This article is another installment of our Questionable Quotes (?Q) series, where we aim to take popular, commonly used quotes about the church, God, and the Bible and put them under the microscope to see if they really hold up to the truth.
“Romans 13 says Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics.”
I don’t know how many times I have heard someone give this misguided statement and leave it as an end-all argument. The truth is, that isn’t what Romans 13 teaches. In fact, I could argue that it teaches pretty much the opposite. However, we aren’t here to argue we are here to examine the Bible for what it says. After all, God said what He meant and He meant what He said. So let’s just see what it says.
The misguided statement that many flippantly throw around today about Romans 13 teaching we shouldn’t be involved in politics comes from the first couple verse on government subjection.
“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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Romans 13:1-2)
Notice what these verses are saying. We have an obligation to be obedient to the “governing authorities” because government is God-instituted for a purpose. There is nothing wrong with that, right? We are told in the second verse that we are not to resist the authorities, in other words, obey the law! This actually stays in line with everything else we have been taught in scripture concerning the rulers and rules of lands. The only time we have ever been given the authority by God to break or go against the law is when those laws or leaders require of us to go against the laws and commands of God. That is exactly what the governing authorities in Acts 5 asked of Peter and the apostles and it is in this inspired chapter that Peter asserts, “we ought to obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29). So it’s easy to see that so long as government is doing its job within the limits of righteousness we as Christians are required to obey and if we don’t we will incur not only the judgment that comes from the law but ultimately the judgment of God.
Notice what this doesn’t say. Did you read anything about not being allowed to participate in government? The next couple of verses discuss the role that government is to play by saying:
“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, 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.” (Romans 13:3-4)
So what does that mean for us? Does that mean I just need to be a follower of the law and nothing more? The text certainly doesn’t say that. I don’t even think it implies that. However, what I do see is an earnest charge of civic responsibility in a righteous manner. How, you ask? Well when you read this today from a stand point of government and modern application in our republican form government where it is up to the people to govern through elections and a system of checks and balances we have a say in who the “God’s servant for your good…[and] the servant of God…who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” is.
Many times during election cycles you hear Christians murmur and complain about having to vote for the “lesser of two evils.” Why? Because, there are not good solid Christian men and women of character on the ballot but imagine if there were. The questions of obedience to governing authorities that we have today would seemingly be non-existent. The questions that we have about the future of the church and impending Christian persecution would be mere water-cooler talk. I know that I what it sounds like I am describing is a Christian American Utopia. I also realize that this will probably never be completely true in such a wonderfully diverse melting-pot of people that is America.
Even still, this begs the question…what would America look like with more true Christian leadership? The only way to find out is if more Christians step up and become actively involved in political participation and leadership. Romans 13 doesn’t teach that we shouldn’t be involved in politics: it instead opens the eyes of possibility for us who live in America to participate in the great experiment. We need more Christian leaders today…is that you?
By Andrew Chavarrilla