38 Paul spells out three critical facts that seem to denote God’s favorable view of government. First, as we referenced, God instituted government. Second, God endows government with a particular set of responsibilities — the pursuit of justice through the use of the sword. This is one of the connections between temporal and divine justice. Third, Paul also labels those who govern as the “servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Not only does God provide government with a task, government serves as God’s agent as it carries out this task and it serves Him as it does so. This may seem to be overkill, but why is it critical for us to establish that government is part of God’s plan for human beings? There are two reasons. First, to help distinguish what we consider a biblical view from popular, cultural understandings of government, which ignore its divine source. Second, there are some competing Christian conceptions that are also flawed. There are Christians convinced that government, far from being a divine tool, is Satan’s domain, a rival for our allegiance, perhaps even the very “whore of Babylon” that weaves her way through John’s Revelation. This conception dominates among Christians who are pacifists of one sort or another.8 The essential argument is that Christ, through His death on the cross, showed us that subordination is the fundamental Christian approach to conflict. Christ’s ethic of love and sacrifice stands in sharp contrast to government force, which is “anti-Christ.” Far from being an agent of God’s grace, government is more accurately part of Satan’s web of influence. As seen in Luke 4:5–6, Satan has control over the kingdoms of the world, and he revels in creating dehumanizing wars. As believers, when confronted by ungodly force we are obligated to respond with peace so that we might highlight the present injustice. Through this kind of confrontation, we show Christ’s love to the world in the most powerful way possible. Depending on the source of the argument, Christians are unable to participate in the use of force in any way, which means serving in government may not be an option. Though pacifists often admit that God institutes government, it exists as a lesser of evils, so government combats wickedness with its own brand of evil that, while technically necessary, is still opposed to God and His will. God’s relationship to government, then, is most accurately described as allowing evil to achieve His purposes. Government’s immorality, for many, makes the distinction 8 John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994. Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation. Zondervan, 2006. Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, Jesus for President. Zondervan, 2008.
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