How to Live in this Present World
Scripture Reading: Luke 20:20-26
Key Verse: Luke 20:25
“Well then,” He said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
During our pandemic of 2020, many of us started questioning what role the government should play in our lives. Many Christ-followers felt that the arm of the government reached too far into our rights as citizens.
Our passage of scripture for today speaks to this question to some extent. Jesus was the target of the religious rulers of His day. They were constantly trying to trick Jesus into saying something that they could use to justify getting rid of Jesus and His followers.
On this occasion, the religious rulers raised the question of what Jesus thought about paying taxes to the Roman government. They were hoping that Jesus would say that His followers need not pay taxes because He was their King.
However, Jesus told them to look at their coins and tell Him whose imagine was stamped on it. They answered that the image was Caesar. Jesus told them to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and give to God what belongs to God. Their plan to trap Jesus failed and His answer amazed them!
In my opinion, we can conclude that Jesus would want us Believers to not only pay taxes to “Caesar” but to obey the laws that “Caesar” creates. The exception to that rule would be if the laws of the land contradicted some Scriptural mandates for Believers.
Our government gives us the right to question the laws of the land and to vote out any politician that we feel do not represent us well. We have the right to voice our opinions on these matters. However, the rule of Christ in our lives mandates that we voice our opinions with a spirit of love.
There is no room for hate in our language and no room to ignore the mandates put on us from governmental leadership unless those mandates go against scriptural mandates. During this pandemic I have not seen any governmental mandates that would qualify for this exception.
Christ-followers, never forget that your allegiance is always to the principles of Christ not to a political party.
Some things are legal but are not Christ-like, thus not suitable for a Believer. Emotions have run high during this pandemic, and we all have made mistakes in our response to the events that we have experienced. However, join me in reviewing our attitudes and verbal reactions to these events. Ask God to show us where we need to improve on our Christlikeness. We must not justify ungodly language or attitudes in response to any experiences we face.
Father, help me to see any areas of my life that need correcting. I want to represent Christ to my world in a way that pleases you. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.