WHEN GOD AND GOVERNMENT COLLIDE

CURRENTS

SERMON 2

WHEN GOD AND GOVERNMENT COLLIDE

INTRODUCTION:

THE INTERSECTION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AND THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN A LONG-DEBATED ISSUE.

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO…AS BELIEVERS…AS IT RELATES TO THE GOVERNMENT?

THIS PAST WEEK, MANY OF US WERE SHOCKED BY THE PHOTO OF COMEDIENNE KATHY GRIFFIN HOLDING A MOCK SEVERED HEAD OF PRESIDENT TRUMP…

I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU WERE RAISED, BUT THERE IS NOTHING IN MY BACKGROUND THAT ALLOWS ME TO FIND WHAT SHE DID EVEN REMOTELY FUNNY…

AS A MATTER OF FACT, I FOUND IT TO BE QUITE TASTELESS, AND DISGUSTING…

BUT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHAT KATHY GRIFFIN, AND OTHERS LIKE HER REPRESENT…WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE BIBLE’S TEACHING REGARDING THE DEVOLVING OF HUMAN DECENCY AND THE SECULARIZATION OF CULTURE IS RIGHT ON POINT…

OUR UNDERSTANDING OF END-TIMES THEOLOGY TELLS US THAT UNTIL CHRIST RETURNS, THE WORLD WILL CONTINUE TO GET WORSE AND WORSE…

YET, WE LIVE AMONGST A CULTURE THAT TRULY BELIEVES THINGS ARE BETTER THAN THEY HAVE EVER BEEN…

THAT MORE GOVERNMENT IS THE ANSWER...

THAT SO WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

SO WHAT ARE WE TO DO?

ROMANS, CHAPTER 13 HAS MUCH TO SAY ABOUT WHAT IS EXPECTED WHEN GOD AND GOVERNMENT COLLIDE…

TURN THERE WITH ME, AND LET’S READ THE ENTIRE CHAPTER…VERSES 1 THROUGH 14…

STAND – READ – PRAY

SO HOW ARE WE TO LIVE IN THIS CULTURAL CLIMATE?

IN A CLIMATE WHERE THE GOVERNMENT HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE INVASIVE IN THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE IT SERVES?

WHAT PRINCIPLES SHOULD GUIDE US IN THE MIDST OF THIS CULTURAL COLLISION BETWEEN GOD AND POLITICS?

1. WE ARE CALLED TO SUBMIT TO THE GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITIES…

a. - 1 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. 2 THEREFORE WHOEVER RESISTS THE AUTHORITIES RESISTS WHAT GOD HAS APPOINTED, AND THOSE WHO RESIST WILL INCUR JUDGMENT. 3 FOR RULERS ARE NOT A TERROR TO GOOD CONDUCT, BUT TO BAD. WOULD YOU HAVE NO FEAR OF THE ONE WHO IS IN AUTHORITY? THEN DO WHAT IS GOOD, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE HIS APPROVAL, 4 FOR HE IS GOD’S SERVANT FOR YOUR GOOD. BUT IF YOU DO WRONG, BE AFRAID, FOR HE DOES NOT BEAR THE SWORD IN VAIN. FOR HE IS THE SERVANT OF GOD, AN AVENGER WHO CARRIES OUT GOD’S WRATH ON THE WRONGDOER. 5 THEREFORE ONE MUST BE IN SUBJECTION, NOT ONLY TO AVOID GOD’S WRATH BUT ALSO FOR THE SAKE OF CONSCIENCE. 6 FOR BECAUSE OF THIS YOU ALSO PAY TAXES, FOR THE AUTHORITIES ARE MINISTERS OF GOD, ATTENDING TO THIS VERY THING. 7 PAY TO ALL WHAT IS OWED TO THEM: TAXES TO WHOM TAXES ARE OWED, REVENUE TO WHOM REVENUE IS OWED, RESPECT TO WHOM RESPECT IS OWED, HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS OWED.

b. LET EVERY PERSON BE SUBJECT TO THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES…

i. NO ONE IS EXEMPT FROM THIS COMMAND…

c. TO RESIST THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES IS TO RESIST WHAT GOD HAS PUT IN PLACE…

i. THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS COMMAND WOULD BE WHEN THE GOVERNMENTAL MANDATES ARE IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES…

ii. ARE WE FACING GOVERNMENTAL POSITIONS THAT ARE INCOMPATABLE WITH CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES TODAY?

iii. WE CERTAINLY ARE…

1. THE GOVERNMENT SAYS THAT SAME SEX MARRIAGE IS A PROTECTED RIGHT…

a. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT MARRIAGE IS THE UNION BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN.

b. THAT INTIMACY IS BE WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF THE UNION BETWEEN THAT ONE MAN AND THAT ONE WOMAN.

c. AND THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT IN ONE’S DNA, IT IS A LIFESTYLE CHOICE.

2. THE GOVERNMENT SAYS THAT GENDER IS A CHOICE…

a. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT BEFORE WE WERE BORN, GOD KNEW US…

i. AND HE DETERMINED THE NUMBER OF OUR DAYS…

ii. AND WHAT GENDER ONE WILL BE…

3. THE GOVERNMENT SAYS THAT ABORTION IS A RIGHT, AND THAT WOMEN SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE…

a. THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE, BECAUSE WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD…

2. WE ARE NOT CALLED TO EFFECT POLITICAL CHANGE, WE ARE CALLED TO EFFECT HEART CHANGE…

a. OUR CALLING IS VERY CLEAR…

b. - 18 AND JESUS CAME AND SAID TO THEM, “ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME. 19 GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, 20 TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU. AND BEHOLD, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, TO THE END OF THE AGE.”

c. WE ARE CALLED TO GO IN THE POWER OF, AND ON THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST…

i. VERSE 18

d. TO GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES…

i. THERE IS NO SCRIPTURE PASSAGE THAT LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT BELIEVERS ARE ONLY RESPONSIBLE TO WIN PEOPLE TO JESUS…

ii. OUR COMMISSION IS NOT SIMPLY TO SEE PEOPLE SAVED, BUT TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE SET ON THE PATH OF DISCIPLESHIP…

iii. THE WORD TRANSLATED “DISCIPLE” IN IS A WORD THAT MEANS TO BECOME A PUPIL, OR TO ENROLL AS A STUDENT…

iv. AND SO THE MANDATE FOR THOSE WHO ARE CHRIST FOLLOWERS IS TO BECOME LIFE-LONG STUDENTS OF JESUS, THE MASTER…

e. OF ALL NATIONS…

i. THAT WORD “NATIONS” IS A VERY IMPORTANT WORD…

ii. IT IS THE GREEK WORD “ETHNOS” AND IT LITERALLY MEANS PEOPLE GROUPS OR ETHNICITIES…

iii. AND IT REALLY IS A POWERFUL MANDATE, ESPECIALLY IN THE ETHNICALLY DIVIDED DEEP SOUTH, TO REACH PEOPLE OF EVERY COLOR, EVERY SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION, EVERY AGE GROUP…

iv. WITH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, AND SET THEM ON THE PATH TO DISCIPLESHIP…

v. WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?

1. VERSE 19 CONTINUES…

2. BAPTIZING THEM – THIS IDENTIFIES A BELIEVER WITH CHRIST.

a. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST BY FAITH, YOU SHOULD NOT CONSIDER BAPTISM AN OPTION, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER IT A CRUCIAL PART OF YOUR IDENTIFICATION AS A CHRIST-FOLLOWER…

b. AND IF YOU HAVEN’T YET BEEN BAPTIZED, YOU SHOULD MAKE PLANS TO DO SO SOON.

3. TEACHING THEM – THIS SPEAKS OF THE NEED FOR MATURITY…

a. WE ARE RESPONSIBLE, CERTAINLY TO BE DISCIPLES, THAT IS, TO CONTINUE TO GROW IN OUR FAITH…

b. BUT ALSO TO HELP OTHERS GROW IN THEIR FAITH…

c. SO WE TEACH THE TRUTHS THAT CHRIST HAS DELIVERED TO US IN HIS WORD…

4. WE ARE NOT ALONE…

a. CHRIST PROMISES TO BE WITH US ALWAYS…

b. EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE…

c. WE DO NOT WALK THROUGH THIS WORLD ALONE…

d. CHRIST IS ALWAYS WITH US…

CONCLUSION:

WHAT ARE WE – AS BELIEVERS – TO RELATE TO THE GOVERNMENT?

WE ARE TO PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS…

WE ARE TO SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORITY PUT IN PLACE BY GOD…

WE ARE TO LIVE OUR LIVES TO AFFECT CHANGE IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE…

WE ARE TO RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT MORALITY CANNOT BE LEGISLATED…

HEARTS CAN ONLY BE CHANGED THROUGH A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST…