JGalt
Diamond Member
- Mar 9, 2011
- 78,692
- 101,476
- 3,635
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus said "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." He was not specifically speaking of the coin of the realm, He meant that in other respects as well. If you look at most any piece of money, you will generally see an image: George Washington on the Dollar, Thomas Jefferson on the $2 bill, Lincoln, Jackson, Grant, Franklin, and so on.
Those people were modern-day Caesars, and like Roman times, we render unto the government they represented. In turn, the government's duty is to offer its citizens protection, provide services, make and enforce laws, regulate the economy, represent the people, and preserve good relations with other states, just as good Roman Emperors were tasked to do.
Now in a democracy such as ours, there are other things that belong to "Caesar" or one running for the highest political office: That would be your vote. In other words, it is your God-given duty to "render" that vote to whom you believe best represents your moral values. That would also include things like campaigning for that candidate, encouraging people to vote, making political contributions, making and coordinating communications, forming political committees, volunteering, becoming election officials, and holding events. These are all things Christians should consider as "rendering unto Caesar", in spite of the widely-held belief that Christians should abstain from political involvement.
Remember, the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear anywhere in our American Constitution, even though the Deist Jefferson believed the First Amendment's free exercise and establishment clauses together built "a wall of separation between church and state", and that the government should not favor one religion over the other. There is also nothing in the scriptures that directly condemns being involved in politics. In fact, every Christian should feel it to be their sacred duty to be politically-active and politically-engaged. By doing so, you can can limit the amount of control the government exercises over you, and hold your leaders accountable. And it is inexcusable for any Christian not to exercise their individual rights and defend their religious freedoms. You should never relinquish your ground, thereby leaving control of this earth to those leaders who are seeking ungodly aims.
Those people were modern-day Caesars, and like Roman times, we render unto the government they represented. In turn, the government's duty is to offer its citizens protection, provide services, make and enforce laws, regulate the economy, represent the people, and preserve good relations with other states, just as good Roman Emperors were tasked to do.
Now in a democracy such as ours, there are other things that belong to "Caesar" or one running for the highest political office: That would be your vote. In other words, it is your God-given duty to "render" that vote to whom you believe best represents your moral values. That would also include things like campaigning for that candidate, encouraging people to vote, making political contributions, making and coordinating communications, forming political committees, volunteering, becoming election officials, and holding events. These are all things Christians should consider as "rendering unto Caesar", in spite of the widely-held belief that Christians should abstain from political involvement.
Remember, the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear anywhere in our American Constitution, even though the Deist Jefferson believed the First Amendment's free exercise and establishment clauses together built "a wall of separation between church and state", and that the government should not favor one religion over the other. There is also nothing in the scriptures that directly condemns being involved in politics. In fact, every Christian should feel it to be their sacred duty to be politically-active and politically-engaged. By doing so, you can can limit the amount of control the government exercises over you, and hold your leaders accountable. And it is inexcusable for any Christian not to exercise their individual rights and defend their religious freedoms. You should never relinquish your ground, thereby leaving control of this earth to those leaders who are seeking ungodly aims.
