Using the Government to Bring the Kingdom

Jesus never used force to bring the Kingdom.

When he told the Rich Young Ruler all he lacked to be saved was to “sell all you have and give it to the poor”, he didn’t chase him down, grab him, and send the disciples to forcably take his things and give them to the poor. Jesus, while asking some pretty huge things of us, was not Robin Hood. He didn’t rob the rich to give to the poor. He left that decision to us.

Sure, he knows its the best thing, for us to live on less and give away more. He knows it and he’s told us, and if we really want to follow him, we should strive daily to do more of that. However, what I don’t understand is where the idea has come from that we use the government to force charity.

Besides the fact that its economically not feasible, what kind of message does that send to the “rich” among us who aren’t Christians? When people deicde to raise taxes for a war that people have moral obligations to, it doesn’t make them support the war. The same thing happens when taxes are raised for social programs (ones especially that have a poor record of helping people). People revolt against it. When you force someone to do something they don’t want to do… it causes them to not want to do it even more.

So what do we do then? People are starving! Well… maybe here’s where some evangelism comes into play.

Tell people about Jesus. Tell them that salvation isn’t just about getting to heaven after you die, but about living abundant life here on earth. Tell them that things will never fill them up, but they will be filled when they give. But give them the opportunity and encourage them to make more, because they might not just be doing it for themselves at that point. What if Donald Trump started willingly working to make more money to support a Pregnant Homeless Women Crisis center? How great would that be?

Tell people about Jesus. Explain salvation. Let the Holy Spirit change people. Force isn’t necessary. We just think we need it cause we aren’t trusting God.