Honoring the Emperor
“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
– Matthew 22:17-21
One of the most difficult contexts for the believer to navigate is the relationship between God’s people and a secular government. This tension not only continues to exist today, but has existed as long as there has been human government. Frankly and Biblically speaking, this tension exists because of the fall of Adam (sin). In other words, government (as we know it) was and is a product of the fall. With this perspective, we, as believers, can come to have appropriate expectations of government. It is an institution that, at its best, can only hold back the evil that came with sin. In this way, it was given to us by God as a general grace for the good of all people. However, the government cannot offer any lasting transformation or the ultimate abundant life; only Jesus can do that. So here arises the tension for believers: we understand that an earthly institution exists because of the fall, yet it is only a barrier against the effects of the fall and sin. The institution that exists now and forever, and offers the true and lasting solution to the fall (sin) is not the government but the church. Oh, by the way, we’re not talking about the church as buildings, budgets, by-laws, or legally protected 501(c)(3) organizations. Instead, the church is the exilic people of God who are redeemed by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and live in this world but are not of this world. We are God’s Kingdom people, and we are to point to that Kingdom in everything that we do.
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. … Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”
– 1 Peter 2:11-12,17
Jesus, Peter, and Paul all offer us guidance in the Bible on the topic of believers and earthly government. One of the most important things to remember when reading their words is that their statements and instructions are not mild or just “generally polite” (i.e., “Midwest nice”). Peter and Paul tell believers to honor emperors who were completely dishonorable and evil people (e.g., Nero and Diocletian). Nero was known for extreme self-indulgence, the ruthless elimination of his inner circle, and the first major state-backed violence against Christians. Diocletian would go on to lead tyrannically and initiate the bloodiest persecution against Christians of all the Roman emperors. Jesus tells religious leaders to pay their taxes, which in their context amounted to Emperor worship, which was completely forbidden! Jesus was making a politically and theologically controversial statement when he said, “render to Cesar what is Cesar’s.” Secondly, we have to remember that if these commands in the Bible are binding for all believers, in all places, over all times, it means that believers living today in places that have leaders who are notoriously evil and openly hostile towards Christianity are still called by God to honor their “emperor.” Again, go back to the world of Peter and Paul. How do you honor someone who is actively seeking your harm while you have no political means of recourse or legal protections? That is the world of the first century and the experience of many believers living in overtly persecuted countries today. As Christians, God commands us to honor the emperor while knowing where our true and lasting hope really lies. I think that’s actually the key here: eternal hope shapes not only our expectations of earthly government but also compels us to live honorable lives so that we point to a different and better reality, God’s Kingdom (cf. 1 Pet. 2:11-16). In fact – and this is crucially important – as Christians we believe that our capacity to love and extend honor is only because God has first loved us and extended us honor through his Son, Jesus. And, he did this when we were his enemies (Rom 5:6-11)! Take a moment and let the Holy Spirit impress on your heart and mind just how amazing and glorious a reality that is.
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. … Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”
– Romans 13:1,7
So, how do we honor the emperor in our context?
- Prayer – Prayer is not a secondary resource for the believer; it is a primary and ultimate resource. It is not just something we turn to when we’ve exhausted every other thing; it is to be the first, last, and always thing. We honor the elected leaders over us when we pray for them. We are to pray for their salvation and whole-hearted following of Jesus. We are to pray for them to be agents of good and justice, not to be party to evil and wrongdoing. We are to pray for them to repent from sin and wrong, because just like us, they are flawed human beings. We are to pray that our leaders see themselves first as servants and be protected against the intoxication that so quickly comes with power. We are to pray for our leaders to be filled with wisdom and discernment to govern and lead well. The call to prayer is not easy, so we are to be reminded of Jesus’ words, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Lk. 6:27-28). We honor our leaders when we pray for them, especially when it is hard to pray for them.
- Words – James tells us about the power of the tongue and reminds us that our words are powerful to give blessings or curses. James also tells us that being slow to speak and slow to anger is actually moral discipline and righteous (Jam. 1:19). We honor our elected leaders when we exercise the kind of speech that James instructs for believers to use. This doesn’t mean that we are silent on injustice, wrongdoing, or evil. On the contrary, we are to exercise respectful critique of our leaders when they do wrong. But we must be careful that those critiques do not result in us committing sins of speech. Hyperbole is one of our favorite political rhetorical devices right now. The challenge is that hyperbole exaggerates, and when we routinely speak in exaggerations and hyperbole, we begin to believe them, and that gives way to lies and intentional deceit. We must be careful not to be people who take part in creating or spreading lies. This is especially important for us in our lives on social media, where memes, quips, and clips are increasingly not the whole story. I don’t think that Christians in the first century agreed with Nero on much (if anything), but they were to guard their speech about him, and not merely because of political reasons, but because when they honored him with their speech, it was an act of righteousness that honored the Lord. Secondly, the more comfortable we become with slandering, gossiping, defaming, or exaggerating claims about people we will never meet or have to answer in person, the more likely we are to foster those very same attitudes and actions towards our literal neighbors that we see and interact with. Before too long, contempt, pride, and disdain become the norm and feel “courageous” when in reality they are sins that are corroding our hearts and relationships. Maybe this is why James talks about speech in just about every chapter of his letter.
- Expectations – Finally, we honor our elected leaders by having appropriate expectations of them, their roles, and of government as a whole. First, our expectations of government and our elected leaders should be tempered by our own personal experiences. We all know how hard it is to get more than one person to completely agree on anything! Family dinner out? Good luck getting everyone to agree! Let alone being an elected leader who has to try to represent a whole constituency, among an even bigger reality like a state or nation. My expectations should be tempered because I know how hard it is to please everyone at family dinner, let alone in governing. Secondly, and most importantly for Christians, our expectations are to be tempered because we know the true source of abundant life and have experienced it! We know why government exists, we know when it will end completely, and we know what is coming (Rev. 21). Why then would we expect government to offer anything but what it can in its limited and finite reality? This expectation is not fatalistic. We are to expect the general and moral good for our neighbors through government, and we are to be thankful when we experience that general good in so many ways. But we know that our earthly government offers no truly lasting or ultimately sufficient solution. We can and should agree to disagree on policies. When we have the right expectations, it empowers us to do so in Godly and honorable ways. Out-sized and disproportionate expectations in this area always lead to frustration and disillusionment. I have never been surprised when I expect a worldly institution to do worldly things. Yes, I am often grieved by evil and injustice, and I expect better for my neighbors, community, and world. Yes, I am routinely grateful for the general good that our leaders uphold and we experience. But my expectations help guard my heart and my words, and motivate me to gospel living that proclaims Jesus as the truly sufficient solution to the problem of evil and pain in this world.
Our world looks different than the first century, after all, you’re reading this on a screen. But our call to honor our elected leaders (“honoring the emperor”) is still the same. Let us demonstrate the goodness of Jesus in the way we think, speak, and interact with our leaders and our neighbors. This isn’t easy. That is why we must lean into the power of the Holy Spirit to help us and truly see our lives as living testimonies of God’s grace.