Tag: Governance

In almost every ancient history until today, the church and the government have been working side by side in protecting the welfare of the society. There are instances though of the church and the government’s involvement in controversies. We cannot, however, presume that this is always the case. How does a society benefit from the church and the government’s collaboration and leadership

• Upholding the Law

The laws that are currently existing in our society have been God’s laws elaborated and specifically modified. The Bible is the oldest “law” ever written and it serves as a tool towards civilization. Both the church and the government have responsibilities to uphold these laws in promoting peace and stability within the society. It is only the government-mandated policies that sealed the laws that were written in the Bible so they cannot be interpreted objectively.

• Nation Building

The church and the government are one when it comes to alleviating poverty and eradicating crimes altogether. It is not just the responsibility of the government to look after its citizens, but the church has that responsibility, too. The homes for the aged, the rehabilitation centres for juvenile delinquents, and the foster homes are just some of the institutions that together, as one, the church and the government can work to reach their goals.

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” – James 1:27

• Values Formation

“No littering.” “No smoking.” And there are more of these rules that we already grew up with. These are the rules that the government specifically enforced but looking at them from a wider perspective, it is actually about forming good values and creating a formidable character. A character that imbues discipline, respect, and submission to authorities. There are so many instances in the Bible that speak so much of these values. In fact, these are only but some of the values in the Bible that we can use to improve the self and become a better citizen.

• A Unified Body of Christ

The body of Christ is composed of all of us who occupy a certain part of that body. We cannot claim that engineers are better than doctors, nor teachers than fishermen. Everyone has been given a gift and skill so we can perform on the roles that God assigned us with. It is a collective effort that further God’s greater plans to manifest in our lives, in our nations, and throughout the entire world.

The most controversial question that we can ask at this point is whose authority is most supreme? Is it the church or the government? The answer is both. We cannot separate the church and the government in the context of authority because they are both implementing the same laws one way or the other. Also, if we are to look at history and ancient civilizations, institutions were formed and built around the premise that God is the Supreme Being and leader of all. This means that the primary goal of every constitution is to honour God and His ways.

For example, every oath-taking ceremony for every professional includes this phrase at the end of it: “So help me God.” This will prove that our social duties are never separate from our duties to God as a Christian. They will always be congruent to one another even if future successors will change the laws as they see fit. But what we can be assured of is that there are some of these laws that will remain as they are because God mandated them.

The challenge for ourselves is this: are we fulfilling our obligations as mandated by the law of God reinforced by the laws of man?

This is a guest post by Christine Lailani Ginete – Rome. Christine is a Filipina, a devoted Christian, a faithful wife, a prayer warrior, a teacher, a writer, a hobbyist, and an advocate. On a deeper level, you’ll find her as a believer who’s imperfect but driven to encourage everyone to be a catalyst for social change and serve others through God’s grace, guidance, and prayer. Christine blogs at The Journeyman’s Moments.