The Bible says, "When
the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked
man rules, the people groan, " (Proverbs 29:2) Obviously, God recognizes
the importance that government, not necessarily politics, plays in the
lives of human beings.
The Bible says that God
ordained the institution of government (Romans 13:1-7, John 19:10-11).
Christians are told to show honor and respect for those who hold
government office, especially for those who rule (1 Peter 2:13,17). The
Bible says that it is sinful to dishonor and show contempt for the
authority and rule that God has allowed to exist (2 Peter 2:10; Jude 8).
However, the Bible does
not forbid any christian from pointing out the wrongs done by those in
public office. In Matthew -14:3-5, the Bible says, "For Herod had laid
hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. " {4} " Because John had said to
him, 'It is not lawful for you to have her. "' {5} "And although he
wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they
counted him as a prophet. "
Although he paid for it
with his life, John was not reluctant at all to point out the blatant
immorality and wrong being done by King Herod. The process of "politics"
(i.e., Herodias' actions in influencing Herod for favor) seen in Matthew
14:6-11, was actually what led to John's martyrdom. It was also
"politics" that led Pilate to hand Jesus over to the mob in order to
appease them (Matthew 27..23-27; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:13-25; John
18:38-39; 19:4-13).
In Tints 3:1-2, the
Bible says, "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to
obey, to he ready for every good work, {2} "to speak evil of no one, to
be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. " As Paul left
'Titus on the island of Crete to stabilize a weak church, one thing he
commanded was obedience to civil authority. This is a lesson for our
time as well.
God ordained government
not politics. We should pray for all of the newly elected government
officials that they would have the wisdom of God and the good sense to
recognize the vast difference between the two.