Tony Evans - God, Church and State
In Matthew chapter 22 we have Jesus being put in a trick bag. It sets the stage for where we wanna go today. We've talked about the individual life. We talked about the family as it relates to government. Now we want to talk about the church as it relates to government, God's next covenantal agency. And they tried to put Jesus in a Catch-22. I know what that feels like 'cause folks be coming up to me, "Who you gonna vote for"? And I know that's a Catch-22 question, because either way you go, you're gonna create some enemies. That was the situation Jesus was in in Matthew 22 verse 15. The Pharisees came and plotted how they might trap him in what he said. So, they're trying to trap Jesus. Not a good idea, by the way. And they sent two disciples along with the Herodians.
Now let's stop there. You got the Pharisees, that's the religious conservatives. You got the Herodians. Well, now they're the politicians. This is church and state trying to work together to do Jesus in. They get together and they're trying to trap Jesus. And when they do, they say, "Teacher," verse 16, "We know you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth". So, we're gonna use God's name in this discussion, "And defer to no one," you don't play favorites. You're an independent. "For you are not partial in any way. Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not"? Verse 18, "Jesus says, 'Why are you testing me?'"
And that's what voting does, 'cause they're asking Jesus to vote. Vote on a tax bill. They say, Jesus, should we pay taxes to Caesar, that's the government, or not? You got the religious, you got the secular, but they've joined together. Now these folks never got along except when they wanted to do something about Jesus. Jesus says, "Why are you trying to trick me? 'Cause I know what y'all trying to do". That's what folks try to do to me when it comes to elections. Try to trap me. Jesus then asked a question. He said, "Show me the coin used for the poll tax". Now let me explain the trick. If Jesus said, "Yes, pay the poll tax," then he's saying, "Pay the suppressor, pay the oppressor," because Rome was oppressing the Jews, suppressing them.
So, if you say pay the tax, you're saying pay the oppressor to keep on oppressing us with illegitimate taxation. But if he said, "Don't pay it," then they could accuse him of being subversive to the Roman government. "Hey, Jesus is out there saying don't pay your tax". So, this is a no-win vote. But they're asking Jesus to vote. Jesus says, he says, "Show me the coin that you're gonna use for the poll tax". So, they come and they bring a coin, and then Jesus says, "Whose likeness is on it? What image is on it"? And they said to him, "Well, Caesar's image is on it". Okay, it's like the President. We've got the head of the government on the coin. And this is when Jesus speaks. Pay attention. Jesus says, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's".
Now, they didn't ask him about that. They asked him about, "Do we pay the tax or not? Come on, let's give me a political decision. Vote, Jesus". Jesus says, "You get benefit from Caesar. The government provides you goods and services that you should pay for, 'cause you got the money in your pocket and you got his image on it. But you didn't ask me this, I'm gonna tell you anyway. Pay your tax, but give God what God deserves". They didn't ask him to vote on God, but he was not about to leave God out of the taxing question and out of the governmental concern and out of the political trap they were trying to put him in.
Jesus says, "I'm not gonna leave God out of your political question. I'm gonna bring God in it even though you didn't ask God about it". Why? Because Jesus understood, as every Christian should understand, it is your job and my job to represent God in government and not apologize for it even when they don't bring God up in the question. Which tax should we pay? Oh yeah, pay your tax. Notice what Jesus said, "Whose likeness is on the coin"? It was Caesar's likeness. This was government currency. You get benefits from government. Roads and you get civil services and you get protection and police and firemen. You get benefit from the government, and their likeness is on the dollar bill. But don't think that that's all that there is. I know that there's the discussion, you know, don't bring religion into it. Jesus says you better bring into it. Why? Because there is another likeness.
You see, the image on the coin was the likeness of a man. The image on a man is the likeness of God, 'cause we were created in the image and likeness of God. So, don't leave God out of politics. That's what Jesus is saying. You ain't asked me to bring him in, but I'm gonna bring him in. I'm gonna let you know he's part of this discussion and part of this equation. And isn't that what the president does when he puts his hand on the Bible during the inauguration? Aren't we saying that God is gonna be part of this deal?
See, people want God as part of the invocation and benediction. They don't want God as part of the discussion about laws and righteousness and justice and all of that. Something I'm gonna repeat again later on, let me repeat it now, James 4:12 says that there is only one lawgiver, and that's God. So, if you wanna talk about poll tax, bring God in it. If you wanna talk about life, bring God in it. You wanna talk about family, bring God in it. You wanna talk about justice, bring God in it. You wanna talk about what's fair, not fair, bring God in it. You wanna talk about what's right and what's not right, bring God in it. And it is an insult for a Christian to leave God out. And it is an insult for the church to do the same. Yeah, you honor Caesar, but you don't leave God out, 'cause you're created in his likeness, and guess what? That trumps Caesar. Why? Because Caesar's responsible for government, God is responsible for everything.
Psalm 103 verse 19, "God rules over all". Psalm 22 verse 28, "The kingdoms belong to the Lord and he rules over all". Daniel 4:25, "The Most High rules over the realm of mankind". No, God is not to be left out of the political discussion even when his name is not brought up. You bring it up. Jesus brought it up. Because government needs divine influence if it's gonna govern correctly. And it just doesn't need God's name, it needs God's policies, God's laws, God's governance, God's guidelines, what the Bible has to say about it. Christians have got to stop apologizing when it comes to taking a stand. We are not called to apologize. It needs divine influence.
Again, 1 Samuel 8, verses 10 to 18, he says if you leave God out, government's gonna grow and grow and grow and grow, and it's gonna become the new god. Government was never meant to be god. There's only one God. And you never give government permission to do what God says ought to be done or to conflict with God. That's why there must be freedom of religion. And anything that infringes on freedom of religion must be fought against, rejected, because it stops or seeks to stop the church from doing or representing God in the culture. Which means when the levy breaks, the hurricane of evil is gonna flood in. The hurricane of racism is gonna flood in. The hurricane of injustice and unrighteousness is going to all flood in, because the levy is not holding it back as God created it to do. Government is supposed to be limited, why?
Jesus told Pilate in John chapter 19, verses 9 through 11, Pilate said, "Don't you know I have authority"? Pilate was the government. He says, "Don't you know I'm in charge up in here"? "Oh," Jesus said, "excusez-moi? Not! The only authority you have is the authority you've been given by God 'cause government is supposed to submit to God". And that is the church's role. You're not first a Democratic Christian or a Democratic church or Republican Christian or Republican church. You are a kingdom Christian and a kingdom church. And when we let the politics of men divide the people of God by trapping us in political discussions and leaving God out, the first question is, "What does God say about this or that or the other"? And God has policies. He doesn't just have just generic I believe in God, one nation under God. That can be fake stuff because what God has are specific guidelines for how life ought to work in every category.
Ezekiel chapter 43. God has a complaint. Let me read it to you. He says in verse 6 of Ezekiel chapter 43, "Then I heard one speaking to me," verse 6 says, Ezekiel 43:6, "From the house while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, 'Son of man, this is the place of my throne.'" Talking about the temple. "It's the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet". I hang out in the temple. "Where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever". Listen, "And the house of Israel will not again defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings," politics, "By their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die".
Okay, venerating the politicians. "By setting their threshold by my threshold," uh-uh, "and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only the wall between me and them. And they have defiled my holy name by the abomination which they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away the harlotry, the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will dwell among them forever". He says, "You got your kings too close. You done brought that political stuff too close to me, like there are multiple kings up in here. Ain't no multiple kings. There's only one King. There's only one Lawgiver. So, don't put them close to me. I tell the president what to do. I tell the Congress what to do. I tell the council what to do. I tell the school board about education. I do that. I do that".
It's the job of the church to be the conscience of the culture, because he says you're bringing them in the temple. What was the temple? The temple was God's dwelling place. It was the center of Israel's life. All of life revolved around the temple. Not just religious life, but social life, economic life, political life, relational life, familial life. The temple controlled it all. It influenced all of life. He says, "Don't bring the politics up close to me like they're competing with me. You're sitting them beside me like there's more than one king up in here. No".
The church has gotten too political, and as a result it's gotten anemic. And so folks show up at voting time wanting the church. Don't wanna hear from you until it's voting time. And I'm talking about Democrats and Republicans, 'cause we're not kingdom independents. We've joined forces, and so they use us. We're being used and abused 'cause they wanna show up to get our vote. They don't wanna show up to find out how they should rule. And we acquiesce to it. We give in to it. You know what the church is supposed to be? The temple? It is supposed to be a little bit of heaven a long way from home. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven".
We represent heaven, and we tell the Democrats what heaven says. We tell the Republicans what heaven says. We tell everybody what heaven says. We don't acquiesce to a political party. We don't yield ourselves and take sides when God has come to take over. He says, "No, if you want me to hang out with you," he says, "if you want me to dwell with you," verse 9 says, "then you better get your kings up out of here". I don't mean they can't come to church, but guess why they come to church? To sit down and listen to me. They don't come to the church to teach us. No, they come sit in the church and find out what I have to say and let the kingdom of God teach them so that they know how to go out and rule. We got this thing backwards.
So, what should you vote for? You should vote for the freedom of the church to be the church, and anything that infringes on it, which is what some political systems do. They either restrict the church, dumb down the church, and if it gets bad enough in fascism or communism, they wanna cancel the church. They wanna negate the church from ever meeting or existing. Why? Because they don't want God to overrule them. They want man to overrule. They want man to rule. But when the church is the church, like in the civil rights movement, when the church becomes the church and speaks righteousness and justice in society and does it in a righteous and just way, now God can dwell in our midst. He can't dwell in our midst when we're doing this silly stuff that we're doing.
When the White church is so White and Republican that it misses the kingdom of God, and the Black church is so Black and Democratic that it misses the kingdom of God. When the kingdom of God trumps White and Black, Democrats and Republicans, because it comes from a whole 'nother realm, because it's an embassy located on foreign soil. And sometimes we're gonna go this way, sometimes we're gonna go that way, 'cause we're only going this way in however we vote and however we cast our ballots. We're like an alarm clock or a red light. We say, "Hold it! Hold it, Democrats. Hold it, Republicans. You're right here, but you're wrong there. God has spoken, and he has not stuttered". But because we've got such a low view of God.
God told him in 2 Chronicles 15, verses 3 to 6, "Because you left me out, your culture is in conflict. And until you get back to me, your culture will never find peace". That's what it says. It says, "There will be no peace until I'm on the front page. I do not wanna be in the editorial section, including in the church that does not vote for me. This is collective Christianity to promote me, my system, my rules, my laws". Now I hear what some people are saying, I can hear you saying, "Wait a minute, wait a minute".
You say, "That was in the Old Testament, the temple controlled all of life. We're not the temple today". Oh yeah, we are. Yes, we are. Guess why? Because the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1, he says in verses 21 to 23 that "The powers that be are subject to the church, and Jesus is over all things, and he's been given to the church". And then he says in chapter 2, he comes to the close of the chapter, and in chapter 2 he makes it clear. He says, "And you are the temple of the living God". The church is the temple. He says, "You're the temple of God". So, there is a temple in the New Testament, and it affects all of life. There's no part of life, there's no policy, there's no view of taxes, there's no view of immigration, there's no view of globalization, there's no view of war that's not covered in Scripture. But we're so lazy, unfortunately, we're so secular and we don't want to take the time to find that out.
Now, we'll go to school and find out everything else, but we don't wanna take the time to find out, okay, you say, but I don't know what the Bible says. Well, you don't know algebra till you go to school and learn it. Well, I don't know what the Bible says. Well, you don't know, you don't know macroeconomics unless you go study it. I don't know what the Bible says about this and that. Okay, find somebody who can teach you. Go learn it so you know how to vote or argue political positions from a bibliocentric, theocentric, Christocentric worldview. It's time that Christians stop apologizing and start taking a biblical stand on all issues and all matters so that God's standard and God's glory comes back to the temple. It's been removed by the kings, by our politics.
And so, the church is critical. Freedom of religion is critical. That's why he tells us to pray for peace for the church. He tells Timothy, the pastor of the church at Ephesus, 1 Timothy 2:2, you pray so that you are free, you're released to do what the church is designed to do. So, anything that hints at holding the church hostage should be resisted, rejected. Why? You should not be made to abandon your conscience because of your faith, to abandon the Word of God because of political expediency by any party, either party, because the church is unique and the church exists for the kingdom. That's what Matthew chapter 16 verse 18 and 19, "I will build my church, the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and I will give the church the keys to the kingdom of heaven". It means, "I'll give you authority".
You know, when the ref throws out the flag, they may be outnumbered, but they got authority. They got authority from the kingdom in New York. Why? Because they represent the kingdom in New York on the playing field. They can level some influence. Where's our influence? How can we have all these churches on all these corners with all these programs, all these ministries, all these ministers, all these buildings, all this activity, and still have all this mess? Why? Because we aren't the church. We're religious gatherings. You know, that means something is wrong. We're not being the church. We're being a social agency with a little Jesus sprinkled on top. God is calling us to a new level.
God says in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10, "He checks with the church before he deals with the principalities and powers". Did you get that? He sees what the church is up to before he decides what he's gonna do with the powers and the culture. Judgment starts in the household of God. It starts with our decisions and our positions based on the Word of God. God meant that the life-giving essence that comes from him flows to the church, then flows through the church, out into the streets, out into the community, out into the racial divide, social divide, political divide. It begins to flow from the sanctuary. And then there was life-giving in the community 'cause it flowed from the church.
The greatest illustration of biblical Christianity in the history of America was the Black church and slavery. Because when there were no government grants, no federal programs, no cultural support, it not only hewed out a religious order, it hewed out schools, social service agencies, newspapers, colleges, banks. It did all of that from the temple when the government was resisting it.
Now if God was able to do that through the Black church that had no governmental, limited government support, was being resisted in every way, and God entered the temple of that restricted entity and still built a society that was being politicized against in every possible way, what do you think that God in heaven can do today if he can ever get the church to be salt and light? Not for the church. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. We should be leveraging influence. If the church is not influencing the environment, it's not being the church. It's being a weekly gathering for an hour and a half if you're White, two hours if you're Black.
But either way, you're gathering and you're not doing, we're not doing what we've been called to do because we've made church members, but we haven't made disciples, men and women who are not secret agent Christians, but public displayers of the glory of God and who take it to the marketplace and take it to the voting booth and do it without being ashamed because you represent another king in another kingdom. Does that mean everybody will vote the same? No, but everybody should be voting with the same worldview, as a kingdom independent, because they're a kingdom voter, because they're a kingdom disciple functioning as a kingdom citizen. Yep, it's all kingdomized, because the church exists to promote the kingdom. Vote, but vote as a kingdom independent and make sure your church is a kingdom church creating kingdom disciples who are making a kingdom impact.
You know, everybody's so confused right now about what to think and what to do politically. Guess who's not confused? God. When they tried to put Jesus to the test, he made it clear. You give Caesar what Caesar deserves for the benefit that Caesar provides because his image is on the coin, but don't get it twisted. You don't exchange that for the image of the Living God. Government has a sphere of responsibility, but God has a kingdom over all. So, government is best served by its connection to God. That's where the church comes in. We're to keep that connection strong and clear. We are the conscience on behalf of heaven for governments on earth to be what the Creator wanted and created them to be if we are going to be the civil society that we declare that we are.