Sunday’s Message: Arguing with Jesus about Politics

On Sunday the message was brought to us by Pastor Ray Arguing with Jesus about Politics: Mark 12:13-17

As I write this, I am reflecting on a discussion I had today with a successful Christian businessman in Hervey Bay.

He asked me where one could find the best advice on running a successful business.
But I saw that he had asked this question with a smile on his face, and so I knew he had an answer to his own question.
….So I asked him to answer his own question.

His reply was, in the Bible.
He went on and quoted a few verses, one of them from the text we covered on Sunday from Mark 12:13-17.

In this text, a group of leaders try to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar.
They were hoping that Jesus would get Himself into all sorts of trouble – either with the Roman authorities or with the crowd, many of whom hated the Romans.
But Jesus avoids this trap by saying, Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. (Mark 12:17).

My friend said that we need to follow what Jesus said and pay our taxes to the government with integrity.
I won’t go into the discussion on ’tax avoidance’ and ’tax evasion’, (don’t worry if you don’t know these terms!)
But I will talk about what my friend said.
He said that if no one paid taxes, then we would have chaos.
And creating chaos is the opposite of what God created us for and calls us to.
In a way, Jesus alludes to this when he talks about the ‘image’ on the Roman coin in Mark 12:16.
In this case, it was the ‘image’ of a Caesar.
The Bible, though, reminds us that we are also the image bearers of God, and God calls us to a higher purpose. A purpose that serves His purposes.
My friend implied that squabbling about taxes does the opposite.
For example, it pulls us more deeply into the affairs of the world than is necessary.
And if we illegally avoid paying taxes, then this can tarnish our Christian witness.

By paying the Romans their due, the early Christians were allowed to live in relative peace so they could spread the Gospel.
By submitting to the reasonable rules of the day, they were able to use the roads the Romans built to travel and preach.
They leveraged the Pax Romana, which brought general peace to the world, to spread the Good News of the Prince of Peace.
Whilst they lived in this world, they demonstrated that they ‘were not of this world.’
There are also bigger things afoot, which is what ‘giving to God what is God’s” is all about.

So, my friend is right. There are business principles in the Bible.
(This one just happened to be about taxes.)

May you know the blessing of God on your life this week as you “give to God what is God’s” and bring God’s holy order into the chaos of this world.

In Jesus Name,
Ray

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