“Use Politics”
[Acts 22:22-29]
February 20, 2011 Second Reformed Church
Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, ESV).
Some people have taken this verse and others like it and concluded that we are to separate ourselves from the world in the sense that we have no connection to it – whether that be by living in a monastery, not participating in “secular” events, only buying “Christian” products, shunning the government, etc. But that is not what this passage and others like it are about. We are not called to avoid, shun, do away with everything that is not specifically “Christian.”
In fact, what we see in this morning’s Scripture is there are times when we should use, politics, government, the world, to our advantage. God works through the things of the world as well as specifically “Christian” things.
Last week we saw Paul defend himself before the maddening crowd who thought he was against the people of Israel, the Temple, and the Law of God. We saw him explain that he was born a Jew, educated by the renown Pharisee, Gamaliel, that Paul himself became a Pharisee, a persecutor of the Christians, that the Sanhedrin – the leading council of the Jews – had hired him to hunt the Christians, but Jesus had stopped him on the road to Damascus, converted him, sent him to the well-known Jew, Ananias, to be healed of the blindness Paul received in encountering Jesus, and from there to bring the Gospel of God to the Gentiles – to bring the covenant of Abraham to the non-Jews and bring them into it.
The crowd had listened quietly, with interest, until Paul explained that God sent him to the Gentiles – to bring the faith of Israel to the non-Jews – that God was including non-Jews in the covenant that God made with Abraham. The crowd was outraged – they considered him to have spoken blasphemy – heresy. The covenant was for the Jews – the Law was clear that the Gentiles were outsiders – not part of the covenant. It was outrageous – it was a crime to be punished by death – to suggest otherwise.
The crowd pushed in, throwing off their coats, throwing dirt in rage, preparing to attack and take Paul by force that they might put him to death. In so doing, they fulfilled the prophecy that Luke recorded in verse eighteen, where Jesus warned Paul, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.”
Were they right? Had Paul overstepped the agreement – the covenant – that God had made with Abraham? Here is what God said, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:18, ESV).
It is true: God chose the nation of Israel to be a special – a chosen – people for Himself. It is true: God promised that the Savior would come through the biological people of Israel. But they had forgotten: God said that every people – every nation – Jews and non-Jews – Gentiles – would be blessed through Israel. Israel was set apart, but God promised to bless every people – not just the Jews – through Israel. So, the mob sinned in wanting Paul dead.
Of course, the Roman tribune, Claudius Lysias, was at a complete loss – he had no idea what Paul had said that had thrown them into such a frenzy. All he knew was that they were not calm any more. So he ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks, and he thought that the crowd might calm down if he had Paul flogged.
We may remember that Jesus was flogged. Flogging was a type of torture which involved being whipped with a whip of many tails that had broken glass, metal, and sharp stones embedded in it, so when the whip hit a person, it dug in and tore the flesh. It was a common form of Roman torture.
So the centurions took off Paul’s shirt and strapped his hands to the whipping post. They got the flog and readied to torture him for the peace of the people – remember, the Romans still had no idea what he had done that got everyone so upset. And as they prepared to flog him, Paul asked, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” And the Romans froze.
It was against Roman law to flog a Roman citizen. Cicero recounts, “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to slay him is almost an act of murder: to crucify him is – what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed” (in Kistemaker, 798).
They had already violated Paul’s civil rights by binding him to the flogging post – and here they were ready to flog him. But at Paul’s announcement of his citizenship – they froze – and then they unbound him.
Lysias was again in shock: Paul was a Roman citizen? And he asked him, “Are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes.”
“How did you come to be a Roman citizen? I bought my citizenship, and it was a princely price I paid, and you are certainly not a man of means.”
“I did not buy my citizenship – I was born a citizen.”
Paul was actually of a higher social class that Lysias, as far as his citizenship was concerned, because he was actually born a Roman citizen. One of his family members in the past must have either bought citizenship or had been awarded it by the state for meritorious acts, but Paul was born a citizen. He had all the rights of any other Roman citizen. And at this time – to keep from being killed – Paul called for his rights to be protected.
So, let us understand that there is nothing wrong with a Christian asking that his civil rights be upheld.
Why did God give humanity government? Paul writes, “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. 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. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:1-7, ESV).
Notice three things:
Everyone who holds authority has been put in that position by God. That does not mean that every person is power is good or godly, but that God has given that person authority for a purpose and for a time.
The government exists for two reasons: First, the government exists to protect her citizens. Second, the government exists to punish evil.
Lysias was put in power by God. The people told him that Paul was to be punished, so Lysias took him away for trial. But when Paul told him that he was a citizen, Lysias protected his civil rights.
So, there is nothing wrong with a Christian asking that his civil rights be upheld. It is not a sin to use politics and the government as they are intended to be used.
However, we ought to notice that Paul didn’t always announce that he was a Roman citizen; he did not always ask that his civil rights be upheld. When Paul and Silas were in Philippi, and the people accused them of teaching the worship of gods which were not approved by the state, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods, thrown in prison, and fasten in the stocks (Acts 16:19-24). Paul could have told them that he was a Roman citizen, and he wouldn’t have been beaten, and he would have received better treatment, but he didn’t. Why not?
What we see here is that is it more important to be faithful to Jesus and His Gospel than to avoid suffering through the use of politics – even if we might rightly use them, as we see Paul calling for his civil rights to be upheld in this morning’s Scripture. There are times when we ought to demand they be upheld and times when we ought not to speak.
When Paul was in Philippi, if he had called for his civil rights to be upheld, he probably would not have been throw in prison, he probably would not have had the opportunity to witness to the other prisoners and the jailer, and the jailer and his family probably would not have come to faith in Jesus Alone for their salvation.
If Paul had not called for his civil rights to be upheld in Jerusalem, the crowd probably would have killed him, and he would not have gotten the opportunity to go to Rome and preach the Gospel before (probably) Emperor Nero.
How did Paul know when to exercise his civil rights and when not to? We’re not told. Did Paul know what the outcomes of Philippi and Jerusalem would be? It’s unlikely he did.
Well, then, what can we say?
We ought to be praying for those in authority.
God has given those in authority important work to do and a great responsibility. No matter whether we care for a leader or not, we ought to be in prayer for him or her for the sake of the office and for the sake that God has given us the leaders that we have. We ought to be praying for them that God would give them wisdom and understanding, that they would act for the good of the people they serve, and punish evil, and not become involved in the sins that tempt them in their positions.
We ought to pray for wisdom to know how we ought to use politics and not use politics, and how were ought to respond to our leaders.
Our knowledge is very limited. So we need to pray for wisdom and understanding from God for ourselves as we seek to react to what occurs around us.
We ought to know something of what is happening in our community and our world – and not hide from the world – but be in prayer both for our leaders and to know how to take action if and when we are convicted to do so.
It is not a sin to be involved in politics or to use politics, but we must do so – or refrain from doing so – with wisdom and always to the glory of God.
So, let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that You are the Sovereign Ruler over all Creation, and all those who hold positions of authority have been put there by You. We thank You that You have given us government to protects us and punish those who do evil. And we ask that You would help us to pray for our leaders, and to use politics in ways that will direct people to You and the salvation that You bring through Jesus Christ Alone. For it is in His Name we pray, Amen.
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