Men are apt to think that this world is as God made it, and that all things continue as they were at the creation, only that man has made great progress in prosperity and civilization. Now, in material comforts, none will deny it, though the men of a past age would hardly think our refinements comforts. Men have telegraphs, railroads, automobiles, and flying-machines; but I hardly know in what respect they are the happier for it. It is a question if they have not excited the passions more than they have satisfied them. Children are not more obedient, families not more united, servants not more honest and respectful. Morally speaking, I do not see what the world has gained. It thinks better of itself, and vaunts its powers:I do not know that this is any advance. Christianity, as light come into the world, has made a difference. Men do not do in the light what they do in the dark. But the world is in no sense as God made it. He overrules all, has-patience with it; but He never made it as it is. He made paradise, and the world has grown up as it is through man's departure from God. It has been destroyed once since because of its wickedness.
"What is, then, the world ? It is a vast system, grown up after man had departed from God, of which Satan is actually, though not by right of course, the god and the prince. It is a system sprung up, in its origin, from man's disobedience and departure from God, and which has turned God out of it, as far as it could, when He came into it in mercy. It is also a system in which men have been proved in every way. Without law, it became so bad God had to destroy mankind, save eight persons, by the deluge. Under law, man plunged into idolatry. God sent His Son; Him they slew and hanged on a tree.
" And when we look at the principles and motives of the world, are they other than the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of not pleasure, gain, vanity, ambition, govern men ? I do not speak of exceptions, but of what characterizes the world. When we speak of men rising in the world, getting on in the world, is it not ambition and gain which are in question ? Is there much difference in what Cain did in his city, and what men are now doing in theirs ? If a Chinese who had heard a missionary speak of Christ and Christianity came to a "Christian country" to see what it was would he find the mass of men, the world, governed by other motives than what governed the masses at Nankin, or Pekin, or Canton ? Would they not be seeking gain, as he would have done there, or pleasure, as they do there, or power and honor, as they do there ? What is the world in its motives ? A system in which men seek honor one of another, and not the honor which cometh from God only.
"Take Christendom as a whole, and what do we see ? Mohammedanism has overrun the eastern part, and popery the western. The north of Europe, and North America, have been delivered from the latter; and what is their state? Overrun with infidelity and popish tendencies. I do not mean to deny that the Spirit of God is active, and that good is done in the midst of all this. I believe it, and thank God for it. But that is not the world; it is a distinct power, which works in the midst of it.
" It is important to remember that it was at the death of Christ that the devil received the title of prince of this world;" and, as to his religious influence, he is called the god of this world, who blinds the minds of those who believe not. God did not call the devil the prince of this world till He had fully proved and tested it. But when it followed Satan wholly in rejecting His Son, then the name is given to him. When the true Ruler of the world was rejected, then it was plain Satan was its prince.
" In the world the eager pursuit of gain is more ardent than ever, leading to less scruple in acquiring it. Pleasure also holds its sway over men, in defiance of Christ, as it did when there, was no such motive to restrain them. War rages as it ever did; conquest and oppression range over a wider sphere than of old; while the nominal power of Christianity, with all men's boastings, has receded to smaller limits than in the seventh century, when it ruled over known Africa, filled Asia, and was almost the established religion of China.
"The world, then, has been evil from its origin; for the horrors of idolatry cannot be denied. Christianity, then, has been corrupted by man, and has not reformed the world-is actually the seat of its greatest corruption. Commerce, a partial civilizer of men, absorbs them with the lowest of motives- money-and is wholly indifferent to truth and moral elevation:for it, a good man is a man with capital. Education, which also frees from what is gross, has not, with all its pretensions, changed the motives nor ameliorated the morals of men.
" Such, then, is the world, which is attached to its own objects-grandeur, power, pleasure, gain-not to Christ; and thus it is enslaved to him who governs the world by these motives."
Such is the world as vividly described by an eminent servant of Christ, and it is to the government of this world that we are invited, nay urged, to come and assist. We are urged to help make its laws, to help choose its rulers, to hold office, to mingle in that department of its activities which it freely acknowledges is one of its most evil and corrupt. We are told that Christians ought to be interested in the government of the country to which they belong; that they should take part in politics, in order to purify them; that they ought to vote; that they should help to put good men in power, and to pass better laws; that they should hold office themselves, and use their influence for good.
But what saith the Scriptures ? Can we serve the countries in which we live by taking part in their politics, consistently with our character as described in the word of God ? Let us see:
In I Peter 2:11 we are called " strangers and pilgrims." Do strangers take part in the government of the country in which they sojourn ? Or do pilgrims make laws for the country through which they pass ? Surely not. Are we, then, any less truly foreigners here because it is heaven that is the land of our citizenship (Phil. 3:20), and the saints are our fellow-citizens? (Eph. 2:19.) We are told repeatedly (John 15:19; 17:14, 16, etc.) that we are "not of the world," that is, that we are no part of its system. We must needs come in contact with the world-system as long as we are in the world; but this contact is not fellowship. We are to be in the world, but not of it (John 17:18, 16). We are to keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James i:27), for "the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4).
What was the attitude toward politics of Him who left us "an example, that we should follow His steps?" (i Peter 2:21). Did He take any interest in the political government of His country ? Did He assist in putting into power the civil rulers of Palestine ? Did He help reform bad laws and make good ones ? Did He take any part at all in politics ? No; His conduct was the very reverse.
"In His days the last shadow of Jewish liberty departed, and His country was oppressed beneath the iron gauntlet of Rome. Such a state of things would have thrilled and agitated to its core the breast of the independent citizen, the lover of liberty. In the Gospels we gather only the political changes of the land from the most distant hints of the narrative.
"When occasions occur on which, if politics be right for the Christian, the Saviour must have declared Himself, He uniformly puts them aside. One of His hearers beseeches Him to engage his brother to divide an inheritance with him (Luke 12:13). Jesus refuses to listen to the matter, or exercise even the lowly power of an arbitrator. ' Man, who made Me a judge or divider over you ?' If the Christian's duty is to take the office of judge or divider, Jesus would have taken it, as our perfect example of what is right; but He thrusts away with a firm hand the political element of the question, and only warns the disciples against covetousness.
"John the Baptist, His own forerunner, the greatest of women born, is slain through the arts of an adulterous princess, and by the orders of an ungodly king. How does Jesus meet the event ? Does He lift up His voice against the oppressor and murderer ? No. John is imprisoned, but Jesus speaks not of the injustice; he is murdered, but He utters no cry against the cruelty or tyranny of Herod. John's ' disciples came and took up the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard of it, He departed thence by ship into a desert place apart’ (Matt. 14:10-13). John's followers announce it to the Lord. As pointedly He is silent.
"Take another incident. There were present at that season some that told Him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices (Luke 13:i). A politician would have been on fire at this national outrage. Religious antipathies met with political. Here was a field whereon to inveigh against Roman cruelty, and to rouse the Jews against a tyranny that trampled on the true religion. A pagan profaning with bloody hands the worship of the true God!
"What is Jesus' reply? 'Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' The politics of the question are wholly passed by; the moral and spiritual view of the matter is alone regarded. This is an especial, a most decisive case. Doubtless it made the blood of every native Jew boil with rage; but Jesus drops no word of indignation against the governor's crime, nor applauds the Galileans as martyrs for their country.
"A question is raised by His countrymen, and referred for His decision-whether it was lawful to give tribute to the Roman emperor or not. This critical question must have drawn out the politician. Involved in it lay the right of the Romans to rule Judaea, and impose taxes at their will. The oppressions of the governor were before His eyes. The Caesar that swayed the scepter was profligate, cruel, a murderer. Yet He bids the Jews pay tribute even to an idolater, and though the emperor might apply the money to the support of idolatry.
"Jesus, then, was not a politician. Am I a disciple of His ? Neither, then, ani I to be one. ' It is enough for the 'disciple that he be as his master.' If Jesus did not intermeddle in civil government, it is because such conduct would not be pleasing to God. Jesus neither acted politically Himself, nor sanctioned it in others. To be engaged in politics, therefore, either as an actor or a speaker, is no part of my duty as a Christian, else the character of Jesus is not perfect. But His perfection is my pattern, and therefore it becomes me to refuse, as pointedly as He did, to mingle in politics."-F. W. G.
These, the words of another devoted servant and follower of Christ, speak plainly enough, and cannot be refuted. It is said, Christians are the very ones to be in power. But ''the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not" (i John 3:i). Our lives and the world are governed by different principles entirely. The best the world's law knows is justice. We who stand by mercy before God should be merciful ; and the Scriptures are our guide. But as one of the world's philosophers truly said, "Nothing would excite greater manifestations of contempt and disgust than the slightest attempt to introduce the authority of Scripture in a political consultation." And this in a so-called "Christian" land.
If it be insisted that Christians are peculiarly fitted to serve the governments because of their superior goodness, we answer, God has ministers of His pleasure who never sinned-the angels. A striking instance of their service is given in the loth of Daniel. For three full weeks Daniel, his faith sorely tried, continued in fasting and prayer. The angel of God had said, "Fear not, Daniel:for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard." Nevertheless, the answer .of God by the angel did not arrive until three weeks after.
Then the angel relates to Daniel how this happened, and the difficulties he had to encounter. It was a question of deciding something at the court of Persia; and those there, who were opposed to an edict for favoring the Jews, could put obstacles to its promulgation. The prince of Persia was opposed to the Jews, but at the end of twenty-one days the angel prevailed against his counsels and came back to Daniel. Thus we learn that if God does not use us as His instruments in politics, He does use some from His legions of angels.
And sometimes He uses the basest of men. Little did Caesar Augustus know, when he sent out the decree that " a census should be made of all the habitable world" (Luke 2:i), that he was merely an instrument in the hands of God. Yet so it was. More than seven hundred years before, the prophet Micah had said in the name of Jehovah, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel." But Mary's home was at Nazareth, in Galilee, and the time was drawing near for the birth of her holy Child; and lo, God constrains the Roman emperor to set the machinery of his empire in motion, that Joseph be compelled, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to go up unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. What a proof that God still holds the reins of government in His hands, and that He turns the hearts of men whithersoever He will!
What then is a scriptural attitude for a Christian toward the governments of the world ? To submit to them, and to pray for them. We are to pay taxes, and submit "to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake " (i Peter 2:13); and we are to pray for "kings and all that are put in authority" (i Tim. 2:2). We are not to despise government, nor to speak evil of dignities, nor bring against them railing accusation (2 Peter 2:10; Jude 9).
If, then, we refuse to mingle in politics, it is not that we think politics in itself wrong, but that we belong to another country, that is, a heavenly (Heb. ii:16); and we see that the world is evil (John 17:15), and rejects the One we love. We wish to be separate from it therefore, and to cast in our lot with Him. We are drawn upward, above and beyond this scene, by union with Christ on high; willing to be despised, yea, rather to suffer shame for His name, while we wait for Him to come and take us to that city from whence we shall go no more out. E. V. W.