Response to Power

Christian responses to political power boil down to two options.

The first option is to avoid all political power avoid being contaminated by it. Unfortunately, this leaves authority over force in the hands of the people of the world. Their political power is often used badly and society suffers. Evil people often rise to the top and Christians are persecuted for their loyalty to Jesus. The spiritual powers of evil have used secular political power to leverage their power on earth.

The other option is to co-opt political power and use it to advance the Kingdom of God. During the Middle Ages, the church attempted to control kings and empires to bring them under God’s authority. More recently, Christians have used democratic elections to gain power and impose their agenda. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of the gospel is diluted, as Christians attempt to transform the world by changing laws and implementing various political programs. The people of the world hate being controlled by the church and tend to reject God too.

Government of God cuts across both these options by declaring that the use of force and coercion are always wrong, even when it is used by governments claiming legitimate right to use it for the common good. Who controls political power and how they exercise it is irrelevant, because the problem is political power itself. Political power is morally wrong, regardless of how it is exercised. God created humans to be free, so he does not want governments forcing people to behave in a particular way.

Political power because amplifies the power of the spiritual powers of evil. The only solution is to get eliminate political power. This book explains how a society can function without any need for the need for force and coercion. Justice and safety can be provided with a person or group of people having the right to impose their will on the rest of society. Political power has no place in the Kingdom of God, so as it comes to fullness, political power will shrivel away.

Christians hate being told what they can and cannot do by secular governments. Yet they often try to use political power to impose Christian morality on this world. This is an impossible contradiction. The only viable solution is a society that does not use force or coercion. I describe how this can occur in Government of God.