Rev. Robert Traer

2 Samuel 11:2-12:14, Mark 12:13-17, Romans 12:14-13:7

Paul was a citizen of the Roman Empire and a Christian, so his writings might help us reflect on being Christian citizens. His most famous statement on Christian citizenship is found in his letter to the church at Rome. "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities," Paul told the Roman Christians, "for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God." (Rom. 13:1)

Some have read this statement as merely reflecting Paul's realism. In its first generation the church had little to gain and much to lose by challenging the governing authorities. But Paul was also aware of the benefits the government provided its citizens. Paul was free to travel throughout the Roman Empire, and the Romans had built a superb system of roads to travel on. Moreover, if Paul got into trouble in some backwater city, as Acts 21 tells us he did in Jerusalem, he could appeal as a citizen to the emperor for protection.

During Paul's ministry in the 40s and 50s imperial government was no threat to his missionary activities, and Paul might well have seen such government as given by God. But this changed in the 60s, when Roman centurions marched on Jerusalem to put down a Jewish rebellion. Followers of Jesus, a Jew crucified by a Roman governor in the 30s, now were suspect.

Less than a generation later Christians in the Roman Empire were being required to demonstrate their loyalty by worshiping the emperor. Christians who refused were well aware of Paul’s instruction to "be subject to the governing authorities." How might they have explained their defiance? Perhaps with the words attributed to Jesus by three of the four New Testament gospels: "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mk. 12:17, Mt. 22:21, Lk. 20:25) This teaching at least means that the emperor has a right to collect taxes for the support of the government, but no right to ask subjects to worship him.

As the American government prepares to wage war on Iraq, Christians in America and in countries being asked to support a preemptive war face difficult moral and legal choices. We might be guided by the just war criteria developed in Catholic social teaching, which require both justifiable reasons for going to war and just means in conducting a war. This doctrine establishes a high burden of proof that governments have to meet, if war is to be given moral and legal justification. In the case of a preemptive war, it is hard to see that the first test for a just war can ever be met.

Christians must also acknowledge that a literal reading of the New Testament gives no reason for supporting war. Jesus is quoted in Matthew 5:44 as saying, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." And Paul writes in Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." It is not surprising, therefore, that Christians refused to serve in the Roman army until after the conversion of Emperor Constantine in the fourth century, when church leaders began to look to the governing authorities for support and security.

Today, most Christians believe that government, which protects religious freedom and other human rights, should be defended. This is generally how Christians interpret what Paul said in Romans and what the synoptic gospels report Jesus said about paying taxes.

Taken together these two New Testament passages call on Christians to be good citizens, unless a government claims for itself what belongs only to God. But to these two sayings, we should add a third. Immediately prior to declaring that government receives its authority from God, Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21-22, which says: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." Before Paul tells Christians in Rome to "be subject to the governing authorities," he writes, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Rom. 12:20-21)

Consider the ancient Israelite story of David, Bathsheba and Nathan in 2 Samuel 11:2-12:14. Because King David loved Bathsheba, he used his governing authority to have Bathsheba's husband killed in battle so she would be widowed and free to marry him. Unlike the Roman emperors of the first century, David did not demand to be worshiped as a god. But David acted as though he was above the laws of God. The prophet Nathan called him to account, and to David's credit he repented of the evil he had done.

Reflecting on these passages might lead us to believe Christians should challenge any government that seeks to achieve what is good by doing what is evil.

Our President is now asking Americans to support a preemptive war against Iraq, because the government of Iraq may threaten us in the future with weapons of mass destruction.

We should be grateful that we live in a country where such an issue can be openly debated and where acts of government involve an elected representative Congress as well as an elected President and an independent judiciary. But we must also bear our responsibilities. We must require our government to meet its high burden of proof before pursuing a course of action that seeks to overcome evil with evil. To justify war, a government must show beyond a reasonable doubt that war is necessary for peace.

Has our government met its burden of proof? Is war now with Iraq necessary for the safety of our nation? If the United Nations doesn’t support such a war, won’t a unilateral preemptive attack on Iraq by the United States undermine international law? Shouldn’t Americans, who defend the rule of law at home, expect the United States government to abide by its obligations under international law?

In our context, the international rule of law is a way of seeking to overcome evil with good. In our time, Christians in all countries should strive to ensure that their governments work to overcome evil at home and abroad by strengthening the rule of law.

The Roman Empire sought to destroy Christians, who refused to give absolute loyalty to their government, and in three centuries the Christian witness transformed the Roman Empire. The call to Christian citizenship should now stir us to seek justice and peace through the rule of law. Amen.