Devotional by Carter Wheelock
A newspaper story recently gave statistics on the growing number of Christians who, being fed up with public immorality, are getting into power politics in order to have "Christian" morals written into law. It should go without saying that Christian morals imply a Christian ethic founded on a proper interepretation of the Word of God.
Some years ago I had a car accident that was the other man's fault. He was poor and had no liability insurance. He resisted the charge brought against him for his traffic violation and had to go to court. I was called by the court to appear and testify, but before I went, I wrote to the judge recommending leniency -- I had already paid for repairs to my car, and the man was poor, and I was willing to drop the matter in the name of charity. The judge ignored my letter, and I'm sure it was because my personal feelings and personal ethics were not relevant. The offence was not just against me, it was against everybody--against the Law. The Law is concerned with justice, founded on reason, and if I wanted to show charity, it was a private matter -- I couldn't speak for society.
A few years ago President Clinton spoke of the terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed nineteen Americans, and said: "The cowards who did this must not go unpunished. We will find them and punish them." The President professes to be a Christian. Imagine what the nations of the world and the relatives of the dead Americans would have thought if he had said, "The cowards who did this must not go unforgiven; we will find them and love them." The President has no right to forgive the killing of 19 Americans or to ignore the agony caused to their relatives. Caesar must give justice to those who are wronged, and only the wronged have the right to temper it with mercy.
Last year the press announced the proposal of a Constitutional amendment to protect the rights of crime victims, guaranteeing a victim's right to be present at the trial of the accused, to receive compensation from the convicted criminal, and to be notified when the criminal is turned loose. What if, instead, such a law required the victim to act in a Christina way -- to forgive the accused, to pass no judgment on him, to pay his debts like a good Samaritan, to pray for him, to evangelize him, and to decline any compensation from him?
That's what Christ would do. But such a law, imposed upon all by Caesar, not Christ, would be as ridiculous as one that required the victim to take terrible vengeance. A Christian who lives in a secular human community and participates in its life is a Christian who sins in faith. We obey Caesar when necessary. We may want to forgive the criminal, but Caesar can force us to testify against him and get him hanged. The judge and jury, as individuals, may privately forgive the offender, but as instruments of Caesar they don't have that privilege. Wherever a servant of Caesar--a judge, a lawmaker, a president--tries to impose a religious ethic by law, he or she is a traitor to both Caesar and God.
This gives us a real dilemma when it comes to certain issues, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and irresponsible pregnancy. We have trouble deciding whether these issues belong to God or to Caesar. As a society, if we cannot assign authority to one or the other with just and right discernment, we must give such issues to God and keep government out of them. We Americans don't all share the same religion, but we have managed, so far, to share a Constitution. That is because we have been wise enough to know that the Constitution is not God and cannot be made to speak for God. God commands us to keep it that way. Separation of church and state began with Christ's words about "rendering unto Caesar."