Political Power

Most Christians still trust political power. They will often criticise the abuse of power, but that often smuggle it in the backdoor so it can be used to advance the Kingdom of God.

The hard truth is that Jesus renounced power. He refused to use it to advance his kingdom, or even to do good. Paul also renounced political power, although he couched his critique carefully, to avoid putting his followers at risk from Roman power.

In Revelation, John went hard out, and explained that the spiritual powers of evil use political to advance their cause. Paul had said the same in Ephesians 6, but in a slightly veiled way, that modern people often miss.

To fully understand the Kingdom of God, we need to fully renounce the use of political power to advance God’s work on earth.

In my book called Government of God, I explain how God will establish his Kingdom without the need for political power. The church can retreat for safety while engaging in prophetic challenge and social transformation to advance God’s kingdom. Kingdom communities that are outward looking, inclusive of people who are not followers of Jesus, can provide protection, welfare, and justice (plus whatever else the modern state promises but fails to deliver) voluntarily without the need for the use of political power.

Political Power is the Problem

When I was young, I still had faith in political power. I believed that God’s people could use political power to establish his Kingdom on earth. I studied economics, political science and theology to learn how political power could be used to advance God’s purposes on earth.

What always worried me was the contradiction between human freedom and political power. The problem is that political power forces people to do things that they don’t want to do. At first, I assumed that it was fine to force people to do things provided that the things they are being forced to do are good.

The problem with this approach is that people have different ideas about what is good, and power cuts both ways. If it is acceptable for Christians to force people to do things that they do not want to do, then we must be fine if other groups who gain political power to force us to do things that we don’t want to do.

I tried to resolve this dilemma by relying on democracy to provide legitimacy. I decided that if Christians could gain a majority in a free election, they could legitimately use the power gained to force their values on the rest of society. I accepted that Christians would have to preach the gospel and win the hearts of the majority before they could use political power to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

The victory of the gospel has not happened, and it is just as well because that failure has proved the weakness in my approach. Christians are now a minority in many democracies. They don’t like it when other groups use the political power that they have gained to impose their standards on us. What is sauce for the goose is sauce of the gander. If we believe that it is acceptable for Christians to impose their standards on society if they win power in an election, then it is acceptable for other groups that gain power to do the same, even if their values are hostile to God.

It gradually became clear to me that political power is a two-edged sword. If it is legitimate for it to be used to advance the Kingdom of God, it can just as easily be used to oppose it and to harm followers of Jesus. I eventually came to the conclusion that if we are serious about the Kingdom of God and the gospel that sets people free, we have to give up seeking political power. That is a step that most Christians are reluctant to take, but it is absolutely essential if we are serious about bringing in the Kingdom in God’s way.

Once I renounced political power, I quickly understood that Jesus refused to use political power to advance the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that (Luke 22:25-26).

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).

Jesus refused to use political power to advance God’s work.

Once I realised that Jesus rejected political power, I came to understand that the spiritual powers of evil have used political power to increase their authority on earth. By attacking, manipulating and controlling political leaders, they gain far more power than they can get by possessing an individual person. Political spirits and government spirits have used political authority to leverage their power on earth, despite their terrible defeat on the cross. Those who try to use political power to do good unwittingly submit to the spiritual powers that control the political position they are seeking to use to accomplish good. Evil cannot be used to accomplish good.

To be honest, renouncing political power seemed like a backward step because I had assumed that political power would be essential for bringing in the Kingdom of God. At first, I was quite depressed about the situation. It seemed like the Kingdom of God was an impossible dream in this season. But I did not give up. I began studying the scripture to see if it was possible for God to bring in his kingdom without relying on political power and military force.

When I studied this issue seriously, I discovered that God had already given Moses a system of government that does not rely on force and coercion. The system instituted through him had no executive power and no compulsory taxation. There was no capability provided for enforcing the decisions. There was no permanent military force that could support government power. The entire system was voluntary. It is radically different from every modern political system.

I described Moses' system of local judges applying his law and voluntary military leaders protecting their community in a book called Government of God. It explains how Kingdom Communities can function without political power. They can voluntarily provide all the services that human governments promise, but fail to deliver. The book describes how the Kingdom of God can expand by the multiplication of voluntary kingdom communities.

Once I understood the problems of political power, my understanding of the nature of economics changed dramatically. The policies of modern economists cannot advance the Kingdom of God because they need to be imposed from the top by human governments with the power to make people do the right thing. I began seeking a politics-free economics.

I discovered the Instructions for Economic Life that God gave to Moses. I also found that Jesus had validated these instructions in his teaching about economics. God’s instructions for a community of people to develop an economy that can function effectively without the need for political power and coercion is described in my book called God’s Economy. The advance of the gospel by the power of the Spirit should produce a radically different society and economy. The most significant change is that there will be no human government to enforce economic policies. Economic and social change will come as more and more people choose to follow Jesus.

One of the biggest obstacles to the Kingdom of God is that most Christians still believe in political power. They disagree about how it should be used, but they believe that getting the right people into political power and changing laws in the right way is the key to advancing the Kingdom of God. This false belief has enabled the spiritual powers of evil to exercise power on earth way beyond their use-by-date, and the kingdom has not got any closer. If we are serious about the Kingdom of God, we must renounce political power.

Political Powers

We are in the middle of an election season. Politicians here are making promises about how they will make New Zealand a better place. The big thing that is missing from the election adverts and campaign pledges is any understanding of the spiritual aspect of life.

Most politicians do not understand that they will be constrained by the invisible, but evil spiritual powers, that they, their predecessors and the people, have given authority in our nation.

God has poured out huge blessings on the people of this country. For most of our history, a significant share of the population has acknowledged him and given thanks for his grace towards us. But things have changed.

Now most people don’t acknowledge God. They say something like this. “I am not even sure that God exists. What I have got, I got by my own hard work and effort, so I am not going to give thanks for it to a god that I don’t know exists. I deserve what I have got.

The consequence that these people do not understand is that when they lose track of God, they also lose sight of the evil spiritual powers that are fighting against him. When the people of a nation reject God, they unwittingly give the spiritual powers of evil much greater freedom to do their nasty stuff on earth.

In recent years, we have seen them doing what they love to do.

• Stirring up people to hate and kill each other.
• Disrupting the weather with storms and droughts.
• Spreading disease and sickness to destroy people’s lives.
• Stirring up greed and corruption to damage the financial and economic system.
• Putting people into poverty to rob them of peace and happiness.

We can expect more of the same, and worse, as long as we continue to give the spiritual powers of evil freedom to work in our land.

Only God can rescue us from their power. He loves us, but he can only rescue us if we turn to him and seek his deliverance. That will require a massive change of heart and switch of allegiance from the things of the world to Jesus.

Politicians cannot rescue from the spiritual powers of evil that are rampant in our land. No matter how much money they spend, or how many laws they pass, if they ignore the spiritual problems that beset our nation, their plans to make New Zealand will fail. They will find themselves being manipulated by the government-spirits that have been given a place of authority in the nation. These evil spiritual powers will ensure that the best efforts of the politicians will result in confusion.

Even if they are motivated by compassion and their intentions are good, they will come up against strong headwinds created by the spiritual powers that have gained a stronghold in the land. Their wisdom will fail and their plans and programs will flop.

Confusion will go ahead of them.
and disaster and trouble will follow.

Political Power (4) Public Service

They are called public servants, but the people who staff government departments are usually more devoted to advancing their own careers than doing what is best for the people of the nation.

The big problem is that the public service is the home of many mediocre people. They are often incapable of doing the tasks that they are responsible for. Really skilful people are often shut down or squeezed out because other people are threatened by them. This means that government departments often fail to carry out the wishes of the minster, even if they support them. Things go wrong with the process, and by the time the problems are sorted out, it is too late.

This creates a huge problem. The public service is the most powerful part of the political/government system. They are also the most incompetent. The people who rise to the top are often the people who know how to grease those above him. Those who challenge bad ideas find themselves being side-lined.

The result is that modern democracy is often government by the mediocre.

Political Power (2) Cabinet Ministers

Cabinet ministers cannot do as much as they will have hoped. They have to get the government departments that support their portfolios to do things. That is not easy. The Chief Executives (CE) of Government departments are skilful operators. They have got to where they are by moving up through the ranks of the public service. They rise to the top by managing their careers to be in the right place at the right time. They know how to overcome opposition and manipulate the system to get their way. They know how to deal with people who oppose their plans.

When a new Cabinet Minister arrives, the CE will put all these finely-tuned skills into managing them and setting them on the right path. They will provide the Cabinet Minister with Briefing Notes that explain all the issues, describe the problems, and tells them what needs to be done. The CE knows far more about the situation than the minister, so it is hard for the him/her not to be co-opted to working for the goals and objectives of the government department. The new minister’s plans and dreams will be overwhelmed.

To get a proposal through cabinet, a minster has to get his department to prepare a cabinet paper. This a slow complicated process that the minister cannot do themselves. They have to get the staff of the government department that they are responsible for to prepare the paper on their behalf. Once a draft is prepared, it is circulated around all the other government departments that would be affected by the change. They will make changes and amendments to the paper. By the time that the cabinet paper is through the review process and finalised ready to present to the cabinet, it may have changed significantly from the original idea. All papers have to go to the Treasury, and they can kill an idea by saying there is no money.

The stated aim of the review process is to ensure the development of good policy. However, it can also be used to obstruct the “foolish ideas” of cabinet ministers. Government departments are very skilled in obstructing things that they do not want to do. They can let them lie around for so long that they die.

This explains why some new government fail to fulfil their election promises. To implement their manifestos, they need the support of the public service. If the leaders of the public service are not supportive, the plans of the politicians will go nowhere.

If the CE does not like the ideas of the cabinet, the minister will struggle to get it through. The CE will ensure that the opposition to the idea is organised to prevent the cabinet paper from going the distance.

Cabinet Ministers are new to their portfolios. They will usually know very little about their portfolio before they come to it. In contrast, the CE and senior staff of the department will have a detailed knowledge of the area. The cabinet minister will often be dependent on them for a detailed explanation of the issues.

The other power that the CE has in their arsenal is to give the cabinet lots of complicated detailed papers to read. This can often overwhelm them and shake their confidence in their own views.

Cabinet ministers often find themselves as servants of the public service, pushing their ideas, rather than the other way around.

Political Power

It took me 30 years, of being a politics junky, learning political science, studying political theory, learning theology and working for the government, to realise that political power is not a solution to the problems of the world.

Having understood that truth, my thinking about everything has changed. The resulting insights are described in detail in my book called the Government of God.

David

God allowed Israel to have king, so that they would learn that political and military power is not a solution.

Saul started off as a humble honest man. He seemed like a perfect person to be king. Yet he was quickly corrupted by political power.
David was a good man with good heart. His love for God was amazing. He wrote very beautiful Psalms. He could only have done that by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

David was a successful military leader. He defeated the Jebusites and freed Jerusalem (2 Sam 4:6-10). He expanded Israel’s borders and defeated all of its enemies.

The LORD gave David victory wherever he went (2 Sam 8:14).

David was accepted as king by everyone.

David reigned over all Israel (2 Sam 8:15).

Unfortunately, military and political power usually corrupts a good person, so David was a disaster as a king.

• David took responsibility for administering justice in Israel. That was not his role, because God had entrusted justice to judges that he would raise up from among the people.
  

  David administered judgment and justice to all his people (2 Sam 8:15).

  David was a military leader, not a judge. (Some translations insert the word “fairness” or “right” in 2 Sam 8:15, but the word is not there in the Hebrew text).

  Kings like to control justice, because it means that if they harm their people, they have no legal redress, because the king decides the case, and he will not decide against himself. This is not God’s way.

  The people of Judah struggled to obtain justice while David was king (2 Sam 15:2-6). Absalom made himself popular by promising the people justice.

• David used the “forced labour” of his people to advance his building projects.
  

  Adoram was in charge of forced labour (2 Sam 20:24).

  This enforced slavery was forbidden by the law of Moses.

• David imposed harsh taxes to fund his building projects (2 Sam 8:2,6). One reason for this census was to measure the potential for raising taxes (2 Sam 24:2).

• David engaged in random killing of the soldiers that he defeated.
  

  David also defeated the Moabites. Then he made their soldiers lie down on the ground, and he measured them off with a rope. He would measure off two lengths of the rope and have those men killed, then he would measure off one length and let those men live (2 Sam 8:2).

• David’s produced a dysfunctional family. One son raped his half-sister. Another son killed the culprit (2 Sam 13). David avoided these family issues and the bad behaviour continued after his death.

• David stole the wife of one of a David betrayed a loyal soldier who was away from home fighting and committed adultery with his wife (2 Sam 11:2-4).

• David arranged for the soldier he betrayed to be murdered, so that his own sin would not be exposed. He got his victim to carry the letter with instructions to arrange his death (2 Sam 11:12-18).

• When David organised a census to count the men of fighting age, he was putting his trust his own power, rather than God. When the prophet offered him a choice in the consequences of this sin, he chose a plague upon his people, rather than harm for himself (2 Sam 24:11). Only when he saw the people suffering did he realise this was wrong, because he was the one who had sinned (2 Sam 24:17).

A president or prime minister who did all these things would be chucked out at the next election.

When people gain political power, the spiritual powers of evil come in force against them. They identify their weaknesses and turn it to their advantage. By manipulating a political leader, they amplify their power in the nation.

Political Divide

American evangelicalism is addicted to political power. The movement is politically divided; it probably always was but the disunity was suppressed for the sake of power. Now as evangelicalism is being pushed to the sidelines, its divisions have emerged again. As long as American evangelicalism pursues political power its disunity will become more and more exposed.

Political Power

People who believe in transformation of society by political power lurch between disappointment and hope.

If their politician loses, they are disappointed. From then on, they see every problem as the consequence of the wrong political leaders being in power. They did not trust these leaders, before they were elected, so they are not surprised when thing wrong. Everything that happens confirms their disappointment.

If their politician wins, they are filled with hope. They expect the situation to improve. When economic and social problems arise, they are caused by the mistakes of previous set of politicians, or their refusal to give up power. When their politician disappoints, they are not disappointed.

Political power is a false saviour, because it provides human salvation. At best, political power will fail. At worst it becomes a vehicle for nationalism that becomes an idol. Sometimes it is the idol of nationalism that creates the need for political salvation.

The only true hope is the good news of the Kingdom of God announced and established by Jesus.

Political Power

Jesus refused to have anything to do with political power.

Many Christians have said that politics is the devil’s business. It is dirty and divisive, so Christians should avoid it.

That view is true, but an important implication is forgotten. We must establish a new model of society that does not need politics. That was where Jesus was going.

Good Government?

Many Christians believe that,

Political power is designed by God to be good and just!

This statement does not make sense.

1. If God is the source of goodness, how does political power get to be good without him.

2. What is the standard of goodness for political government? Where is it found” Aristotle or Madison?

3. Political power will always be worldly, not good

4. Everything outside the Kingdom of God is the kingdom of darkness (the world). How can a government that is part of the kingdom of darkness be good. God can use evil for good, but that does not make it good.

5. If the Kingdom of God is God’s perfect plan for goodness and justice, another system of government cannot also be good.

6. We seem to want to have our cake and eat. We want to have this nice little kingdom on the side, where we can practice loving and caring in privacy our homes or churches, while having all the benefits of a good secular government.

7. A kingdom cannot have two kings. A people cannot have two governments. We pretend that we can get round this by having both a king (Jesus) and a government. That is logically impossible.

8. The prophets, gospels, Daniel and Revelation say that most human government is bad and will collapse and be swept away.

Decline of Religious Influence

We are all in the same boat. For religious groups that want to have political influence, the tide is going out all over the world.

Egypt is an example. The majority of people in Egypt are Moslem, so naturally they want Islam to have an influence on their government and laws. Therefore, it was it is not surprising that when relatively-free democratic elections were held, and Islamic government was elected.

The problem is that Islam is strongest among the older generations and in the rural areas. The younger generations are now a huge part of the population (Egypt has 35 million people aged between 15 and 29. Many reside in the cities. Their outlook on life is shaped by the mass media, not traditional schools or religious leaders, so they are mostly secular and materialist. They do not want to have their lives controlled by the rules of religion. They see religion as outdated and want to be free to live as they choose.

So they went onto the streets in their millions to protest.

The religious leaders were divided.

The military leaders, who are the real power in Egypt responded by ousting the religion government.

Religion has lost out, but the military leaders have cemented their control of the nation.

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The situation is similar in America. The majority of people are Christian (or have a Christian memory). They want Christian principles to have an influence on the government and the laws of the nation.

Christianity is stronger in rural areas and the south. In the past, the culture was shaped by the pulpit and the strong Christian influence in public schools. That influence has now declined, everywhere but in rural areas and parts of the south.

The younger generations are concentrated in the cities. Their worldview is shaped by the media and public schools, so they are secular and materialist. They hate the idea of their lives being controlled by religious traditions. When George Bush became president, they got a sense of what it would be like if religious people gained control again and they were freaked out. They saw Christian political influence, and they hated it.

The secular generations stirred up the media and made sure that the political influence of religion was knocked back. Whenever a Christian like Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann seeking to bring back Christian political influence, the media turn of them with a vengeance, so that that they are thumped before they can become a threat. Christian leaders are divided politically, so they have been powerless against the onslaught.

In a secular and materialistic society, the only real power is military. So in America, the power of the military, and related security agencies, is increasing too.

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The pattern is the same in both countries, and in many others

• Large religious groups want their religion to have an influence on the government and the law.

• The power of the pulpit and the religious influence on education is declining.

• The younger generations are secular and materialistic. Their numbers are growing fast.

• These people refuse to have their lives controlled by what they see as old-fashioned religious ideas.

• They know how to manipulate the real powers that control their political system.

• Religion is squeezed out of the political sphere.

• The power of the military is increasing.

Authority (9) - Pragmatic Strategy

Christian will sometimes voluntarily submit to political powers. Peter advised the Christians in Asia to submit to the Roman Empire for the sake of the gospel (1 Pet 2:12-13). Confrontation with Roman power would be pointless, because any resistance would be crushed in an instant. Christians should not get side tracked into a conflict they could not win. Peter was not legitimising Rome’s power, but urging Christians to get with sharing the gospel. Voluntary submission was a pragmatic strategy, not acknowledgment of delegated authority from God.

The gospel will slowly and surely change society from the bottom up, so Christians do not need to worry about human government. God will deal with it when he is ready. When his people have transformed society by the gospel and the Spirit, he will sweep the political powers away. That is what happened to Rome. The gospel worked away under the radar. The empire eventually collapsed under its own weight, but the church survived, grew stronger, and spread throughout the world.

The world uses force to overthrow evil political powers. This strategy always fails, because evil cannot be overcome by evil. A good kingdom cannot advance by military force and political power.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight… but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36).

Jesus does need force to advance the kingdom, because his Kingdom comes in a totally different way. His strategy is different and better.

Christians should ignore the political powers and get on with spreading the gospel. We should not try to re-capture existing political institutions (that do not work anyway), but should get on with creating alternative ones that do deliver peace and fullness of life. Christians should start creating real communities that can deliver just justice, safe defence and real welfare. We should be ready to serve the world with an alternative when God sweeps away the political powers.

The judges that emerge in local communities will have authority, but it comes from below. Wise people will be given authority to decide cases and impose restitution by the people in their communities that recognise their wisdom. This authority will be voluntary, limited and temporary. It will be voluntary, because people will choose a judge to hear their case. It will be limited, because the judge will only be given authority to deal with a particular case. Once the case decided and the restitution has been assessed and paid, the authority of the judge will vanish. If a judge starts making bad decisions, people will stop bring cases to them and their temporary authority will permanently disappear.

Authority (8) - Poltical

Romans 13 has been twisted to make the claim that God has delegated to human governments the authority to make laws and force people to obey them. The claim is made that God assigned this delegated authority to bring order to a sinful world, but this claim is not true. God has already given his laws to the world, so he has no reason to give human governments the authority to make laws. His law was given to maintain order in society (1 Tim 1:8-9), so there is no need for human political power to establish order.

Paul did not tell the Romans that God has delegated authority to the state. He was simply telling them to take their legal disputes to the excellent judges that will emerge in every community.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he claimed all authority for himself.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matt 28:18).

This authority is total and comprehensive, so no one can have authority on earth unless Jesus has delegated it to them. He did not delegate authority for making laws to human governments. He did not give kings, prime ministers, politicians and parliaments the authority to enforce their ordinances and regulations.

All human political powers are imposters and cheats who have usurped authority that belongs to Jesus. They are deceivers and power-seekers seizing control of people that God wants to be free. God will never force people to be good, so he will never give political powers the authority to force people to be good. Claims that God has delegated authority to the state are a fraudulent attempt to legitimise stolen authority.

A political institution can only exercise authority, if people have delegated their authority to it. If that authority has not been freely delegated by everyone under its control, it has been stolen. People have become so accustomed to stolen authority that they have forgotten what they have lost.

Democracy is dangerous deception, because it pretends to be delegated authority. Politicians talk about “social contract”, as if everyone has delegated absolute authority over their lives to the political realm, but they never ask what authority has been delegated to then. Democratic leaders decide what their authority will be, and once they have taken it, they never give it back. They will pass authority to a different political party after an election, but they will never give it back to the people from which it was stolen. Democracy is illegitimate and deceptive, because it pretends that stolen authority has been freely given.

Ten Commandments (17) - Political Power

A benefit of the Ten Commandments in the modern world is that they significantly limit state power. If my analysis is correct, only two of the Ten Commandments should be enforced by civic authorities. This severely limits their authority to pass laws.

These two commandments are comprehensive, because they provide protection for life and property. That is about all that law can do. Laws can influence external behaviour, but they cannot change hearts. They cannot make people be good. The most that the law can do is provide limited protection against theft and violence. Law cannot produce good people or eliminate evil. Only the Holy Spirit can work miracles.

Political Power

All modern political parties accept the system controlled by the political state. Their only argument is about who should control it. Each party claims that they could make the system work better.

Most Christians also find this political system acceptable. They just believe that the system would work better, if Christians controlled it.

This idea scares many secular political groups. They are frightened by the thought of state power being controlled by Christians. This is ironic, because they are quite happy to control the political system themselves.

Nevertheless, the view that Christians should seek to control the system is wrong. If Jesus is Lord, then the political powers are not. As the Kingdom of God grows, the power of the political system must decline and disappear. As Mary prophesied, Rulers will be brought down from their thrones".

Christians should not be seeking the reins of power. Our aim is to see power handed back to individuals, families and businesses, where it belongs.