Since a Christian is one who supposedly believes in and follows Christ, it sorta stands to reason that He might have something to say about His Followers holding Public Office. And if He does, then the Christian should heed those words, should they not?
Let's see if you can tell if Christians currently holding Public Office have heeded the words of their Lord. Jesus told His Followers to ".....not swear at all....."
It's widely known, and also written into the law, that a candidate cannot enter Office and exercise the duties and responsibilities of that Office unless and until he or she swears an Oath of Office.
Jesus puts many between a rock and a hard place, doesn't he? So, what are His Followers to do?
4 comments:
Hello, Benjamin.
It seemed more appropriate to respond to your question here on your blog, in the context of your ideas, than over on mine.
I wonder that you are interested in what I might have to say, being that I am one of the regular contributors to Jesus Creed and someone who has great respect for Scot McKnight and his efforts to keep his blog threads on task. To say that all the folks at Jesus Creed do not value Truth is simply just not correct. There is a tremendous amount of diversity of thought there...but there is only so much that can be accomplished in virtual realms. Blogs have both strengths and weaknesses...and you have run up against both, it seems.
That being said, I guess I think that your statement may be too strong when applied to this particular political context--which is not the same context of Jesus' hearers. Jesus was not answering the question you are asking. You are applying these words and projecting that this is what Jesus meant...which may or may not be true--since we have no words of Jesus addressed to this particular circumstance.
I agree that the word of a follower of Jesus should always be truthful and, therefore, not in need of any oath swearing to give it weight and validity. There are scholars who come down on both sides of this issue...and I wonder whether it might be possible for a believer to ask for a different wording for his or her ceremony of taking office, so as to err on the side of being more literal.
This is certainly not the biggest issue a Christian who undertakes political office would face.
Blessings to you as you pursue Truth to the best of your ability. Certainly that is my intent as well. God help each of us be as faithful and obedient as we know how.
Peggy,
Thank you for your gracious response.
I hope you don't wonder too much about any interest I may have in your thoughts. After all, you are a sister in Christ. To automatically assign negativity to you simply because you are a regular contributor to Jesus Creed would be rather juvenile of me, don't you think? Personally I have no problem with the diligence Scott implements to keep his threads on track. That doesn't bother me in the least. After all, it is his blog.
I would have to disagree with your assessment of what Jesus was addressing. He brought up the words of the OT regarding oaths and vows when he spoke of "though shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perfom unto the Lord thine oaths, but I say unto you, swear not at all...."
One of the major uses of oaths, especially among pagan nations was in the political and legal realm. Even today, you hear much talk about people fulfilling and performing the duties of their office faithfully, which they have legally sworn to do. Swearing was not some insignificant act or ritual know to only a few. In fact, the words of Jesus to his audience, "ye have heard" says they were familiar with it.
There really is no projecting of the words of Jesus onto a situation foreign to the current culture or ours. In fact, our whole political and legal system is inherited from Rome, the same Rome of Jesus' time. Our laws are legally referred to as Roman Civil Law. And the fundamentals of that early Roman system are in place in this country and have been since the Founding. The Federalist Papers will reveal this rather easily.
I would also beg to differ with you about this not being the biggest issue a Christian would face. I respectfully ask just how big of an issue is obedience to our Lord? Is it so easy to disregard a plain instruction of the Creator of the universe? Or has he somehow left us the discretion to ignore or explain away his plainness of speech, all for the sake of serving him? After all, what is His "well done thou good and faithful servant" based upon, doing what we please, or doing what pleases Him?
Blessings to you also,
Benjamin Bush Jr
I guess I see the issue Jesus was addressing being more about taking the name of the Lord in vain--that is trying to make what we are doing seem like God's will because we attach his name to it.
That was certainly a terrible problem in his time...and I would suggest that it remains so in our time.
I would also suggest that the Jews in the first century were still yearning for the return of the old Theocracy, where the king ruled as the steward of God, as elder brother, as it were, of the nation of Israel. It never did work very well (and it was never the ideal, anyway).
Those of us who have accepted God's gracious offer in the New Covenant in Jesus Christ have taken a kind of oath to utter faithfulness to the terms and conditions of that oath: to be conformed to the image of Jesus, by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit.
Even more than those to whom Jesus was speaking that day, we do speak for Christ, even if we do not invoke his name in an oath. And I am very concerned that we take the name of the Lord in vain all too often when we do and say things that Jesus would not do or say...and when we do not do and do not say things that Jesus would!
I guess that is what I meant about Christian politicians having a tough row to hoe.
I do believe, however, that each of us must do what we believe to be right at the time we are called to act. And that each of us will be accountable for our own actions.
I also believe that we must continually be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit (in our hearts as well as in the voice of the Body of Christ, of which we are a part) concerning what is essential and what is non-essential.
I think there is a kind of obedience that can be legalistic to the degree of stretching credibility. Obviously, we will have to agree to disagree here, brother. There is always a struggle to obey the spirit of the Law and not just the letter. And I believe that loving God and loving neighbor demands the greater part of our efforts.
Obedience is not a pick and choose kind of thing. We are to obey to the best of our ability according to the light we have. If one chooses to enter public service without traditional oaths, due to diligence to obey Christ, that is a one time act. The bigger challenge is to continue to faithfully represent the mind of Christ in each act, so as to love one's neighbors by faithfully representing their best collective interests. This is the covenant duty of all Christians. And this requires a tremendous amount of discernment, both listening fully so as to hear and understand the concerns of others and then taking all of the various concerns of one's constituents and seeing where there are common threads where action will serve the greatest good.
This I do know: there is no one who completely understands the full counsel of God, even as it is recorded in his Word. I have been reading and studying and endeavoring to be a faithful disciple of Christ going on 43 years now. I have learned many things...I have had to unlearn many things...I have many more things to learn.
I try to speak with as much grace and mercy and love and humility as possible--especially when speaking truth that is challenging to another. I want them to hear and accept what I have to say--not just deliver the truth (as I understand it) with a 1-2 punch and watch their eye swell shut. Been there, done that...repented and still recovering. ;^) Especially in the virtual realms. Some kinds of truth telling/hearing just must be done face to face and relationally.
Well...it's a snow day and my boys are all home from school...so I've gotta run.
Be blessed.
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