Dr. Rene A. Layco
Evangelicals believe in the coordinate functions of Government and Church as divine institutions interdependently acting to realize God�s redemptive will for humanity. On one hand, Christians are to render civil obedience as unto God. On the other hand, Government is to recognize the right of civil disobedience whenever it violates its delegated authority from God as revealed in His Word. Therefore Christians are to exercise prophetic ministry to denounce social sins and to encourage reforms but submitting themselves voluntarily and peacefully to the process and penalty of law �even unto martyrdom. Our response will be done in love, in order, and without violence. Beyond this, we commit justice to the righteous judgment of God who will certainly punish evil in this world and hereafter. In the end we affirm that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church (Matt.16:18) and �that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is Lord, to the glory of God the Father� (Phil.2:10-11).
John Calvin a well-known Reformer, once wrote: " If the question is raised whether we ought to pray for Kings from whom we do not receive these advantages, my answer is that we ought to pray that, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they may begin to grant us these blessings they have up to now failed to provide. Thus we should not only pray for those who are already worthy, but we should ask GOD to make wicked rulers good. " There is no time than ever before, that today we should consider doing much more than the present scope of our developmental ministries. I believe that Christian involvement in government is not only Missiological Option. It is not just a citizenship duty but also a Theological Responsibility that can help determine the destiny of our nation. For during these crucial hours in our political life, we need to face the inescapable reality that we are both Filipino Christians and Citizens.
These times call us to reflection and action. As we do, let us be reminded of a letter written in a German prison by Diettrich Bonhoeffer which strikes at the heart of our problems: �What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today�We are moving towards a completely regionless time; people as they are now simply cannot be religious anymore. Even those who honestly describe themselves as �religious� do not act in the least up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by �religious�. Such an insight brings reverberating to our minds the challenge of the Prophet Ezekiel, � HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? � (Ezek.33:10)
