Christian Stewardship of Civil Government
For too long, Christian people have made the decision to disengage from political discourse in stark contrast to everything the Bible teaches us about stewardship of what God has given us. In Luke 19, we’re told, “occupy till I come.” According to the Merriam-Webster's definition, occupy means to engage our attention and energy, to take or hold possession, to fill or perform the functions of something. Whether it's taking ownership and responsibility of our families or taking responsibility for the nation God gave us, Christians should be occupying. The Bible teaches Christian people to be good stewards over our families, finances, etc. but for some reason when it comes to politics, too many believers think we need to back off and let the chips fall where they may and just suffer the consequences. In Acts 9:15, the Bible says that Paul was chosen to bear the name of the Lord “before Gentiles, and kings…” When Samuel went to King David and confronted him for his abuse of power and his sin regarding his adultery with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband Uriah, Samuel declared, “thou art the man.”
It's past time our churches began to bear the name of the Lord before our leaders and hold them accountable for every abuse of power. If Christians don't take a seat at the table of politics, they will wind up on the menu. You could argue that in many ways we already are. The good news is however; we still live in one of the freest places on earth - we just need to help keep it that way, not just for Christians but for all citizens. Some people say we don’t need government to 'let' us be Christians and while that is certainly true, we do need government to help us be free Christians. After all, there’s a lot more opportunity and hope for the lost and needy in a nation that protects the freedom of Christians to “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in…”
Pastors should declare the whole counsel of God, and that includes what the Bible has to say about everything from pro-life issues to matters of economics, property right, self defense, foreign policy etc. The Bible makes it clear that it's our duty to engage in civil government and nowhere in scripture does it give an exemption so we can maintain a special tax status. Judas sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and churches who choose to remain silent so they can keep from losing money to the government are essentially doing the same thing and are clearly on the menu.