th!
May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Read: 1 Peter 2, Matthew 10:16-33