“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s!”
That was the response Jesus gave to a group of Pharisees who were trying to trick him into breaking the law. They marveled at his response that we are obligated to give to the government what is rightfully its, but also to God what is rightfully his.
Public politics exert one of the strongest draws on lives, especially in the United States. How often have you heard this statement? “This is the most important election of our lifetime.”
And as a result, countless fund-raising mailers, rally speeches and commentaries are sent to you asking for your money and time. And the length of that flooding has extended from weeks to months to now years, with each election implying this one is more important than the last, regardless of other circumstances.
Do we think that elections today are more important than those surrounding the Civil War or at the founding of our nation? To put it another way, do we think that donkeys and elephants are the hope of our future?
If we believe that, then we might as well offer politicians our gold and silver and our worship.
What havoc might such idol worship wreak on our culture and psyche? Could it promote a mindset that if the wrong person or group is elected, it spells doom for society? Could it be why we are seeing more and more people assassinate the character of someone with whom they disagree?
If you question whether what I am saying is true, simply observe how often nighttime talk show hosts demonize those in public office, calling them modern devils who should be locked up for the irreparable damage they have caused to the future of the world.
Seriously? I’m not saying people do not need to speak up on issues. We have a moral obligation to confront lack of truth and bad behavior. But, when we start to believe that human beings control the destiny of the entire planet, haven’t we come to the threshold of exalting them to a position of godlikeness?
I fear we have come to the place in our nation where we rely on politics to save us rather than the person of Jesus Christ who guaranteed he could.
That slippery slide is understandable. It’s much easier to place our hope in politicians and political parties, because then we can have some sort of control over what they say and do. Who wants to accept that we must answer to a divine creator for our sins, when we can negotiate with politicians what our sins are?
Unfortunately, when we reject God, we replace him with ourselves as the final authority of our lives. I believe that’s why we’ve seen a rise in vigilantes, who take the law into their own hands, and why we have a clear polarization in our country between political parties. We want so much for someone to step forward and be our savior that we banter incessantly back and forth at how evil each other is.
First Corinthians 7:31 tells us that this world is passing away, but God is preparing for us a new world; one of peace, joy, righteousness and lack of sorrow. I say we stop putting so much hope in donkeys and elephants, and instead put our hope in the God who created this world. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s but render to God what is God’s.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Rick Haworth is pastor of Hope Evangelical Free Church in Monroe.
