Chapter 12: Life Under Two Kingdoms. Being a citizen of God's kingdom is not easy. What makes it especially difficult is that, unlike all other kingdoms, God's kingdom doesn't have exclusive occupation of any geographic area. So its citizens will always be living under two governments: the kingdom of God and a kingdom of the world, which government are Christians to obey. The situation is not that different from a citizen of the United States who lives in a foreign country.
Suppose that Joe American, a United States citizen, were to move to Germany and take a job there. Would the fact that he was a United States citizen exempt him from obeying the laws of Germany? Not at all. If he breaks the German traffic laws, he won't be excused because he is a foreigner. If Joe robs a bank, he'll be prosecuted under German laws, and he will face imprisonment in Germany. Furthermore, even though Joe is a United States citizen, if he works in Germany, he will have to pay German taxes.
At the same time, even though he is a foreigner, Joe American also has various rights under German law. He's entitled to police protection, the same as a German citizen. He can file a petition in the German courts. If he works in Germany, he comes under the protection of the same workplace safety provisions as does a German citizen. Our situation as citizens of the kingdom of God is virtually identical to Joe's situation.
Although we are citizens of God's kingdom, we have to obey the laws of the land where we reside. The Scriptures make that quite clear: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Even though we are citizens of God's kingdom, we do not view earthly governments as illegitimate, hostile forces. This is because we realize that the kingdoms of the world ultimately derive their authority from God. The Scriptures make this clear: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." One of the seeming ironies of being a citizen of God's kingdom is that to be obedient to Christ, we first must be obedient to Caesar. In fact, citizens of God's kingdom are usually more conscientious about obeying the laws of the earthly governments than are those people whose only citizenship is here on earth.
But now, let's return for a moment to our illustration about Joe American who lives in Germany. What if the laws of Germany conflict with the laws of America? For example, what if, in order to obey the laws of Germany, Joe would have to commit an act that would be disloyal to America? In that situation, Joe would have to decide where he wants his permanent citizenship to be. Because when a conflict arises, he will not be able to obey both governments. He will have to choose.
To illustrate, suppose that Germany and the United States enter into a war against each other. Would the United States have the power to draft Joe into the armed forces even though he lives in a foreign land? Absolutely. Does Germany have the power to draft Joe even though he is not a German citizen? Yes, it does. Can Joe allow himself to be conscripted into the German army and give a military oath to Germany? Not if he wants to remain an American citizen. He can't serve two masters.
He will have to decide which government is going to be his absolute master and which one will receive only relative obedience. From reading the passages above from Romans 13, some persons have imagined that the earthly governments under which we live have the ultimate claim over us. They imagined that we owe our allegiance, and even our lives, to the nation in which we live. But the Scriptures never say that.
We must never forget Jesus' answer when the Pharisees and Herodians asked him whether it is lawful or not to pay taxes to Caesar. He told them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Please note that the Pharisees and Herodians hadn't asked Jesus about God. They had only asked about taxes. By bringing God into the equation, Jesus demonstrated that his interrogators had too narrow a focus.
Their hearts were fixed on issues of this world, not on matters of eternity. Yes, to be sure, they were to pay Caesar's taxes to him. Why? Because his image was on their coins. God didn't mint those coins. Caesar did. So give him back what belongs to him. But what about us humans, whose image is stamped on us? Caesar's? Hardly. God created us in his image. We belong to him. As a result, God has the ultimate call on our lives. Caesar has rights only to the things that he has created.
He has created neither our bodies nor our souls. So he has no right to either. In Romans 13, Paul told us to subject ourselves to the higher powers or governing authorities. But he then goes on to delineate the areas of subjection of which he is speaking: "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." Please notice that Paul lists only earthly things: taxes, customs—that is, duties levied against transported goods, fear, and honor—all these things that are in the sphere of Caesar. Quite noticeably, Paul didn't list military service as one of the things owed to the governing authorities. As I've previously remarked, most earthly governments aren't content to have merely Caesar's things. They want God's things as well.
They believe they are entitled to the absolute, unqualified allegiance of all of their citizens. They even imagine that they own the lives of their citizens and, to a large degree, their souls. But as Tertullian asked, "What will be God's if all things are Caesar's?" Indeed, what do most professing Christians have left to give to God? They've typically risked their lives and given their money, their youth, their souls, and their unqualified allegiance to Caesar. What do they have left to give to Christ's kingdom?
Nothing but some leftover crumbs, their tithes, and a few hours a week of their time. And they imagine that this will be acceptable to Jesus. So what are we to do if the laws of Caesar and the laws of God conflict? Well, we are essentially in the same position as Joe American in our illustration. He has to decide which country has his ultimate allegiance: Germany or the United States. He cannot give his ultimate allegiance to both.
Similarly, citizens of God's kingdom have to decide whose kingdom has their ultimate allegiance: God's or Caesar's. The apostles were put to this very test. Jesus had commanded them to preach the good news of the kingdom. However, the Jewish authorities had them arrested and commanded them not to preach about Jesus anymore. Now, these Jewish authorities were not some renegades usurping governmental authority.
They included the high priest, whose position had been directly established by God, and the Roman government accepted their authority in matters of the Jewish religion. But none of that changed things. The apostles had their orders from Jesus, whom they recognized as their king and to whom they gave their ultimate allegiance.
So they answered the Jewish authorities: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." And the apostles went right back out on the streets and continued preaching. So the authorities soon called them back, saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?" But Peter and the other apostles answered them, "We ought to obey God rather than men." What should we learn from their example?
We should learn that if we want to become a citizen of God's kingdom and remain one, his kingdom has to have our primary allegiance. There can be no hesitation as to whom we must obey when the commandments of our heavenly king conflict with those of earthly rulers. The answer is always the same: we must obey God rather than men. If we want to be a citizen of the kingdom of God, then we have to recognize that it is the dominant kingdom.
The relationship of the kingdoms of the world to God is very similar to the relationship of a corporation to the states. A corporation exists by the power of the states. It would have no authority if the state hadn't given it authority. Does this mean that the state endorses everything a corporation may do? No. Does this make the corporation a partner with the states? Not in the least.
Yet, because the state has empowered the corporation, employees of the corporation are bound to obey the corporation so long as they are employed there. However, disobedience is relative. If the corporation orders its employees to do something illegal, the state will expect them to disobey the corporation. Otherwise, they will face criminal liability. The fact that the corporation ordered them to do something illegal won't protect them.
In the same way, the kingdom of God is the dominant estate when there is a conflict between God's laws and man's laws. Man's laws must give way to God's laws, not the other way around. Jesus will not excuse disobedience to his laws just because some earthly ruler was presumptuous enough to order his subjects to do something that Jesus has declared illegal. It's similar to the relationship of state laws to the U.S. Constitution.
Each state has authority to pass laws concerning a wide range of subjects, and persons who reside in that state must obey those laws. But what if a state law conflicts with one of the provisions of the Constitution? In that situation, the Constitution overrules the state law. It's never the other way around. Likewise, God's laws always overrule conflicting laws of man. If Caesar says to do one thing but God says to do another, God's law prevails, not man's. That is one of the cardinal rules of the kingdom of God.
Aside from religious persecution, Caesar's laws and Christ's laws probably most often conflict in the area of non-resistance. For example, an earthly government often tells a young man that he must be enrolled in the armed forces, take up arms, and kill others who are enemies of his country. However, our king has already commanded us to love our enemies, not to hate them. Whether they are Buddhists, Muslims, or atheists, we can hardly slaughter them and yet claim that we love them.
So we cannot obey both Christ and Caesar. If Christ's laws do not allow us to kill unbelievers, how much more so do they prohibit us from killing our fellow Christians? Yet, in nearly every war fought by Americans or Europeans in the past 1,700 years, there have been professing Christians on both sides. If a foreign government ordered an American to fight against and kill his fellow Americans, most Americans would refuse to do so.
However, if an earthly government orders a Christian to fight against and kill his fellow Christians, most professing Christians will do so. Our ultimate allegiance cannot belong to two different kings. When a Christian kills a fellow citizen of God's kingdom simply because some earthly ruler has ordered him to, he's acknowledging that his ultimate allegiance belongs to his earthly ruler. He will put his country's welfare above the welfare of the kingdom of God and the brotherhood of Christ.
But, again, a Christian's refusal to take up arms doesn't apply only to wars involving other Christians. Jesus told us to love our enemies. If we refuse to take up arms only against our fellow citizens of the kingdom, we aren't that different from the world. They likewise refuse to take up arms against their fellow citizens. Joining God's kingdom means we go one step further than the world. We love our enemies as well as our comrades.
In light of Jesus' teachings on non-resistance and loving our enemies, some Christians have the mistaken idea that Christians should oppose and belittle soldiers and police officers. But that's not the case at all. Jesus and his apostles were always respectful toward the soldiers with whom they interacted. The Scriptures tell us that God has entrusted the governments of this world with the sword, whereas God's kingdom needs no military forces. The governments of this world normally do.
Jesus' teachings are for his kingdom. He didn't pretend that a government of this world could operate without the sword of power. For that reason, I try to always show courtesy and respect to soldiers and police officers. In fact, I think one of the genuine social injustices in our society is the low pay that soldiers receive. They endure all sorts of hardships, and they risk their very lives on behalf of their fellow citizens. Yet, they are near the bottom end of the economic pay scale.
In 2003, the base salary for an American soldier with one year of service was only $15,480. This is only slightly higher than the average pay of American theater ushers: $14,144, and street crossing guards: $15,080. Naturally, I would like to see all soldiers enroll in the army of God's kingdom instead of in the armies of this world. However, that is a decision they must come to for themselves.
But as long as they are serving the people of their country on behalf of their government, they deserve respect, not ridicule. And they deserve to be paid by their government commensurately with the sacrifices they are called to make.