Government as God's Servant

Government as God's Servant

Earlier I said that the theories of government that I came across in University started with the assumption – even if it is unspoken – that there is no God. That assumption is no more rigorous or academic that the contrary assumption, so I chose to start by assuming the Biblical revelation concerning God as a starting point.

A well known text is Romans 13: 1-6, particularly v4 “For the authority is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing, he is God's servant, an agent of justice to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

Given the Genesis account of mankind's fall and the entry of sin into the world we should not be surprised that these ideals are rarely lived up to. None the less they are still the correct ideals. Not too long after these words were penned the Roman authorities were cruelly persecuting Christians. In our present day many people feel that Western governments have gone soft on brutal crimes and are not bringing “punishment on the wrongdoer”. Even this angst shows that deep down we believe that they should.

Again, criminal justice is only one aspect of government, I will show that this ideal of government - recognising that it should be a servant of God - applies to other aspects as well.

I also expect that the actual form of government may be an independent factor. Also the extent of government interference or assistance in individuals lives may be an another independent factor.

For instance ancient Israel started as a tribal league bound together by their common belief in God. Internally there must have been some tribal and clan “government”. Externally, leadership and a rallying figure for combined military action was their greatest need. Initially this was provided by a “Judge” raised up by God for that emergency. Civil law suits seem to have been heard figures like Deborah and Samuel. Then Israel asked for a king – a big mistake and an insult since it implied they did not want to rely on God appointing military leaders as required, and that they rejected their unique identity as a theocracy. However God granted their request and henceforth their government was by king, later aided by nobles and bureaucrats.

In the West we have over time developed various forms of constitutional democracy. Winston Churchill said in 1947 “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those that have been tried from time to time”

Also both our modern 'welfare state' and the extent of government regulation and intrusion into so many parts of people's daily lives may be unprecedented in history. Whether these are good or bad is a matter of how truly that form of government is being God's servant in the prevailing conditions.

To understand how we can judge past and present government and see where governments can be improved, I want next too look at some of the Biblical case studies of good and bad government, and how they exemplify or go against the moral character of God.