The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Lauren L. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Research - Civil Government
A recent poll reveals that most Americans believe that the civil government in our country is doing far too much.
Could the public be on to something? Biblically speaking, it certainly is.
According to the Bible, the civil government is to have an extremely limited role. Its essential function is straightforward: It is to serve as a "minister of God" who brings wrath on those who practice evil (Rom.13:4). That's it.
The reason God has ordained government to have this limited but critical function is simple. It is so that through the protection of life, liberty, and property, individuals would possess maximum opportunity to live peaceful and prosperous lives under God.
Sadly, the scope and actions of government today have gone far astray from the role given it by the scriptures.
On the one hand, our civil government keeps coming up short in its essential duty as it continually releases back into society those guilty of capital crimes (like rape and murder) where they commit the same crimes again.
Yet on the other hand, the government has found its way to encroach in nearly every aspect of life, promising security from cradle to grave at a cost that no nation can carry. It might be surprising, but nowhere in the scriptures will you find the government charged with providing services like universal healthcare, old-age retirement income, and taxpayer education. These services are left for families, churches and private institutions to provide. Yet we have come to expect the state to make them their business, and virtually every politician has happily obliged.
The fact that most Americans realize that government is doing too much is a hopeful sign. But this realization in itself won't improve anything. We must realize also that our view of government is inherently religious.
If we look to the state as our provider and source of ultimate security, we give it divine status. That is, we attribute to it qualities that belong to God alone. This, of course, is idolatry, and in the end idolatry is always doomed to fail.
What's needed is to realize that God never intended the state to be a savior – but a servant. There is only one Savior and Lord, and that is Jesus Christ, the heir of all nations (Ps.2:8).
At the bottom line, the growth of government in our day reflects a failure of faith. As our faith in God has weakened, we have turned to the state which can only bring about change through its coercive power. This may appear favorable while it brings us the benefits we desire. But approaching the state in this way eventually creates a leviathan that slowly smothers its subjects.
May God renew our faith. It is only through His regenerating power that families, churches, and private institutions will rise up to fulfill their God-given responsibilities. And it is also the only way that government will be brought back to its proper place.
