Christians in almost every country of the world complain about the government of their country. It is true that there have been few completely honest government officials in history. What should be the attitude of Christians toward the government of their country? What does the Bible say? In order to answer this question, a Christian must understand the origin of human government. From a human point of view it is easy to say that particular government only exist because certain strong men were able to gain power over others through military force or political effort. The Bible, however, gives us a different perspective on human governments. We learned that God has the power to control everything. He is sovereign (Psalm 103:19). One of the ways in which God exercise his sovereignty is in the rise and fall of human governments.
In Romans 13:1-2 we read these surprising words: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established by God. Consequently he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.” The Bible teaches that human governments are established by God. Most Christians find this statement very hard to accept, especially when they are living under a very corrupt or oppressive government. These words are all the more surprising when we remember that Paul wrote them to Christians living in Rome. Rome was a very pagan city with some very corrupt and oppressive rulers, called Caesars. Some of these Caesars persecuted the Christians bitterly in the years after Paul’s epistle to the Romans.
Yet the Holy Spirit tells us through Paul that there is no government authority except that which God has established. By saying this, the Bible is not saying that every government is good. It is simply stating the fact that human government is God’s plan for mankind’s good. Human government is God’s way of keeping law and order in a country (Rom.13:3-4). Imagine for a moment what conditions would be like if there was no government at all in a country. People would behave almost completely in accordance with their sinful nature, with no fear of being punished for their behavior. Crime would be out of control. There would be no postal service or any other government agency. Life would soon become unbearable. In Romans 13:4 we read, ‘He (the government official) is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.’
Some governments are obviously much more corrupt than others. What are Christians to do when they live under the rule of an evil government? The Bible is very specific about a Christian’s responsibility to the government of his country. He is to pray and he is to obey. In 1Timothy 2:1-2 we are told, ‘I urge then, first of all, that… prayers …be made…for kings and all those in authority.’ Christians often spend much time complaining about their country’s government. But how much time do they spend seriously praying for the government and officials? This is not just a good idea, it is God’s commandment. In fact, it is of first importance. ‘I urge…first of all,’ says the apostle (1Tim.2:1-2). It is a serious sin for Christians to fail to pray for the government of their country. Much unnecessary suffering and bad government is a direct result of a failure by God’s People to pray regularly and seriously for their government. The devil seeks control over the world through influencing human governments. When we pray for government officials, we hinder Satan’s influence on these officials.
We also make the wisdom and help of the Lord available to those officials through our prayers. It would be a most worthy practice for every Christian to devote times each week to fasting and prayer for his country’s government. If Christians all over the world were to do this, the course of human history could be change. Local churches should also devote special times to prayer for the of the country. God has promised to answer prayer for his people (Matt.18:19). There is no one else besides Christians who have access to God to get help for the government of their country. Since God has commanded us to pray for our government leaders, he is ready to answer those prayers. If the government is very bad, God may change it completely. In Daniel 2:21 we read, ‘He sets up kings and deposes them.’ God may not always change the entire government in answer to our prayers but he may change the hearts of those in authority. An amazing example of this in recent times is the way the Lord changed the hearts of many leaders in communist countries. Many of the very men who encouraged communism and imprisoned Christians, renounced communism in the early 1990’s. In the former Soviet Union, former atheistic communists actually requested Christians to come and teach Christianity in the public schools!
There were probably several reasons why such great changes took place in the former Soviet Union. The most important reason, however, was the prayers of God’s persecuted people .These Christians continues to pray for an end to communist oppression during the 70 years of Marxist rule. God can also change; the hearts of African government leaders when his people faithfully pray. In places where the country has a democratic government, it is a Christian’s responsibility to prayerfully take part in the elections of the government. The experience of some democratic governments has shown that when Christians unite their voices about issued that matter; they are able to influence the policies and laws of their government in a righteous way according to the will of God. The second responsibility which Christians have towards their government is to obey the government and keep its laws. In 1 Peter 2:13-15 we read, ‘submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.’
The only exceptions to the rule that Christians should obey the government of their country are when the government of their country, are when the government forbids Christians to speak about Christ, or orders them to do something which breaks the law of God. In Acts 4:17-20, the Apostles Peter and John were forbidden by the Jewish Leaders to speak about Christ. They said that they must obey God rather than men in this matter (Acts 4:19-20). In Daniel 3:13-18, the three friends of Daniel were ordered by King Nebuchadnezzar to bow down and worship the idolatrous golden image the king had set up. They refused to break the second commandment (Ex.20:4-5) and bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image. As a result, they were thrown into a furnace of fire. But God delivered them from the fire right before Nebuchadnezzar’s eyes (Dan.3:19-27). By praying for their government instead of complaining about it, and by obeying its laws, Christians will have a good testimony for Christ before the world. They will also “silence the ignorant talk of foolish men’ (1 Pet.2:15).
Dr. Lewis Akpogena
08055059656 or write:
akpogena@yahoo.com.
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