I was recently reminded that the Council of the Jews was both the religious and civil authority. That means when Stephen berated the Council (Acts 7:51-53), this rebuke covered their civil authority. So, they killed Stephen. Later, Christians were persecuted and killed by the Roman government because they refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. Instead, they insisted, Christ is Lord. All this reminded me of a book I read when I was 26: “Fair Sunshine.” It tells how the Scottish Covenanters refused to acknowledge the king of England as head of the Church of England. Instead, they said, Jesus is head of the church. Because of this, the king imprisoned them and many of them – men, women and children – were massacred.

Then I contemplated: These incidents point to an old truth; politicians/governments often try to substitute themselves for God – they tend to compete with God for first place in the lives and hopes of the people. Even kings have proclaimed themselves a god – to be worshipped and hoped in. So, when we keep our hope in Christ as the ruler of our life, we will often suffer. Civil authorities will suppress us and silence us when they can. We may say this will not happen in America, but they are already finding ways around the inconvenient limitations of the Bill of Rights and pushing for more. The day is coming when the American church will face a hard choice: continue seeking power through civil authorities or stay true in our allegiance to Christ as our hope and the savior from our enemies. We will suffer, for every Sunday, we celebrate a very political truth: Christ is King! Yes! Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16)!

Let’s not commit the idolatry of giving in to fear and putting our hope or trust in politicians. Pray for them, yes; give them due respect, yes; partner with them, yes; even serve as godly civil officials ourselves, absolutely; but put our trust in Christ and keep watch over those in power.

When politicians try to occupy Christ’s place, deny them. Caution and alert each other to their deceptions. They know how to quote the Bible for their benefit; they know how to act and make promises to get votes/power. Do not let them use us. Power corrupts those who seek power. Like every other good gift from God, people tend to take government authority and turn it for their own benefit to fulfill their own willful dreams. When Christ returns, He will overthrow all rulers and governments and kingdoms – from local governments to nation states – with His rule (Rev. 11:15, Daniel 2:34-45). King Herod understood this threat of Christ’s; so, he tried to kill Christ before Christ could grow up. Do not hope in politicians; they are not the Messiah. And do not give in to fear but put your faith in Jesus Christ, the King of kings. He is the Messiah, our hope (Isaiah 9:6-7).