.png)
Throughout every election, many Christians on both sides of the political aisle talk about our Christian duty or responsibility to vote in the current election, typically accompanied by calls of fear of the future or by posting sections from Romans 13 and our duty to the government. Multiple areas of this need addressing, and I feel like the best time for this is now. After all the adrenaline is over, picking a choice is done while both sides are still hopeful. Even though by the time you are reading this, most likely a winner has been called, as I write this, another election season is finally over. As I write this, there is no clear winner yet, and it likely won’t be called for hours from now. Regardless of the final tally, what you are about to read remains true. We need to address these ideas about Christian Duty and Romans 13.
WHO IS PAUL TALKING TO?
The first thing we need to recognize related to this chapter is who Paul is addressing. Oftentimes, the answer we hear is that Paul is addressing governments on how they should rule. But this simply isn’t what Paul is doing. Paul is addressing the Roman Christians on how they should live under Pagan Roman rule.
Romans 13 is a continuation of what Paul began in Romans 12, instructing the Church on how they should now live not being “conformed to this age, but transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This included things like:
Living humbly
Being equipped by the Spirit
Being united by the spirit
Loving without hypocrisy
Detesting evil, clinging to good
Honoring each other
Being diligent,
Paul then follows this up with instructions related to how we specifically should do this with our governments in Romans 13:1-7:
Submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God
Submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience
Pay taxes
Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.
This is what Paul is actually trying to get at in this passage. The way we as believers interact with the Civic structures and Governing authorities is supposed to be an extension of the renewed mind. Something that separates us out as different from the world around us. So then, what does that mean in relation to the Civic v Christian duty discussion?
CIVIC V CHRISTIAN DUTY
During these seasons, oftentimes, we begin to see Civic duty and Christian duty lumped together, even when we understand that Romans 13 is for the Church and not the government. So, we need to separate these things first before we can even begin to apply what this actually means for us.
Voting is a CIVIC duty, not CHRISTIAN duty.
There is no denying that if you are a citizen of a democratic nation, then voting is something that is expected of you. It is your opportunity to have a direct hand in the decision-making process for your communities that you may not otherwise have. But that is all that it is: a CIVIC duty to be involved in the process of caring for your community. There is no CHRISTIAN duty involved with voting outside of what Paul had already laid out in Romans 12 and Romans 13.
LOVE is the CHRISTIAN duty
The only time we see our Civic duties align with our Christian duties is when the best way to Love our Neighbors is to vote for their interests. And we do see this in Romans 13 when we continue into verses 8-10.
“8 Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.”
At times, doing our civic duty is how we fulfill our Christian duty. When we enter the voting booth with a renewed mind focused on loving and serving our neighbors' interests rather than our own, we are fulfilling both duties simultaneously. But this also highlights the problems with the mindset that we hear every cycle of “You can’t be a Christian and vote for X.” Because for some regions of the country, loving their neighbor is going to require a different vote than other regions of the country. We have to recognize this fact. If we actually want to make the statement that Christians have a DUTY to vote, then that means our DUTY is to vote for the interests of our neighbors, regardless of the party they may belong to. This also means that for some, the Christian duty is to not vote at all in order to best serve the neighbors in the community, who will be harmed regardless of who is in power.
So, regardless of what news we wake up to in the morning. Regardless of the news, we will wake up to in the coming years as campaigns restart. Regardless of the chaos or violence that will arise, regardless of the outcomes, our actual DUTY as Christians has not changed. It stays constant regardless of the season or leader; our call remains the same. To Love God and Love our Neighbor.
Comments