How Should a Christian Live Under a Secular Government?
Being a Christian is tough. However, I thank God that I live in America where religious freedoms are valued as opposed to places where Christians are being persecuted every day purely because of their belief in Jesus! I remind my boys to be grateful for this gift that God has given us because true persecution, even unto death, does exist. It sounds morbid, but I do not hide this fact from them. I want them to 1) appreciate the peace God has provided us and 2) be prepared to stand for Christ should harsh persecution come our way. Sheltered under our brilliant constitution and God’s providence, Americans tend to forget that Christians are dying all over the world for their beliefs. I don’t want myself or my children to take our freedom for granted.
In America, we value the concept of separation of church and state. Our government is a secular organization. But, since we are a country founded on many ideas based on Christian principles, Christianity has always been present in the national perspective. Of course, anyone can see that this is changing at a radical pace. As Americans move further away from God, they are abandoning Christianity for a more pluralistic worldview.
So, more and more, Christians find themselves with government leaders and agencies that prize ideas and policies that are not in line with God’s Word and may even be hostile to Christianity. Where once our religious freedom seemed impenetrable, we are finding that not to be true.
In the last election, I found myself voting for Donald Trump for president even cheering when he won the election. I preferred Ben Carson as I really felt connected to his deep Christian faith, however, he unfortunately did not win the Republican nomination. When I had to weigh my decision between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it got tough. Neither lived a lifestyle that I found compatible with my faith.
After then nominee Trump won the election, the rush of those who opposed him to a moral high ground was astonishing. These same people who claim that people like me are prudish and out-dated and overly obsessed with morals suddenly saw President Trump as morally reprehensible. Fingers pointed to evangelicals who voted for President Trump calling us hypocrites. How could we vote for a billionaire womanizer married several times? Of course, the irony is that these same people voted for someone who violates Biblical doctrine in far worse ways, but I am not interested in speaking on their hypocrisy at this time. I want to focus on how we should feel about living under a secular government and how to feel about voting for people who are not Christian and therefore do not live “Christian” lives.
How is a Christian to respond to living under a secular government? How do we feel about our leaders who live lives contrary to God’s Word? These are tough questions that are difficult to tackle without God’s Word to guide us. Is it ok to ever vote for someone who is not a Christian? Is it ok to like a secular leader?
Christians throughout the centuries have encountered this problem and Christians will continue to face this same issue in the future. In the book of Jeremiah, we find God’s response to this very concern! In chapter 29, Jeremiah issues a letter to the Jews exiled in Babylon.
These Jews were removed from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar’s initial siege of the city. This siege occurred because of Judah’s repeated and unrepentant sin and idolatry. The prophets had made this abundantly clear. During this siege, Nebuchadnezzar took the king Jehoiachin along with many of the nobels and craftsmen to Babylon. He also took many of the temple treasures as well. Left behind were the rest of people of Jerusalem and the new king Nebuchadnezzar placed on the throne, Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle. Clearly, Nebuchadnezzar hoped that Zedekiah would remain loyal to him in collecting tribute for Babylon.
To the Jews, this exile was devastating. Many of these Jews viewed their existence in the promised land as a racial right as God’s chosen people. They would have felt that their submission to any other nation would undermine what God had promised them.
When we study the Mosaic Law, however, we see that existence in the promised land was conditional: based on obedience to God. Once Israel broke the covenant with God by sin and idolatry, they were promised to be removed from the land, not to stay in it! So, Babylon’s invasion and the exile of the Jews was a result of Judah’s rejection of God.
At the time of Jeremiah 29, we see that Jews are having to live in a foreign nation under a foreign very secular government. What should they do? Rebel? This is where Jeremiah’s letter comes into play.
Speaking for God, Jeremiah tells the exiles to continue living their lives well in Babylon. He encourages them to get married, build houses, and grow food. Then he exhorts them to pray for the nation over them, Babylon. But why? God provides the reason: because God had placed them there. God had given Babylon dominion for that season and they needed to accept the authority placed over them.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Unfortunately, false prophets were speaking the opposite message. They promised a quick end to the exile and the Babylonian empire whereas Jeremiah assured the people the exile would last 70 years. Zedekiah toyed with rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar despite being specifically warned not to by Jeremiah (see chapters 26-27). These false prophets encouraged him to rebel, but their message was very bad advice.
Here is the advice God gave Zedekiah:
Jeremiah 27:6-11
6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon resulted in the final and more horrible siege which caused exactly what God promised would happen: death by the sword, pestilence, and famine. The city and temple was also destroyed. Many people died and the rest were taken captive. This didn’t have to happen if Zedekiah had listened to God.
God had clearly told the Jewish people to accept Babylon’s authority. Note, however, that God never told the Jews in exile to compromise their beliefs, in fact, it was the opposite when you read through the Book of Daniel. It was Daniel’s unwavering belief that influenced Babylon in mighty ways! Ester and Nehemiah are another examples, of Jews living under a pagan king, but still influencing Persia for the good of God’s people!
God used Nebuchadnezzar. He can still do the same today. He can still use our leaders today even if they do not believe. Maybe we are living under a “Nebuchadnezzar” now, but even he can be used by God and we should pray for that!
Ironically, the Jews did not learn from this lesson when the same situation arose in the future. Later in Jesus’ time, there was another secular government over Israel: Rome. Just like under Babylon, the Jews hated this Roman rule over them and rebelled. Jesus, however, offered the better approach when he said “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Like Babylon, Rome had been given a certain amount of authority over them. The Jews do eventually continue to rebel prompting Jerusalem’s almost complete destruction in 70 AD. And guess what! The people received: the sword, pestilence, famine, and the temple and city were mostly destroyed. This occurred just like the rebellion against Babylon. It is likely that if the Jews had submitted to authority as Jeremiah and Jesus had suggested that they could have achieved the same promise God had given through Jeremiah: “But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land…” (Jeremiah 27:11). Perhaps the Jews could have avoided the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome.
Unfortunately, we live in the world which is run by sin. We have to navigate our way through this world despite the fact that the world hates us! But the message of the Bible is clear: God is in complete control, even over secular leaders. We should pray for our leaders and submit to their authority as long as it doesn’t compromise God’s authority in our lives. Sometimes we are tempted to limit our God, but remember, our God is big and powerful and He can use even the most sinful leader to accomplish His will! God will even one day use The Antichrist to accomplish His will! The Antichrist will have his season to rule as well, and just like with Nebuchadnezzar, God is clear that it is HE who allows Antichrist to have his time.
The bottom line is that the difficulty of living under a secular government as a Christian is not a new thing. Pray for our leaders, know that God is in control, and live the best life that we can. This is what we need to do. Personally, I vote for people who I believe aligns the closest to Biblical doctrines. I don’t expect to like their personal lives when they not Christians. But, I can pray for God to use them regardless. My God is bigger than Nebuchadnezzar, and my trust is in God not some human leader.