Politics, Christians, and Romans 13, Part 1

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

I sat in church yesterday to hear a wonderful sermon by our pastor. In fact, the entire morning was a tremendous blessing from the men’s Sunday School lesson led by Dr. Mark (we’re doing a short summer series for men and one for women), about mentoring or discipling others, followed by the morning service in which our pastor preached a great sermon on politics and the Christian, which all ended in the Lord’s Supper. It was a beautiful morning down to the hymns and special music. My wife and I are very grateful to be part of a body of people who love one another clearly, as well as loving the Lord.

Pastor’s sermon was on Romans 13, something I have not yet touched on even though I’ve talked a great deal about Dominionism, the Great Commission, and the Christian’s outlook and approach toward one another and the lost. Romans 13 encapsulates Paul’s teachings on the Christian’s outlook and what it should be where the world is concerned, especially in the area of politics. This is something that Dominionists either ignore or twist to their liking, but in my view, Paul’s words could not be more clear.

Yesterday morning, our pastor fleshed out the clear meaning of Paul’s words and I’d like to share some of that with you in this article. However, before I do, I’d like to point out that as with all elections, there is a growing cacophony of noise with one group of people attempting to shout down an opposing group of people.

We essentially have three presidential candidates: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. The problem with these three candidates is not only how all of them stretch the truth, but in many cases, aren’t even honest at all about certain things. It could either be due to the fact that they don’t know any better or they are deliberately trying to obfuscate the truth.

Take a look at this image with a saying allegedly from Bernie Sanders. This is the type of characterization that appalls me, yet people who lean left read this or hear him say it and shout in praise. What Bernie has stated in the image is not true at all. But people do not think today. They feel. This type of statement is a type of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that many people use to brainwash other people. It happens all the time, especially in religious and political circles. People are conned every day because of this and other techniques.

Social Security is not something the government gives us out of the kindness of their collective hearts, as Bernie implies. It is not a government program like welfare, where people simply receive money and other benefits from the government without even ever having had to pay taxes in many cases. Social Security is what people pay into and the government hangs onto and uses that money, but once a person retires, they are supposed to be able to draw on the money they paid into Social Security. This is nothing like Socialism at all. Welfare is a Socialistic program, but not Social Security.

Yet, Bernie’s followers will scream with delight over that statement without realizing they’ve been duped into believing something that is completely untrue. What Bernie says would be like you opening a bank account with your own money, but the bank trying to make you think it is their money once they have it. I know people who have bank accounts at certain banks and when they want to remove cash of at least $1,000 or more, the tellers ask them all sorts of questions. The impression is that the bank owns the money and that bank is simply being “nice” enough to allow the account holder to use it. No, in reality, the bank is using money that is not theirs for their own benefit and paying a very small percentage in “user fees” (interest) to the account holder. That interest rate has gotten smaller and smaller over the years too.

The bank has no right to keep the account holder from doing whatever they want to do with their money or asking them tons of questions when they want to withdraw some of it. But the government has also inserted itself into the mix and created rules and laws that make it far more difficult for average account holders. The bank is required to answer to the government, but the truth remains that the banks do NOT own your money. They simply use it and pay us a small interest rate to do so. The bank is giving you nothing, but by allowing them to use your money, you are giving the bank quite a bit. Without the account holder placing money into the bank, that bank would not exist.

It is the same with Social Security. The government does not own that money that is in your Social Security account. They have no right to hold it over your head, to threaten to withhold Social Security payments on your retirement if Congress doesn’t pass this or that bill. It is not their money that has been paid into your Social Security account. It’s your money. Because it’s your money, it has nothing at all to do with Socialism anymore than the money you put into your own back account has anything to do with Socialism. But people today cannot think critically. They are strangers to logic and because of that, are easily swayed by words from someone well-versed in NLP or something similar.

Here’s the other image I want to share. Whether or not you agree with the characterization of each person highlighted, the fact remains that this is the way some people see them. You can probably figure out which group created that pictorial meme, I’m sure. First of all, is Trump a “fascist”? Is Clinton part of the oligarchy? What about Bernie and his alleged Social Democracy?

The truth is that every politician has leanings toward fascism. They all want certain things done a certain way. Most also are backed by some group or groups of powerful people considered by many to be part of the Elite. Third, the idea that in today’s day and age, we are trying so hard to make “socialism” appear to be so good and necessary should be a warning to everyone. I would seriously question the definition used of “Social Democracy” as it appears.

But the question I have to ask is this: is Social Democracy compatible with a Constitutional Republic like America? The simple answer is no, it isn’t, but it is being made to seem like it is because it seems caring toward others and that caring attitude tends to obfuscate the clear facts and dangers of socialism when dealing with America’s Constitutional Republic. In the end, it will spend a lot of money we don’t have to create more government programs that will simply swallow up most of that money in “administrative” costs and accomplish very little. We could easily become what Venezuela has now become. But you cannot make people who are solidly behind Bernie see this reality.

The fact remains that anyone who takes up residence in the Oval Office will do at least some of the Elite’s bidding. To me, that is a foregone conclusion. At the same time, if someone managed to get elected who wasn’t totally controlled by the Elite, there are enough people in Congress who are controlled by the Elite who will still get what they want done and block the things they don’t. People don’t see this though. They see Bernie as the next “savior” just like many of them saw Barack Obama. People still speak of President Obama and his achievements as though he were a version of the second coming too.

In the end, these are politicians and people and what does all this have to do with Romans 13 and the Christian’s response in this area? We’ll get into this starting in our next article in this short series. Join me then.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective