What Are a Christian’s Civic Responsibilities?

Citizens of the United States enjoy freedom of religion thanks to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But it has often been noted that freedom comes with corresponding responsibilities. What are a Christian's obligations as a citizen of an earthly nation? Dr. David K. Bernard looks to the New Testament for guidance on how believers should interact with government.

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Those of us who live in the United States are thankful for the freedoms we enjoy, including freedom of religion. But what does the Bible say about our responsibilities as Christian citizens of an earthly state? How should we respond when government violates biblical principles? The answers are coming up next. Welcome to Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, a podcast dedicated to helping modern-day believers live out the teachings of the first century church. This podcast is part of the teaching ministry of Dr. David K. Bernard. Dr. Bernard has dedicated his life to studying the Bible and helping believers apply its message to their daily lives. In Apostolic Life in the 21st century, Dr. Bernard answers your questions about what the Bible teaches and how those teachings apply to everyday life. Thank you for joining us for this episode. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to check out Dr. David K. Bernard's books. Dr. Bernard has written more than 30 books on biblical theology and Christian living and leadership. Visit Pentecostal Publishing.com and search David Bernard for a list of available titles. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10% on your order. That's Pentecostalpublishing.com, promo code DKB10 to save 10% at checkout. Tomorrow is July 4th, which of course is Independence Day here in the United States. And as American citizens, we are obviously we're very grateful for the freedoms that we still enjoy, including the freedom of religion. But a great many thinkers and philosophers have noted that freedom also brings with it corresponding responsibilities. What does the Bible have to say about a Christian's responsibility as citizens of an earthly state? And what should we do if that state passes laws that violate biblical commands and principles? How should a Christian respond in those types of situations?

SPEAKER_01 2:01

To answer this question, we should look foremost at the New Testament, which is God's plan for Christians for the church today. Of course, the New Testament was written when the Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean world, including the tiny nation of Palestine. So they did not have freedom as we know it. They did not have democracy. They couldn't vote for their leaders. They were under an oppressive, in many cases, foreign dictatorship. So even under those adverse circumstances, we find two clear teachings of Scripture. And you can see this in Romans chapter 13. You can also see this in 1 Peter chapter 2. So I can say under every form of government, two things are important. Number one, we should pray for our country, for our leaders. Even if they're ungodly leaders, there is a valid role for government. In God's plan, government is supposed to keep order, safety, security, protect life, property. And of course, in the Christian context, we believe government should ensure the free expression of the gospel. And even in a practical way, as we see in the Roman Empire, by maintaining roads, by maintaining a postal system, by maintaining a basic economy where people can live and where even churches can have their needs supplied, we see government has a valid role. So to that extent, number one, we should pray that government will fulfill its valid role and that God will help governmental leaders to do what is just and do what is merciful and protect peace, safety, freedom, the economy, and so forth. So prayer is always in order. That's a responsibility of Christians, even for secular and ungodly leaders to pray for those leaders, for our government, for our nation. Second, we are supposed to be good citizens, law-abiding citizens. Now, not every law is just, not every law is necessary, but again, uh for the valid purposes that government exists, which are given and ordained by God, we should cooperate with our government. We should be known as good citizens. We should be known as law-abiding citizens. If there's some reason that we are not following a law, we should be willing to pay for the consequences of not following that law. Now, all that discussion, which I said is from Romans 13, 1 Peter 2, is assuming that government is fulfilling its valid function as ordained by God. But what if the government actually goes against the will of God? So in a drastic case, we see in the book of Acts that the religious leaders tried to prohibit the preaching of the gospel. They told the apostles not to preach in the name of Jesus. Well, the apostles did anyway, because there's a higher law, the law of God. And so in Acts 5.29, this very important principle stated we ought to obey God rather than man. So if the government tries to convince us or force us to commit sin, if the government tries to curtail the evangelism and discipleship of the church, the functions that God has given, then we have to choose God's will, even over the government or over law. So we have responsibility to be law-abiding citizens. And by the way, in Romans 13, that includes paying taxes, that includes giving honor to secular officials, uh that includes supporting the government financially through customs, duties, taxes. But when the law or the government or governmental leaders go directly against God's plan, God's commands to us, then we have to still follow God's commands, even if there are adverse consequences for us. Now, in a society such as ours, where we do have uh we we're in the U.S. and through most of the West, Canada, you know, we have democracy. We have freedom to a greater or lesser extent, but we are a Republican democracy. So we elect representatives who in turn make laws for us. Ultimate sovereignty rests with the people. We choose the key leaders. And so in that context, we have a right, but I also think we have a duty to participate. So in Bible days, they couldn't say go out and vote. It wasn't an option. But I think God would say, yes, when you have these means of influencing society, you should use that. And we do have practical examples in the Old Testament. We have uh biblical leaders who are faithful to God, faithful to uh the laws of God. They didn't compromise, but yet they rose to high positions of influence in secular pagan government. So Joseph in Egypt, Daniel and the three, his three young Hebrew friends in the Babylonian Empire, later the Persian Empire, Esther became queen in the Persian Empire. So these were all godly people who used their influence to do God's will, who did not compromise with sin, but yet they participated in society. So that indicates to me that if we're able to participate, that it's legitimate for some of us to hold office, elected or appointed. And since we have a right to vote, that's one way we can all participate. In the New Testament, you see the same thing. In Acts 8, you have the Ethiopian eunuch who was apparently a high official. He was a treasurer of his nation. Uh Acts 10, you have Cornelius, who was a centurion, a captain of a Roman band, a military unit. Uh, you also have a very interesting reference in Romans 16, 23 of Erastus, who was a high city official. The term is sometimes translated as city treasurer or director of public works, but he was a key civic official in a pagan society. So again, these New Testament examples show us that when we have the opportunity to have an influence in our secular society, even in government positions, not only is it legitimate, but I would argue from that there are ways which we all can participate, which wasn't the case in the New Testament. So when there's a way that we can all can participate, I think we should. So at minimum, we should vote. And we should let our voice be heard. And I think there's a legitimate role for, I don't think the church should promote political parties or candidates because we need to be the church needs to be open to everyone. People of every political persuasion need to feel welcome, to feel like they could come. They wouldn't have to support a certain candidate party to be accepted in our church. Now, once they get in the church, they may adopt values that are more in line with the Bible, and they may vote for policies and candidates that would be better at implementing biblical values and God's will. But the point is, officially, as the church, while we promote godly values, uh, we shouldn't promote candidates or parties in a way that would alienate a section of the population. So I'm not talking about official church action, but as individual members of society, we can and should participate in the political process in various ways, including supporting candidates, parties, lobbying, and so forth. But at least I think we can and should vote because that's one way we let our voice be heard. And if we don't like certain policies or certain candidates, but yet we don't vote, then we have only ourselves to blame. I do believe that we should be good citizens in our society and we should use the available means legally and peacefully. Uh, we should support freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, uh, freedom uh to make a list of grievances, uh, to present to the government, uh, freedom of petition, you might say. And uh, we should avail ourselves of these freedoms, especially when it comes to defending um the work of the church.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Thank you for listening to this episode of Apostolic Life in the Twenty First Century. If you enjoy this podcast, please take a moment to give us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st century with a friend or family member. And make plans to join us again next time as we look at how the Bible applies to everyday life.