God of the Age

Government power is the god of our age. As faith in God has declined, faith in human government has grown massively. They will not admit it, but many Christians have more faith in the ability of political power to transform and restore society than in their God. Very few believe that society can be transformed by the gospel and the spirit without a massive intervention of political power.

Whenever a problem arises in modern society, people say, “The government should do something about it”. When people are in trouble, they expect the government to rescue them. I remember during the Christchurch earthquake, very few people looked to God, or his church, for solutions to their problems. They expected the government to come up with solutions.

The situation is the same all over the world. Government power is the spirit of the age.

We take this for granted, but it is not normal. For most of history, governments did very little for their people. They mostly looked after their mates and protected their own power. Doing things for ordinary people was considered wasted effort. Ordinary people relied on God, their family and friends to deal with the crises of life.

During the last few generations, this has all changed. People began to expect their political leaders to solve all their problems. Politicians were quite happy to respond to these demands, but in return, they demanded the power they needed to do what people wanted. We have been caught up in a spiral, with people demanding more and more from the political system and the politicians grabbing more and more power in order to fulfil their role. The result is more and more laws and massive numbers of regulations; so many that people can’t know them all.

We have now arrived at a place where governments hold powers far beyond their wisdom to use it. People are still disillusioned because their needs are not being met, despite massive government powers. People in business are frustrated as governments impose massive constraints on their ability to operate, but they still want the government to solve the problems in society that concern them.

No one seems to understand that the problem lies with political power itself. Both those who are disillusioned because their needs are not met, and those who fear government control, still believe that the solution is changing the government. They believe that getting better people into power will make things better. Actually, the problem is faith in modern government.

The only solution is for people to lose faith in government (that is happening) and put their trust in God and begin living by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. People will have to get together with other followers of Jesus and learn to support each other through the crises that lie ahead. When God’s people start doing this, the Kingdom of God will come closer.

When Christians attempt to gain political power so they can restrain evil or transform society, they are aligning with the spirit of the age. The New Testament explains that human governments and political power are controlled by principalities and powers in the spiritual realms (Eph 6:12). I call usually call them government-spirits to make their role clear. When followers of Jesus engage in political activities to bring change, they are submitting to the government-spirit that controls the government in their nation. While they are endeavouring to bring about change, they are actually strengthening the kingdoms of this world. When the government changes everything remains the same because the same government-spirit.

The Kingdom of God is different. Jesus brings in his kingdom by changing hearts. People will choose to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit because they love him. There is no room for coercion or control in the Kingdom of God. Political power has no place in the Kingdom of God, because it relies on force and coercion to achieve its objectives. The Kingdom of God expands as Jesus followers love and serve the people living around them. As they hear the good news of Jesus, they will be drawn into the kingdom. I explain how this will happen in my book called Government of God.