The Teen Group Discusses Contending for the Faith Through our Relationship with the Government
My Brothers and Sisters,
You know that the teens have been going through the same study as the adults over the last few weeks, and man! I thought last night’s theme, “How to Contend for The Faith Through Our Relationship with the Government” would be rough. Nope! Not with this youth group! We had so much conversation, we only made it three questions in!
When I was their age (a million years ago to some of you while it feels like yesterday to others), politics were a bit of a different conversation. I don’t remember Bill Clinton calling Bush, “Hitler,” or the news media labeling followers of certain parties Nazis, racists or hypocrites. There was division, sure, but it was easy to have disagreements on matters of taxation, federal spending and foreign policy while maintaining a friendship. These students aren’t just seeing cartoonists, comedians and musical artists lampooning political parties as has always been, but actual news media sources, teachers, civic leaders, influencers and more. These students are not seeing people divided on positions of policy, but moral positions.
Compromise is no longer a viable and honorable position for a Christian due to fixed polarized political positions on homosexuality, abortion, racism, and more. As many of us long for the golden years of politics, our teens right now only know the current landscape.
So — were they ready to talk about government or were they going to run? I didn’t want to talk about it much at their age, but these guys … we didn’t even get past the third question, we talked so much!
The biggest conversation of the night was just the teens wrapping their minds around the idea that it was God who established all government. Why was that so weird? Let’s look at this from their perspective.
From a teen’s perspective, might makes right. Authority is something to be achieved by right of conquest. The cop has the right because he is armed, the parent has the right because they can punish, governments have been overthrown by gangs, after all, that’s part of our very own history. When understood as a basic principle, there is some truth to the claim. I was a little taken back by the conversation. I never felt the conflict between God issuing authority and mankind assuming authority. But I get what their minds were chewing on. After all, if authority is taken by replacing or conquering the prior authority, how can that authority be given by God?
When the God-fearing Byzantine capital city of Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and became Istanbul, the rule of the city transferred from the Church of Christ to the followers of Allah. Did God establish that government? (Again, this was a conversation initiated and carried out by our teens!) In the end, might makes right is not so far from the whole truth. Remember Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Whether Ottoman Turks, Mongolian Hordes, Roman phalanxes or Nazi armies, they are nothing compared to the awesome power of our God. He allows men and women to wield an incredibly miniscule bit of His authority on earth with the expectation that they rule well.
James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
And that goes for everyone who leads as well! The expectations are no different because they have the same authority.
You know the coolest part? The biggest take away of the night came from that conversation. After all the conversation, the teens came to realize that those in government are responsible to God in how they govern, but we who serve are responsible to God in how we serve government. Our teens always impress me so much in how they can come to these complex spiritual truths! Pray for them, but also take heart! America’s future involves agents of Jesus Christ of whom we should be incredibly proud!
In His Grip,
BJ