From the mayor-elect of New York, Zohran Mamdani: “We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve and no concern too small for it to care about.”
It’s a compelling promise, but “no problem too large for government” is in fact the problem. It’s not just the problem of one political party. It’s a bipartisan – and in fact a human – problem. We want the government to do more than God ever designed human government to do, to function better than it could ever possibly function, and to provide what is humanly impossible. So, when it comes to saving us from the ills of this world, our perpetual hope in government – including our favorite politicians – can leave us in a perpetual state of frustration.
The highly influential Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (1917 – 2007) promoted a powerful centralized government, arguing that only such a state had saved the U.S. from communism in the 1930s. He wrote In 1980 that “affirmative government” was not only necessary but inevitable, because such problems as inflation and energy shortages deem it a “technical imperative.” Schlesinger’s was one voice among many pro-big-government advocates within my lifetime.
Closer to here and now was the COVID pandemic which surprised us in 2020. Many of us were shocked by how many of our fellow citizens were willing to trade personal liberty for the hope in government to fix everything – a rescue that our government could not and did not deliver. That’s when I learned how much power people are willing to put into the hands of government when any sense of disaster feels imminent. Survival arguments proved highly effective at coaxing people to forsake steadfast principles for shaky promises.
So, friends, exactly what has God designed human government to do? I think it boils down to three key roles: 1) to protect human life (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:5-6); 2) to promote the conditions for human flourishing, that the blessing of life may extend to future generations (Genesis 1:28; 9:1-2, 7); and 3) to maintain law and order in society (Romans 13:1-7). Functioning government allows the Church – called to be “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13-16) – to influence the world for the blessing of all people and the glory of our great God (Matthew 22:21; 28:18-20).
As we picture blindfolded “Lady Justice” with her scales and sword, it is God’s Word which sets the gold standard for government leaders: comprehensive integrity and impartial justice (Proverbs 16:10-12; 29:4). And why is the standard so high? Because all truth matters to God, and all human life is equally valuable to God. People of every race, background, and creed, including those not yet born, are His image bearers – endowed with intrinsic dignity and worth.
All governments, whether they realize it or not, are servants of the Most High God. Some are better, and some are worse. When we care about good government, and strive for it, we are loving our neighbor. We care because sound governments support marriage and family, protect the most vulnerable, and promote the common good (Proverbs 29:14; 31:8-9). That our leaders would behave and inspire accordingly we’re to pray fervently (1 Timothy 2:1-4). There’ll be neither law nor order without wise and humble government leadership.
In our American system known as a constitutional republic, our Legislative Branch should pass just laws, our Executive Branch should enforce just laws, and our Judicial Branch should uphold just laws and dismantle unjust ones. Each branch of our government has limits to its authority, maintained by checks and balances among the three. Ultimately, however, all government is accountable to God.
There is a universal reality which never fails to prove itself to be true: When the officers of a government don’t acknowledge or worship our Creator God, they will worship a false god, or they will worship themselves, or they will worship their own power (Exodus 5:2; Isaiah 36:15; Romans 1:18-32). Every chapter of human history bears this out. Believe me, the idols of the Egyptians were no more reliable than the gods of the Aztecs or the Mongols or the Bolsheviks.
The constant invitations to depend upon the government to relieve us of our problems – and our responsibilities, for that matter – run counter to historic reminders that: “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything you have.” Expansive government eventually tramples over liberty, and will go on to demand “what must be” over “what should be.” Sooner or later, it will invoke whatever measures will further the power of those in charge. “Equal Justice Under Law” – prominently inscribed on our U.S. Supreme Court building – was once widely understood to mean that it’s immoral to take a person’s property, but now inequality is deemed by many as a greater wrong than theft. But the noticeable trend – and here’s my point – is toward more and more government power.
Idolatry, by nature, blinds. It especially blinds people we might consider to be religious. The Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918 – 2008) wrote of the visit of Eleanor Roosevelt to the labor camp where he was incarcerated. Mrs. Roosevelt reported that it was a humane institution for rehabilitating criminals. While Joseph Stalin was shamefully murdering millions, John Macmurray (1891 – 1976) told the world that Stalin’s regime ruled over “the nearest approach to the realization of the Christian intention that the world has yet seen … It expresses the continuity of the Christian intention in an explicit and practical form, and thus makes an immense human advance in the process that Jesus began.”
No government can create utopia. The prolific author and scholar, C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963), taught that the more pretentious the vision of a politician, the more defiling their rule will be. Lewis wrote, “Lilies that fester smell worse than weeds.” It’s the nature of the moral blindness behind campaign slogans promising to save the city, the nation, or the world. When Diocletian published his Edict of 301, destroying the few freedoms of the Roman Empire, he justified it by declaring himself and his cohorts “the watchful parents of the whole human race.” Diocletian, along with other emperors who demanded to be worshipped as God, brutally persecuted followers of Christ. The lesson for us is this: Whenever we regard government as the source of “our daily bread,” we’re idolaters at heart. It’s the blind leading the blind.
If you want to know what’s wrong in New York City, the problem is spiritual. It’s the philosophy of Georg Hegel (1770 – 1831), Jacques Ellul (1912 – 1994), and Chuck Schumer [NPR, 04.12.21] on steroids. The people are looking to government to be God.
How did we get here? One small step at a time. But here we are. We need a real Savior, so that we don’t have to be perpetually frustrated by promises which can never be kept.
C.S. Lewis knew that it’s in our “chest” – in our heart – where the only real transformation happens in us. In “The Abolition of Man,” as both warning and encouragement for us, Lewis captured it well: “We continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible … In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
It’s time for us to humble ourselves, to acknowledge again our dependence upon the Almighty, to seek His forgiveness, and to speak the truth in love. Let’s be honorable men and women, and servants of the living Christ – wanting nothing but the best for our fellow image bearers.
Pastor Charles
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