“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’
Jesus refused to indulge that duality – he seemed profoundly disinterested in engaging the question. After all, from the point of view of eternity, support for both the civil state and the church are temporal. Jesus is interested not so much in where we give our money as in how we give our hearts.
As human beings, we are both political and spiritual. So our societies necessarily contain both such structures, with different goals and ways of operating. Religious and civic life exist in essential, overlapping, but basically distinct realms. When those realms live in creative tension, somewhat equally balanced in power and influence, human societies do alright. We go off the rails when either becomes too dominant - especially, I'm sorry to say, when it's religion that tries to run the show. (Such is the power of Margaret Atwood’s 1986 novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” enjoying new life as an award-winning television series, warning a new era about the incompatibility of theocracy and democracy.)
This week we are exploring how best to live in the tension of our dual citizenship, how to reflect the values of heaven on earth, and hold up the needs of earth before the power of heaven. How do you feel called to live that dual citizenship, bringing your spiritual self into the public square?
Jesus refused to indulge that duality – he seemed profoundly disinterested in engaging the question. After all, from the point of view of eternity, support for both the civil state and the church are temporal. Jesus is interested not so much in where we give our money as in how we give our hearts.
As human beings, we are both political and spiritual. So our societies necessarily contain both such structures, with different goals and ways of operating. Religious and civic life exist in essential, overlapping, but basically distinct realms. When those realms live in creative tension, somewhat equally balanced in power and influence, human societies do alright. We go off the rails when either becomes too dominant - especially, I'm sorry to say, when it's religion that tries to run the show. (Such is the power of Margaret Atwood’s 1986 novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” enjoying new life as an award-winning television series, warning a new era about the incompatibility of theocracy and democracy.)
This week we are exploring how best to live in the tension of our dual citizenship, how to reflect the values of heaven on earth, and hold up the needs of earth before the power of heaven. How do you feel called to live that dual citizenship, bringing your spiritual self into the public square?
When do we challenge secular values with gospel values?
How and when might we invite the power of the Holy Spirit to work through us for secular goods?
It's easy to get disgusted with government. We can instead wield the spiritual power we've been given as well as our civic freedoms, being engaged citizens and prayer warriors.
The healthiest way for church and state to mingle might just be in us.
It's easy to get disgusted with government. We can instead wield the spiritual power we've been given as well as our civic freedoms, being engaged citizens and prayer warriors.
The healthiest way for church and state to mingle might just be in us.
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