Who is the final authority?
When someone goes to a restaurant, they want to see a smile on the waitress’s face. They desire a server who is friendly, professional, clean, knowledgeable about the menu, and quick to notice that drinks are running low.
Now, instead of a waitress coming to your table to take your order, here comes the dishwasher. He has gook on his clothes because of all the table scraps he’s been scraping off plates and throwing into the trash. Because of all the water he sticks his arms into and the sprayer he uses, his clothes are wet. He has no idea what the soup of the day is, nor does he care. He has no time for small talk because his mind is on the dishes, cups, and pots and pans piling up in the back room.
Having the dishwasher fulfill the role of server would not provide customers with the best dining experience. Why? Different people play different roles to make something work. The dishwasher plays a vital role. Having your meal served on a dirty plate or having an unidentified object floating around in your cup are both things that would cause people not to return.
Who decides who serves and who washes the dishes? The manager. He will decide who works for the restaurant and who will not. It is the manager who decides who will be the greeter, who the servers are, who mops the floor and cleans the bathrooms, and who washes the dishes. The manager is the authority. The manager even decides what role or roles he will play. We have establishments in my local area where the owner/manager is the cook and his wife greets people at the door. In other places, the manager is rarely seen, as they handle matters back in the office.
Everyone, from management down to the newest employee, has shoes to fill.
What about life? Who is the one who decides who plays what roles? That is God.
Just as the dishwasher is responsible to the manager regarding the cleanliness of the dishes, we are responsible to God for the roles He has us fill in life. For instance, Pastors and church leaders “must give account” to God for how they train, nurture and care for God’s flock (Hebrews 13:17).
What role are governments supposed to play? A person’s answer to that question is determined by who they believe is the ultimate authority. Many people believe that the government should provide basic necessities of life, like food, housing, and health care. What does the Bible say? Is the government meant to be the great provider?
The Bible does tell us that anyone with governmental authority is “the minister of God” (Romans 13:4). Just like a minister in a church, a Mayor, Governor, Senator, President, or anyone in government authority is there to do God’s work. However, just as the waitress and dishwasher perform different functions to make the restaurant run efficiently, the preacher and the county council member play different roles to make society function.
What role does God, the ultimate authority, want the government to play?
A recurring theme in the Old Testament is the government’s responsibility to protect the people from foreign invasion. Therefore, the government is to provide a military.
The government is to punish evildoers (Romans 13:3.4, 1 Peter 2:13-14). Therefore, it is implied that the government provides a judicial system, including police to catch the bad guys, courts to determine guilt or innocence, and means of punishment.
The justice system needs to administer justice impartially. Deuteronomy 16:18-20, “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”
The Bible does say that the government should collect taxes to pay for expenses. Romans 13:6-7, “For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
Again, in that passage, is the reminder that the government servants are the ministers of God. God is emphasizing that those in government are to do His work, which, in the role of government, is to protect the people and ensure they live justly and are treated fairly. God has given us a moral law. God’s moral law gives us rules like don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t slander, and conduct business fairly (don’t use false weights). The government is not meant to enforce religious law, telling people which God to believe in, how often to attend church, whether to get baptized, and so on.
When it comes to money, taxes, and the church offering plate, Jesus demands that they remain separate. Matthew 22:21, “They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.”
This means that the government should keep its hands out of the church coffers, and that churches should not receive any government money. God intends for the church to be funded by the tithes and offerings of God’s people (Malachi 3:10), not by government subsidies. Churches should not receive government money to teach children, repave the parking lot, supply food for the church food pantry, or for any other purpose. Jesus said, “What is Caesar’s is Caesar’s, and what is God’s is God’s.” I reckon he meant it.
God is the ultimate authority. It is God from whom we receive our rights. God gives us all specific roles to play in life. God has given the government specific jobs. We should not want the government to reach outside its specific role that He plans for it to do any more than we would want a dirty, soiled, wet dishwasher serving food to us on a dirty plate.
