Obviously, ruling over the earth, the reason we as God’s image bearers were
created Genesis 1`:26-28), includes not only ruling over the physical earth, but all the activities that occur on it, including its civil government (Genesis 9:5, 6).
Yet, in the majority of churches, participation in civil government is not taught, nor even ever mentioned. Why is the teaching of our very reason for existence (ruling) never discussed?
It follows logically that if the church has missed seeing and teaching its members the big-picture of why we exist, they are spring-loaded to also miss the job God has given the church to prepare us to do that job!
Paul shows us in a nut-shell what we have missed as a result: “And He Himself (Jeus) gave (to the church) some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
This passage teaches us that church leadership is not to do “ministry” themselves to unbelievers who come to church, but to equip all the church members to minister, as they naturally fan out daily into every area of life, and bring the Law of God applied by the Grace of God to all they meet!
The first, most obvious, and most important area, is their own families. Men are equipped by the church to “love their wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,“ with unconditional, agape love (Ephesians 5:25). This is the absolutely essential foundation for every family.
Then, wives learning at church how to “Submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5:22, 24), is a close second!
In today’s anti-Christian culture, which has invaded many churches, this “family equipping” is not a popular message, and, when taught, may cause church attendance to drop. But this teaching, delivered with love, humility, and undemanding grace, is the Word of God! Falling attendance is irrelevant.
So, men are taught at church how to love their wives with agape love and lead their families with strong, firm decision-making. Women are taught at church that they are “helpers” for their husbands: “And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a HELPER comparable to him’” (Genesis 2:18). Thus, wives rule equally (“comparable” but with different contributions) with their husbands, providing essential insights that supply missing components that their husband’s leadership lacks. Together they provide the perfect team as they exercise their ruling task.
Based on this biblical husband-wife relationship, family-equipping also includes how to perpetuate the rule of Jesus’ kingdom down through the generations. In a functioning church, parents are taught how to train their children, prepare them for marriage as they become young adults, and then guide them to find qualified mates. It shouldn’t be surprising that there are solid, biblical approaches to all these issues. Nothing is more important in the church’s equipping task than a full-orbed ministry to families.
But, coming in a close second is equipping the church members to function in the third God-ordained institution through which we will rule—civil government. However, since the mid-nineteenth century and the advent of Marxism and evolution, many churches have not been willing or able to combat these two anti-Christian ideas in public discourse, so they have withdrawn from the battle.
“Conveniently,” in the late 19th century, a new theology sprang up in England, giving the church a reason to withdraw. This theology taught that at any time—and the “signs of the times” indicate soon—Jesus would appear in the clouds and catch up all true believers in a “rapture of the church,” rescuing us from this evil world.
This had become the prevalent theology for most evangelical churches by the time I became a Christian at the University of Oklahoma in 1958. I actually heard a seminary student, who later became one of this theology’s most famous advocates, speaking to some 20 of us in a living room on campus, guarantee that Jesus would return and rescue us by 1981! Shockingly, he is still preaching that theology today as a ninety-year-old, but with many, obviously necessary, alterations and adjustments!.
This escapist theology has given us an excuse to withdraw from the political arena, by thus ignoring one of God’s main weapons for us to use as we rule for Him on the earth. Next week I want to outline how the church will eventually equip us to use politics to accomplish the job God created us to do. Stay tuned!
