While I agree with the separation of church and state and recognize its importance in the Protestant movement. (The Protestant church in those days was persecuted by the 'state', nation, country, kings, disallowing them to practice their religion.) However, sometimes it does make me sad to think that we've lost sight of the fact that as Christians- we have a law, greater than the physical constitution. That should be our guide, the basis for the framework of the nation's regulations. I wish to hear of a judge who prays before making a decision, a jury that prays for God's guidance.
Lord as the Law
8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. 9 Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do. 11 Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. 12 The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.-Deuteronomy 17:8-13
Take for instance this passage. Take it to the Lord, the place the Lord would choose. It notes that sometimes disputes are too much for the courts. This is an important lesson for us, as we settle even smaller arguments in our family, in our congregations. Take it to God, before Godly counselors.
However, Deueteronomy is hard for me. There is much talk of 'purging' evil. Later on in this chapter is the famous "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" section. I believe that we should remember what Jesus said in the sermon on the mount. "You have heard it was said an eye for an eye, but I say love your enemies." While our judge is the same, Jesus and His new covenant brought a new verdict!
Holy Spirit as Witness
5Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
9"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. -Mark 13:5-11
While the disciples here are being instructed on how to defend their physical lives (and by extension their spiritual lives), we often come into this conflict only defending our spiritual lives. When people find out that we are Christians, they ask why and how? Even if we don't have all the facts and data and textbook analyses to show them, we can rest in the fact that the Holy Spirit will be with us when we speak of what we know.
In my Anthropology of Literacy class this week, my class got in an interesting discussion. I brought up the difficult situation I am in, since I am observing at the Iglesia... but knowing that the field welcomes negative critiques of Christianity. In fact, you're hard pressed to find something written with a more positive bent, and if I myself do that, it might be discredited since I am myself a Christian. The individuals in my class admitted that while Christian-bashing is popular and quite in vogue, no one can say anything against Islam or other religions (in the academic field, that is). Jesus knew that we would face scrutiny, and He reassures us that when we are brought to 'trial', it is not us speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Brethren as the Jury
I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you. —1 Corinthians 1:10
This verse is always hard for me, because I'm quite sure that Jesus didn't intend for the division of thousands of different denominations of Christianity. In fact, I feel like some of the fiercest animosity comes not from outside of the church but within it. The most extreme example would be that of the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.
However, I pray for ecumenical conversations, studies, meetings, so that the church would recognize that it is the Church, that we are all Brethren. While we may have favorite 'church words' and historic practices, we need to speak the same thing... that is, the most important thing- the message of Jesus who frees us from condemnation at the trail. We are the voices, the jury that relays that beautiful verdict in the courtroom of our world today.
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