Rev. Joshua K. Owens
                                Contributing columnist

Rev. Joshua K. Owens

Contributing columnist

SUNDAY LESSON

Editor’s Note: This is the second part in a three-part series on religion and political involvement. Find Part 1 at https://bit.ly/3AmH5KT.

In my last column, we attempted to recognize that while the intersection of religious practice and political participation is often fraught with tension, these two things are not opposed to one another.

In fact, politics can be but one human institution that affords people of faith the chance to represent the Spirit of God in how we think, act, and serve other people.

In order to accomplish this, one must have these two elements, faith and citizenship in their proper order of authority.

Jesus speaks to this somewhat in the familiar passage from Luke 20:20-26. This is the “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s” passage.

This instance is one of many from Luke 20 where Jesus has an ongoing kerfuffle with the religious leaders of his day. The tax alluded to in this text is one that all residents of the kingdom had to pay, and according to NT theologian Joel Green, its significance was not so much financial as it was symbolic, “It was the perennial reminder and acknowledgment of Jewish subjugation to a foreign overlord.”

The payment of this tax also had to work through the local governing body of the region, which in the case of the Jews, was the Jerusalem Sanhedrin.

So when these political agitators ask Jesus if it is right to pay taxes, it is a multi-layered question speaking to obligations, religious and governmental entanglements, the authority of certain leaders to act in certain ways, and whether or not the proclaimed King of the Jews would authorize payments to another king.

Of course, Jesus doesn’t take their bait. Instead, with a bit of dramatic flare, Jesus requests a coin, on which likely was written the inscription “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus,” and pronounces, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Many have taken Jesus’ words to mean that these two powers, namely government and God, exist independently of each other, each with their own requirements. There is certainly some separation between the two, but sadly, some have taken Jesus’ words and have completely separated them entirely, leading them to view their political practices as separate from their spiritual standards.

For example, I have seen people of faith say degrading, dismissive, vile, and downright hateful words about people of differing political views or politicians they disagree with, and somehow write it off as OK because “its just politics.”

Nevermind the countless words of scripture that demand us to consider the power of our words such as Ephesians 4:29 or James 3:1-11.

So what if we were to ask ourselves a different question? Maybe what Jesus was offering here is not two segments of our lives that operate in isolation from one another with differing sets of standards for living, but something else entirely.

What if the nature of this relationship Jesus is really putting forth between heavenly God and earthly government is a hierarchical structure?

If we were to see it this way, then in these verses what Jesus is saying is that as citizens of this earth, we have certain obligations to be respected, but as citizens of heaven we have a greater obligation that supersedes the former.

For Jesus, this teaching is less about justifying Caesar’s authority, and more about emphasizing God’s claim over us.

An early Church father Tertullian once spoke about this passage saying, “Thus, we render our money to Caesar and ourselves to God.”

I take that to mean that our relationship with our government is and must be subservient to our relationship with our God. This does not dismiss our commitment to our nation, country or earthly citizenship.

No way! It just puts it into its proper perspective.

Picture in your mind what we commonly see in an organizational chart which serves to capture the authority structure of a company.

At the top is “the boss,” maybe a CEO or some corresponding executive. Flowing downward from that would be all of the corresponding branches flowing under it.

These branches show the various inferior levels of management and direct reports. A specific employee may be at the lower portions of that chart, with various superiors they must answer to or obligations to perform.

In theory, the vision and expectations of the boss should inform all of the actions through the organizational structure. Applying that image to our lives, we as citizens have obligations we should fulfill to the governmental entities of our world, but the directions of our Boss, God Almighty, always take precedence.

The standards and vision of the Holy One should inform our actions and participation in human obligations like our government, our jobs, and any other position of authority that we encounter.

It is helpful to remember that our relationship with human entities is a temporary one as we move ever closer to the promise of the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom.

This means that the systems of this world are moving ever closer to their termination. While a temporary relationship, it is still vital that people of faith show up and are present in the structures of our world. However, this showing up should always be done with the reminder of where our ultimate citizenship lies.

As the Apostle Paul reminded his friends in Phillippians 3:20, “We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”

Because our ultimate citizenship is with heaven, that is what should be our ultimate allegiance, and until that time, we are to engage the systems of this world as representatives of our ultimate home.

One writer and teacher, Jonathan Leeman has a great analogy to capture this. He describes the Church, as an “eschatological embassy.”

He notes that, “The church is an embassy because, while it is a political community, it is an outpost in foreign territory, a representative of a coming kingdom living in the midst of the current one.”

So may we be faithful participants toward our earthly home, but let us engage this home by reflecting the characteristics of our true and final home.

Rev. Joshua K. Owens serves as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in historic downtown Lumberton, NC. He can be reached by email at joshowens@fbclumbertonnc.org