Government Leaders
Though we are to do all we can
to thwart evil in the world,
we are to view pagan leaders as God's servants.
Here's Gene to explain:
This Principle raises a very significant
question in my mind, and I'm sure
in yours as well.
And that is, how can pagan leaders
be God's servant?
Well we're going to see that
being a servant in this sense is different
from being a servant to one another
as Jesus Christ demonstrated that
when He said to the apostles:
Serve one another.
There's another bigger purpose here in
God's scheme of things. So let's read about it.
Jeremiah 27:6 and 7, which reads:
So now I have placed all these lands
under the authority of My servant
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. ...
That's the Lord speaking through Jeremiah.
Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most
pagan, evil kings.
And yet here it says God chose him
to be His servant.
...I have even given him the
wild animals to serve him.
All nations will serve him, his son,
and his grandson until the time for his
own land comes, and then many nations
and great kings will enslave him.
And we know that that happened to
Nebuchadnezzar because of the Persians,
the Medo-Persians, who conquered
the Babylonian Empire.
And by the way, Cyrus, king of the Persians--
God turned around and used him
to release God's people to go back to
the land after 70 years.
So there you see God using pagan kings
as His servant to accomplish
His purpose in the world,
particularly as it relates to His people.
This next one I've called "God's Sovereign Protection."
...I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah
in the same way: ...
And here is now Jeremiah speaking for the Lord.
..."Put your necks under the yoke of the
king of Babylon, serve him
and his people, and live!
And there's a key.
If you will serve him, not worship him
but if you will serve him, you'll live.
You won't be killed like all the
other people are going to be killed
in the city of Jerusalem in Judah.
...Why should you and your people
die by the sword, famine,
or plague as the Lord has threatened
against any nation that does not serve
the king of Babylon?
Now we see God's protection
in this particular situation.
If you want to live then don't rebel.
Now the interesting thing, however
to keep in mind, is He is not saying:
Bow down.
There's a line we must not cross.
We see that illustrated.
For example, we see it illustrated in the
book of Esther when Mordecai
was asked to bow down to Haman,
who was a pagan representative of the king.
And he refused to bow down.
And by the way, he almost lost his life
because of that. And yet God protected him.
You see, this comes to another
very significant concept. And that is,
God is sovereign.
And we read this in Romans.
We see it verified in the New Testament
in relationship to pagan kings.
And remember now, this was written
during the time of Nero who was one of
the most wicked emperors.
It was written in the time of some of the kings.
King Herod and some of the governors
like Felix and Festus who were all evil.
And so Paul says this to the Romans
who are believers, who are under
persecution, particularly from the
persecution in Rome from Nero. He says:
For government is God's servant
for your good. ...
Now in essence what he is saying:
If it weren't for government,
the whole world would be in chaos.
There would be no peace, no safety.
In other words, God even establishes law
that governs the universe or the world
from total disaster.
...For government is God's servant
for your good [to serve you in that sense].
But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it
does not carry the sword for no reason. ...
In other words, don't go out and literally
violate the laws of Rome that are your protection.
Don't lie or steal or do those things--
it's going to bring death.
...For government is God's servant,
an avenger that brings wrath on
the one who does wrong.
In other words, see government--
even evil government--is a protection.
Now that raises some questions that
I can't totally resolve. Except it's very clear
that Paul says we are to conquer evil
with good if at all possible.
Do not be conquered by evil
but conquer evil with good.
Now what do we do with Hitler?
What do we do with a Mussolini?
What do we do with a Saddam Hussein?
And by the way, there's an element
with Saddam Hussein that if people
knuckled under and didn't violate the laws,
they were protected.
If they didn't, they were killed.
Now what do we do with situations like that?
Well, Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was a pastor
in Nazi Germany faced that question.
And the interesting thing is
that Bonhoeffer actually
did not believe in war at all.
He did not believe in bearing arms.
He believed that you should be
totally peaceful as a Christian.
Never be involved in all of that.
But then the data began to
pile up around him.
His relatives, his friends,
thousands of Jews were slaughtered.
And Bonhoeffer wrestled with this
Principle from Romans--
really wrestled with this Principle.
What do I do about the fact that I know
people are literally being slaughtered
and put in those gas chambers
and destroyed--innocent people.
And after a lot of careful thought
and self-examination, he concluded
that he was going to be part of
a conspiracy to take out Hitler.
And he tried, along with a number of other Germans
who were against what Hitler was doing.
And he was taken into prison.
He never succeeded in taking out Hitler.
Hitler eventually committed suicide.
But Bonhoeffer unfortunately,
and beyond explanation, went to prison
and he was sentenced to death.
And the thing that is somewhat puzzling
in the scheme of things is that Hitler and
Germany actually had surrendered.
And Hitler had committed suicide.
But the order was still out there
and Bonhoeffer was killed
because of what he had done.
Now we can't explain all that.
But as I was wrestling with this,
I thought: You know, there is a higher
Principle that we see in other
portions of Scripture.
We see it in the book of Esther.
And Esther said: If I die, I die.
But Mordecai said:
Perhaps you've come to the kingdom
for such a time as this.
And Esther literally created
a situation where Haman,
the one who had sentenced all Jews to death,
was killed on the very place that he had
planned Mordecai's death.
Esther was a part of a conspiracy
to bring down an evil man--
that freed the Jewish people from death.
So you see, there are Principles
that are higher Principles.
There are general Principles
but then there are Principles
that take us to a higher level in making decisions.
And I think that was one of the
Principles that guided Bonhoeffer
in what he did in attempting to take
Hitler's life to save millions
of people from death.
But there's a question, that I think
there's no question about in terms of
what we are to do--
no ands, no ifs, no buts here.
What can happen if we neglect our
human responsibility when attempting
to thwart evil in the world?
Our responsibility is to pray.
And our responsibility is to use the freedom
that God has given us.
But I still come back to one of the
Principles or guidelines, that as I said,
is beyond negotiation.
First of all [Paul said]...
Writing to these believers in Ephesus:
...I urge that petitions, [and] prayers,
[and] intercessions, and thanksgivings
be made for everyone, for kings...
That included Herod:
...[and] all those [who are] in authority...
That included Nero and other evil leaders.
...so that we may lead a tranquil and
quiet life in all godliness and dignity. ...
I love that prayer because in the midst of
the challenge of persecution,
we know that the will of God is that we
live in a peaceful environment.
Because Paul goes on to say:
...This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,
who wants everyone to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
In other words, one of the
great challenges for the church today:
In the midst of everything that is
happening in our world, is that we ought
to be on our knees on a regular basis
praying for all those in authority.
All over the world.
Which includes evil people,
evil dictators. Which includes our own
government officials. Who we may disagree with.
But we're to pray for.
And why should we pray?
Because it's God's will that we live in peace.
And when we live in peace--
there's a higher purpose
for living in peace. We can proclaim freely
and openly the gospel of Jesus Christ.