Although we’re told that belief in God is on the wane in Western society, I think one of the oldest forms of religion is on the rise, i.e., State worship. The ancients worshipped the Pharaohs, Caesars, chieftains, and emperors as divine. Isn’t that how most young people see the State? Instead of looking to God for their daily bread, “secular” young people look to the State for personhood, education, employment, protection, healing, welfare, and retirement. The State is supposed to care for you from the cradle to the grave. For them, the State has the absolute authority to define and control rights, freedoms, personhood, marriage, and sexual morality. All of society is subordinate to the State.
One thing you may have noticed is that identity politics is very prominent right now.
Instead of appealing to individuals, politicians appeal to collectives, that is, to specific groups—whether racial, ethnic, linguistic, sexual and so on, especially those that are thought to have some kind of grievance against others. Being part of a so-called “marginalized” group gives you the status of being a persecuted minority, which somewhat translates into having the moral high-ground against the perceived majority.
One politician was recently called out for trading on her supposed Native American ancestry, which later turned out to be false.
People want to belong to a favored group so that they can feel vindicated and get special favors from the government.
What does the doctrine of justification have to do with that? In the “Editor’s Introduction” to Justification Is for Preaching, Virgil Thompson says this:
“When we lose our faith in the justifying Word of God then we are bound to justify ourselves over against our neighbors and over against God. Thus, yet another round of strife is provoked, human against human against God. Our differences—sexual, political, and economic—become the occasion and the means by which we seek to determine who will justifiably lord it over whom” (Justification Is for Preaching, p. 2).
In other words, Thompson sees identity politics as an expression of salvation-by-works! People aren’t thinking of heavenly salvation, of course, but it is that same salvation-by-works mindset. On that scheme, what justifies you before the State and society? Your identity as part of this or that victim group. If you belong to the right group, you can wield political power over others.
But that perspective changes, or should change, for the believer.
When you believe in justification by faith apart from works, you find your identity in Christ, not in politics, ethnicity, or sexual orientation (depraved or otherwise). You adopt a Messianic view of Jesus, instead of a Messianic view of the State. You are freed to view the government as a useful creaturely tool established by God, and limited by God, to act for our benefit, within a certain sphere (Romans 13). And most importantly, you can look at other people, not as political enemies, but as neighbors—people to love with the same love Jesus showed you.
Timothy Grady
Bingo Shawn . Well written .
When the enforced Orthodoxy is on a bedrock of an amoral , chance-random , blind , purposeless , molecule-to-man ; fish-to-philosopher construct , Hegel’s core thesis is realized : the State is god on earth .
All tyrannies operate on this coercive Evolutionary paradigm . The gulags and concentration camps are not inconsistent with this worldview .
Whereas , the Christian allegiance befuddles the power grabs . Uncoerced love is the salt that points to a timeless citizenship .
No amount of humanist Utopianism can mimic the beauty and liberty where the Spirit of the Lord is .
Josh P
I’m not sure if I’m understanding your blog fully, so there’s a chance this comment may be off topic. In terms of “State worship”, I’ve noticed many believers who seem to me to have an excessive adoration for our constitution, the founding fathers, and perhaps even our country. This adoration, to me, seems misplaced. Instead of clinging to the tenets of the constitution, trying to emulate our founding fathers, and expressing patriotism for the USA, shouldn’t believers be more concerned with the teaching of the Bible, imitating Paul and others, and expressing patriotism towards our eternal Kingdom?
I’m grateful to God for my being born in the US, and do think the founding fathers had some great ideas, even Biblical ones. But I don’t understand why believers exhibit this “State worship”. Unbelievers have nothing else to cling to.
Ray Mitchell
Josh, I think you misunderstand a little bit what Shawn Lazar meant and also what Christian patriots mean when they adore our Constitution and founding fathers and our nation as I do (as you wrote you may have misunderstood!) I believe Mr. Lazar meant by “state-worship” the idea that government replaces God and Jesus as our supreme provider, comforter, and caretaker. The bible plainly states in many places that we should not trust in man but trust in God for protection, provisions, love, to promote justice via revenge, etc. (See- Jeremiah 17:5-8 “cursed is the one who trusts in man and depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” And see Isa. 31:1, etc.) The government becomes their god instead of God. The government (i.e., man) will provide for them because they do not trust God.
As far as patriotism- Most Christians who adore the Constitution and founding fathers are not making the state/government their god by doing that. In fact it is exactly the opposite. They are celebrating a godly government that God wants us to have that encourages God and Jesus to be the people’s God and not the state/government. The Constitution/Declaration of Independence is one that is designed to protect our “Inalienable Rights” given to us by God that no man or no government is allowed to take away. The Freedom of Religion and Speech, and only having a government by consent of the people as God commands and authorizes.
Ray Mitchell
The goal of the Constitution is to protect our life, liberty, and property (assets/possessions) from thieves, government thieves, and foreign invaders, and thus we only pay our proportionate share of the cost to government to protect our property, liberties, and inalienable rights from God which no man can take away without violating God’s supreme authority. Thus, Christians are celebrating a rare historical government that is a biblical God honoring government and wants people to keep God as their supreme god and not man.
This greatly pleases God when Christians do that according to 1 Timothy 2:1-4 where it urges us to pray for government rulers to be godly and saved and born again Christian kings. That makes God very happy it says. God wants and commands godly and just government – one that protects God given rights, as God commanded in Jeremiah 5 and 22:1-5 and many other passages. Romans 13 shows that proper authority and government is one that punishes evil-doers (God’s definition of evil, not man’s) and they are God’s agent of wrath doing God’s will to punish very evil people on earth. Therefore, godly government is a ministry of God and it pleases God to have Christians work in his ministry to promote justice.
So Christians are celebrating a Constitution that does not take the place of God and become the state-god which God hates and that keeps God as their God. They are not worshiping the state or Constitution.
Ray Mitchell
One can also see how important godly government is to God in the Bible since a good chunk of the Bible (25% ??) is stories about Kings and rulers, from Genesis to Revelation. (Adam & Eve were “rulers of the garden and world”; Nimrod/Babel; Abraham and the kings he dealt with such as Melchizadek; Judges (leaders); books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles {all about kings of Israel}; Psalms, Proverbs, other books written by kings; much of prophecy books is about kings and nations being judged or blessed; Daniel all about kings, rulers and kingdoms; Jesus will be the king forever in his eternal kingdom; Revelation is about crowning Jesus as the eternal king and setting up God’s eternal kingdom; Jesus promising eternal rewards and being able to rule and reign with Him in His eternal kingdom.
Timothy Grady
Thanks Ray .
Your thoughts reflect the biblical purpose that underscores government .
When applied historically, the nature and character of God is glorified when liberty abounds and evil is checked .
However imperfectly , limited Constitutional government attempts to do just that – securing God-given inalienable rights .
One need only a reminder of all attempts denying such a premise : modern Venezuela; USSR , China , Pol Pot’s Cambodia (etc.) .
Brady
It “should change for the believer” but identity politics is just as prevalent among evangelicals as it is for secular society. Just look at the way that we evangelicals (including myself) have embraced MAGA and Fox News; a form of nationalistic and political worship like I have never seen in my lifetime. We can do better for sure.
“Being part of a so-called “marginalized” group gives you the status of being a persecuted minority, which somewhat translates into having the moral high-ground against the perceived majority.” I am not sure what where you were going with this but it was Jesus who drew our attention to the “least of these” as groups worthy to be protected and loved. God has commanded us in many places in the Bible to care for the vulnerable, those who are excluded from our society, and the oppressed. In Israel’s day the oppressed and vulnerable were the poor, the widowed, the alien, the slave. Jesus expanded that group to include the sex worker, the disabled, the chronically ill, those cast out by the powers and principalities that sought to advantage some while disadvantaging others. Today the groups considered outcast in our society has expanded – just like it expanded between the Old Testament and during Jesus time.
“The humble man looks upon every, the feeblest and unworthiest, child of God, and honors him and prefers him in honor as the son of a King.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility
Josh P
I’m not sure if I’m understanding your blog fully, so there’s a chance this comment may be off topic. In terms of “State worship”, I’ve noticed many believers who appear to have an excessive adoration for our constitution, the founding fathers, and perhaps even our country. This adoration, to me, seems misplaced. Instead of clinging to the tenets of the constitution, trying to emulate our founding fathers, and expressing patriotism for the USA, shouldn’t believers who want to be disciples be more concerned with the teaching of the Bible, imitating Paul and others, and expressing patriotism towards our eternal Kingdom? For many, it’s as if the constitution were Scripture.
I’m grateful to God for my being born in the US and do think the founding fathers had some great ideas, even Biblical ones. But I don’t understand why believers exhibit this “State worship”, placing so much hope in the constitution’s promises. As far as unbelievers are concerned, well… they have nothing else to cling to.
Rob
Josh
The constitution is the antithesis to state worship. The reason many Christians uphold the constitution is because it is a proclamation of rights only given to us by God…something no human being or government can give us. The things you find in the constitution are found in the Bible as Scripture is the source of the constitution. The Bible is what makes the constitution so important.
I didn’t read the other comments above before I commented so if I repeated anyone..my bad.
David
Brady
The difference between identity politics and what Jesus taught about helping the oppressed is that Jesus taught charity from willing individuals and churches (not government) and those who advocate for identity politics want the government to take care of those groups.
Jesus wants individuals to help others based on a servant’s heart. Some people in government want to steal from citizens and force them to “help” others. If stealing wasn’t bad enough, people using identity politics then want to use government to increase governmental control. Identity politics among the politicians and political groups isn’t really about helping those in need..that’s only a disguise. It’s about allowing government to have more control. The government can not properly take care of it’s citizens through parental type measures.